Barbra Erickson

Professor

I am a cultural anthropologist, with research and teaching interests in North American contemporary culture, medical anthropology, history of anthropology, economic anthropology, business and organizational cultures, and the anthropology of aging. In addition to my degrees in Anthropology, I have a Graduate Certificate in Gerontology from the University of Nevada, Reno. My ongoing research is an anthropological study of the use of radioactive radon gas as a remedy. I’ve done fieldwork on this topic in the United States, where radon in considered an “alternative” therapy, as well as in Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic, where medical doctors may prescribe radon as a legitimate treatment. I’m very interested in holistic medicine/alternative medicine and the history of medicine. I also have a deep interest in parasites and pathogens, in terms of how cultural behaviors expose people [or not], and how people use culture to adapt to their environments.

Degrees

PhD, University of Nevada, Reno

MA, California State University Fullerton

BA, California State University Fullerton

Recent Courses

Language and Culture (ANTH 300), Traditional Cultures of the World (ANTH 304), Culture and Aging (ANTH 308), History of Anthropology (ANTH 480), Medical Pluralism (ANTH 504T), Theory and Method in Cultural and Linguistic Anthropology (ANTH 513)

Publications

2012 Places in the Earth: Power, Mystery, Healing [Death?]. Proceedings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association 6:75-82.

2007 Radioactive Pain Relief: Health Care Strategies and Risk Assessment among Elderly Arthritis Sufferers at Radon Health Mines. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 13(3):375-380.

2007 Toxin or Medicine? Explanatory Models of Radon in Montana Health Mines. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 21(1):1-21.

2006 The Therapeutic Use of Radon: A Biomedical Treatment in Europe; an “Alternative” Remedy in the United States. Dose Response 5:48-62.

2006 Range of Motion Assessment of Elderly Arthritis Sufferers at Montana “Radon Health Mines.” International Journal of Low Radiation 3(4):325-336.

2004 The Therapeutic Use of Radon: A Biomedical Treatment in Europe; an “Alternative” Remedy in the United States. In, Proceedings of the 14thAnnual Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference, pp. 600-610. La Grange IL: American Nuclear Society.

2000 Low Dose Radon as Alternative Therapy for Chronic Illness. Proceedings of the Health Effects of Low-Dose Radiation Conference, pp. 269-277. World Council of Nuclear Workers (WONUC), Paris France (Ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B.V.

2000 ...And the People Came to the Caves to be Healed. The Halcyon Series Vol. 22: Western Futures, pp. 31-52. Reno: Nevada Humanities Committee.

1999 Low Dose Radon as an Alternative Therapy for Chronic Illness. Low Dose Radiation Hormesis & Adaptive Response Web Site. Javad Mortazavi(Ed.), University of Teheran.

Volume Editor

2020 Legibility: Practice/Prospect in Contemporary Anthropology. Proceedings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, 2019. Volume 13, ISSN 1941-7500.

2019 Humans: The Mediated Species. Proceedings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, 2018. Volume 12, pp. 1-72. ISSN 1941-7500.

2018 Parameters of the Possible. Proceedings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, 2017. Volume 11, pp. 1-124. ISSN 1941-7500.

2018 Sustainable Humanity: Learning from the Past, and Planning for the Future. Proceedings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, 2016. Volume 10, pp. 1-60. ISSN 1941-7500.

2016 Anthropological Voyages: Past, Present, and Future. Proceedings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, 2015. Volume 9, pp. 1-148. ISSN 1941-7500.

2015 Imagineering the Present: Technology and Creativity. Proceedings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, 2014. Volume 8, pp. 1-104. ISSN 1941-7500.

2014 Work and Play. Proceedings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, 2013. Volume 7, pp. 1-72. ISSN 1941-7500.

Published Artwork and Teaching Materials

2004 Water color painting, “4000 Years at Lovelock Cave,” selected as the 2004 Nevada Archaeology and Historic Preservation Awareness Week poster.

2004 The Architecture of Life and Death in Borneo, by Robert Winzeler (2004).Illustrations by Robert Winzeler, Barbra Erickson, and Timothy Pyles. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. [Fourteen pen and ink drawings by B. Erickson].

2004 Anthropology C201, Peoples and Cultures of the World. A correspondence course in Anthropology written for University of Nevada Reno, Extended Studies Independent Learning Program. Extended Syllabus, pp. 1-86. © Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada.

2003 Illustrations for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lovelock Cave interpretive signage

and roadside tour brochures. [Lovelock, Nevada, and Lovelock Cave, Nevada].

2003 Anthropology C101, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. A correspondence course in Anthropology written for University of Nevada Reno, Extended Studies Independent Learning Program. Extended Syllabus, pp. 1-82. © Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada.