LuĂ­sa Reis Castro

@anthrobite.bsky.social

4139 Followers 1246 Following

Anthropologist of science, health & the environment in an unequal 🌍 | thinks a lot about Brasil & bugs 🦟 🦠 Assistant Prof @usc.edu; before MIT, Maastricht Univ, UFMG Spending 2025–2026 in Deutschland @hanse-ias.bsky.social ela/she/sie

This book series in anthropology takes a ground-up approach to the acquisition and publication of new ethnographic works. The aim is to set the conditions for collaboration at each stage of a book’s development, from the earliest draft through publication. Rather than considering those manuscripts in their finished state, this series sets out to curate a cohort of scholars committed to the idea that ethnographic writing is itself a form of intellectual work. An Atelier book sets itself apart in at least two ways. The first is by addressing the problems and possibilities of ethnographic inquiry in the twenty-first century. These include the matters of evidence, conceptual reach, and thematic urgency, as well as narrative voice and analytical innovation. Atelier is defined by neither a particular region nor any of anthropology’s four fields, but rather by a commitment to the art of ethnography. The second is by participating in a sociality of sustained, critical reflection. The aim of this series is to generate a group of scholars from all career stages working together toward the completion of each author’s respective book project. SUBMISSION INFORMATION Those interested in submitting to the series should email a CV, 2-3 page synopsis, annotated Table of Contents, draft introduction, and a sample chapter to the series editor Kevin O’Neill no later than June 1, 2026 at kevin.oneill@utoronto.ca. The synopsis should describe the book project in no more than 2,000 words and must include: a statement about the intended audience for the book; the total anticipated word count of the full manuscript, including the main text, footnotes, bibliography, and any appendices; a description of the art program and total number of images; and an estimated deadline for completing the full manuscript. Please let the editor know if portions of the book have been or will be previously published.
About the role The postholder will be expected to develop a research programme in areas relevant to Science and Technology Studies, with a particular focus on nature- and environment-related subjects. For the purposes of this position, nature and environment may be construed liberally to include, but not be limited to, natural resources, human and more-than-human relationship, humans and other animals, the built environment, environmental history, environmental knowledge, climate change, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, sustainability, all approached from an STS perspective. Applications from scholars with a focus on the Global South are especially welcome. This is a 100% FTE appointment starting in January 2026 until 31 July 2028.
We take our responsibility in this moment seriously. The Mellon Foundation is no longer a source of funding for our applicants; neither is the Ford Foundation. The U.S. Fulbright program, National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and other grantors are facing draconian cuts, restrictions or elimination. Many of our grant applicants have nowhere else to turn.
Print Screen: Can the Mosquito Bite? The Multispecies Transmutation of Wolbachia Mosquitoes as Biotechnologies of Epidemic Control in Rio de Janeiro ABSTRACT A bite from the Aedes aegypti mosquito can transmit pathogenic viruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya. While public health campaigns have historically focused on eliminating this vector species, a project in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, proposes to release A. aegypti carrying the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia. This microbe, passed from female A. aegypti to their progeny, would hinder viral transmission, making the bite less of a threat and promoting a more convivial coexistence. In releasing Wolbachia mosquitoes, project proponents presented their strategy as a solution for disease control that harnessed “nature,” instead of working against it. By juxtaposing historical accounts and ethnographic research in Rio with descriptions of biological processes, this article investigates how the microbe-mosquito dyad was turned into a biotechnology of epidemic control. Proponents of the Wolbachia project hoped that a change within multispecies relations—the novel human-bacterium-mosquito relationship—would change other multispecies relations—the historically constituted human-virus-mosquito relationships in Rio and beyond. This shift, which I term “multispecies transmutation,” highlights how relational alterations in both biologies and socialities created a new life-form (“Wolbachia mosquitoes”) and a new form of life (of multispecies coexistence). By tracing the more-than-human biopolitical arrangements put forward by the project, this article explores the recalibration of technoscientific solutions to global environmental health concerns. Multispecies transmutation offers a new framework for understanding the management of multispecies relations, showing how techniques of governance can target not individuals or populations per se, but rather interspecies connections.
