Jennifer Hamilton

Jennifer Hamilton, professor of legal studies and anthropology, received her B.A. in anthropology and English literature (McGill University) and her Ph.D. in anthropology (Rice University).

Her interests include social studies of law, science, and biomedicine, theories of culture and identity, and critical race and gender studies.

She is the author of Indigeneity in the Courtroom: Law, Culture, and the Production of Difference in North American Courts. Her most recent research examines human genetic variation research and the sociocultural, legal, and ethical formations that emerge around it.

Recent and Upcoming Courses

Indigenous Lands & Sovereignties
This course introduces students to the critical study of settler colonialism in the United States and Canada by focusing on historic and continuing expansion of colonial and federal power into Indigenous territories. We begin in the eighteenth century in the Northeastern part of the continent looking at early treaties in the larger context of Indian-settler relations. We then trace westward expansion in the 19th and early 20th centuries to provide a context for understanding contemporary conflicts over land, resources, and sovereignty and self-determination. This course has no prerequisites but is geared towards students with preparation in Native American Indigenous Studies (NAIS), law and/or legal studies, and/or U.S. empire studies. Topics include law, colonialism, and nation-building; land and memory; law, science, and the emergence of Indigenous legal identities; and environmental justice.
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
This course introduces students to the discipline of anthropology, the study of human cultures and societies. In particular, students will explore cultural anthropology's themes, concepts, and methodologies, beginning with the discipline's emergence in the United States in the early 20th century and moving into 21st century anthropological inquiries. The course will be organized around a series of basic questions: How do anthropologists ask questions? How do they conduct research? How do they make sense of the world around them? What does anthropology have to offer a world with often vexing social and political problems? What are anthropology's limitations and constraints? What might a publicly engaged anthropology look like, especially in an era of globalization? We will investigate these questions by exploring anthropological work in specific areas including race, racism, and decolonization; the history and politics of indigeneity; food and culture; and the anthropology of science and technology.
Introduction to Medical Anthropology
This course introduces students to medical anthropology, an interdisciplinary approach exploring how humans differently define and experience life, death, illness, wellness, health, sex, and pain throughout the world and over time. We begin with classic texts in medical anthropology and ethnomedicine and shift to more contemporary work in critical medical anthropology. There will be a special focus in the course on global inequalities in health and medicine, on cross-cultural perspectives on pain and suffering, and on understanding biomedicine as a cultural system.
Law, Medicine, and Society
This course is an introductory exploration of the ways in which the powerful institutions of law and medicine intersect, and how they shape our lives. Key questions include how society and culture affect how we interpret and experience law and medicine. Using case studies and a range of theoretical and methodological tools, we will examine key cultural and technological challenges to contemporary political and legal structures, asking how law and medicine function in a broader social context.
Field Study
Internship