A photo of four protest photographs from the 1970s. The first features a peace sign, the second a sign reading 'We will not be intimidated,' the third one saying 'Junto,' and the final one with 'If you love your people help.
A drawing of a slug wearing blue headphones, seemingly working out, with "Anthro Co-Write" written on top.
Print screen of the Watch Duty app, showing a lack of monitors in the South LA area.
About the Book A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. Mal-Nutrition documents how maternal health interventions in Guatemala are complicit in reproducing poverty. Policy makers speak about how a critical window of biological growth around the time of pregnancy—called the "first 1,000 days of life"—determines health and wealth across the life course. They argue that fetal development is the key to global development. In this thought-provoking and timely book, Emily Yates-Doerr shows that the control of mothering is a paradigmatic technique of American violence that serves to control the reproduction of privilege and power. She illustrates the efforts of Guatemalan scientists, midwives, and mothers to counter the harms of such mal-nutrition. Their powerful stories offer a window into a form of nutrition science and policy that encourages collective nourishment and fosters reproductive cycles in which women, children, and their entire communities can flourish.
Slide cover – The Craft of Writing Ethnographies (in English)
Flyer for the talk. All the information can be found here: https://fixingfutures.eu/2024/11/lecture-luisa-reis-castro/
Photo of the DVD case for the film Toni Erdmann. It has a yellow strip in the middle, with the words LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY.
A photo of the front of a restaurant. The sign above reads 'Thiên Hương' in red and 'Vietnamese Restaurant' in green. On the right, a group of people is waiting in line, sitting on a bench.
Call for Manuscripts: SubAtlantic – Latin American, Caribbean and Luso-African Ecologies Jens Andermann , Victoria Saramago , Gabriel Giorgi | 26.09.2024 We are looking for book proposals in English, Spanish and Portuguese for an exciting new series on environmental humanities in the Iberian South Atlantic. We welcome submissions spanning the field in its geographical and historical breadth, from the pre-Columbian and colonial period to the present, including approaches from Amerindian and Afrodescendent perspectives.
Photo of the Marina Towers in Chicago, also known corncob towers.
Poster: Coluna vermelha do lado esquerdo com o nome da revista (RUAe) Informações podem ser encontradas aqui: https://ojs.fhce.edu.uy/index.php/revantroetno/announcement/view/107
Screen shot: One-Pager Series The OU Brazil Studies Program publishes a One-Pager series, initiated with generous support from the OU Faculty Senate Ed Cline Faculty development award. The series reports on findings from cutting-edge research on various aspects of Brazilian development in a concise way (one page, two-sided if necessary). The series is open to contributions from scholars from any academic discipline. By maintaining this series, the OU Brazil Studies Program wants to narrow the gap of quality information about Brazil and contribute to a more informed conversation about the past, present, and future of that country among scholars, professionals, and activists based in the Anglo-American world. Our One Pagers are published in an “open access” format and have been successfully used in classroom settings, in courses about Brazil or comparative studies. For submissions or inquiries, please feel free contact brazilstudies@ou.edu.
About SEEKCommons The Socio-Environmental Knowledge Commons (SEEKCommons) project is dedicated to building pathways for horizontal collaborations across Science and Technology Studies (STS), Open Science (OS), and socio-environmental researchers and community organizers. The SEEKCommons Fellowship is an initiative to bring graduate students and early-career researchers to socio-environmental research with common technologies. Our program is designed to: Encourage new integrative practices involving socio-environmental and climate action research with OS practices; and Provide a space for fellows and network members to collaborate on common research tools, issues, and challenges. We are seeking 9 fellows for the 2025 SEEKCommons Fellowship. More details below: Application Form ** Open: Nov. 7–Dec. 15, 2024 ** Successful Fellows notified: Jan. 31, 2025 Fellowship begins: Feb. 10, 2025 Fellowship ends: Nov. 10, 2025
Screen Shot of a zoom video, with Andrea Ballestero, Alpa Shah, Marianna Reis, and Ghassn Hage.
Screenshots of two tweets: Andrea Ballestero @aballes2 A few days before our deadline (11/15) to submit applications for the search of an Assistant Professor to join our #Anthropology Department @USC Pls don't restrain from applying because you have done so before. E/search is its own universe! Second one: There are so many incredibly qualified anthropologists doing amazing work, it is impossible to make justice to that. We are thankful for you taking the time to submit your materials even knowing the numbers we are dealing with.
Photo of Ballot – Proposition 6 – Eliminates Constitutional Provision Allowing Involuntary Servitude for Incarcerated Persons. Legislative Constitutional Amendment. More info here: https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Proposition?number=6&year=2024
O vetor, os vírus e o "mundo saudável". Situando o Aedes aegypti no Brasil Luísa Reis-Castro Tradução: João Bardy
IN RESPONSE TO USC’S MILITARIZED RESPONSE TO STUDENT PROTEST, April 24, 2024 USC-AAUP condemns President Carol Folt and our administrative leaders’ decision to invite LAPD officers in riot gear and armed with batons, rubber bullet launchers, tear gas and guns (per the Daily Trojan) to our campus today in response to peaceful protest by our students. Instead of allowing our students to go ahead with their planned events, which today included Yoga and Meditation, Kite-Making, a Kaddish reading with Jewish Voices for Peace, and a Sunset Vigil, all staged in Alumni Park as a "Gaza Solidarity" action, USC administrators chose to turn our campus into a militarized zone. DPS initiated confrontations with student protesters from early this morning at Alumni Park. After 5pm the LAPD issued a mass dispersal order; police in riot gear entered the campus; and dozens were arrested.
“Ambivalent Insects” as Tools and Targets Lisa Onaga and Luísa Reis-Castro Abstract The binary categories of harm and benefit have often shaped how historians frame discussions of insects. Scientists also leverage the binary framing of insects as tools and targets to carry out their work, especially in the development of biological technologies for pest control. This essay emphasizes how binaries function in scientific practice. Two case studies spanning from the twentieth century to the recent past illustrate the shift away from chemicals in pest management and, in doing so, show the instability of binary categories over the longue durée. Noticing “ambivalent insects” affords a way to widen narrative options and identify new opportunities for investigating insect histories.
“Ambivalent Insects” as Tools and Targets Lisa Onaga, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Luísa Reis-Castro, University of Southern California Abstract: The binary categories of harm and benefit have often shaped how historians frame discussions of insects. Scientists also leverage the binary framing of insects as tools and targets to carry out their work, especially in the development of biological technolo- gies for pest control. This essay emphasizes how binaries function in scientific practice. Two case studies spanning from the twentieth century to the recent past illustrate the shift away from chemicals in pest management and, in doing so, show the instability of binary categories over the longue durée. Noticing “ambivalent insects” affords a way to widen nar- rative options and identify new opportunities for investigating insect histories.
DEVENIR-SIN: MOSQUITOS TRANSGÉNICOS, CONTROL DE ENFERMEDADES Y EL VALOR DEL NO-ENCUENTRO EN LAS RELACIONES MULTIESPECIES Luísa Reis-CastroUniversity of Southern California, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2564-629X
The Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) at New York University invite applications for an assistant professor tenure- track position in Indigenous Studies, with a focus on Latin American and/or Caribbean pueblos originarios/povos originários. This search is part of a cluster hire in Native American and Indigenous Studies coordinated with the Departments of Cinema Studies, Performance Studies, English, History, Social and Cultural Analysis and the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. More information about this cluster, and NYU's broader Faculty Cluster Hiring Initiative, can be found here. The successful candidate’s tenure home will be in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and will hold a joint appointment in the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and will advise and teach in the undergraduate, Master’s and Ph.D. programs offered by both units, including teaching undergraduate and graduate
Meme of Effie Trinket, from the film Hunger Games, with the words, "May the odds be ever in your favor"
Poster with all the talks. They can also be found here: USC Keck Master of Science in Narrative Medicine Program
he Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track assistant professor or tenured associate professor position to be appointed as the Turpanjian Early Career Chair in Contemporary Armenian Studies. The department of appointment is to be determined. We invite applicants from a broad range of social science fields and disciplines. Possible departments include Anthropology, Economics, Political Science and International Relations, and Sociology, among others. Candidates for the Early Career Chair must work in contemporary Armenian studies and have a PhD degree in their field by the time of appointment. Applicants should send a letter of interest and CV with names of three potential referees to turpanjiansearch@dornsife.usc.edu. Materials submitted by regular mail will not be accepted. In order to be considered for this position, all candidates must also a
The Department of Anthropology at the University of Maryland, College Park invites applications from outstanding early-career scholars to be appointed as Tenure-track Assistant Professor in Urban Environmental Anthropology with a focus on health and well-being. We seek a scholar with a PhD in anthropology, or related fields, in hand by June 2024 whose work explicitly examines the link between the environment and health and wellbeing in urban environments. The candidate should possess expertise that addresses environmental health topics broadly conceived and including, but not limited to, climate change, disaster management, nutrition and food security, water security, air pollution, sanitation and waste disposal, built environment, energy and extraction systems, and/or the impacts of toxic chemical exposures, among other areas focusing on the intersections of environmental, social, and racial justice. The ideal candidate will use theoretical expertise in environmental anthropology
Eric Wolf Paper Prize CFP The Political Ecology Society (PESO) announces the 2023 Eric Wolf Prize for the best article-length paper. The competition offers a great opportunity as it involves paid registration fees for the Society for Applied Anthropology annual meeting, a feature presentation of the paper at this meeting, and publication in the Journal of Political Ecology! We seek papers based in substantive field research that make an innovative contribution to political ecology. Clear links to some specific set of political ecology ideas and literature is important. To be eligible for the competition, scholars must be no more than two years past the completion of their Master’s or Ph.D. degree. This includes scholars who have not yet received the Ph.D. and Master’s students. Multiple authored papers are considered as long as the first author meets the above criteria. Be mindful the prize is meant exclusively to support students and newly minted grads. Also, we cannot accept
About SEEKCommons The Socio-Environmental Knowledge Commons (SEEKCommons) project is dedicated to building pathways for horizontal collaborations across Science and Technology Studies (STS), Open Science (OS), and socio-environmental researchers and community organizers. The SEEKCommons Fellowship is an initiative to bring graduate students and early-career researchers with new perspectives and voices to socio-environmental research with open technologies. Our program is designed to: Encourage new integrative practices involving environmental and climate action research with OS practices; and Provide a space for fellows and network members to connect on research issues, challenges, and solutions. We are seeking 9 fellows for the inaugural 2024 SEEKCommons Fellowship. More details below: Application Form Open: September 5-October 15, 2023 Successful Fellows notified: November 29, 2023 Fellowship begins: January 22, 2024 Fellowship ends: October 22, 2024
Description The Department of the History at the Johns Hopkins University invites applications for the Rohrbaugh Assistant Professor in Colonial Latin American history. We are particularly interested in candidates working in the early colonial period (fifteenth through seventeenth centuries) and who focus on topics and/or employ methods related to Indigenous or Afro-Latin American history. Qualifications A Ph.D. in History or a related field is required, but we will accept applications from doctoral students expected to fulfill Ph. D degree requirements by July 1, 2024. Application Instructions Applications should include a cover letter, CV, research statement, and writing sample (preferably in English, though Spanish or Portuguese is also acceptable) online via Interfolio at http://apply.interfolio.com/xxxx. Additional materials, including letters of reference, will be requested as the application process advances. The committee will not conduct interviews at the American Histori
Do you long for feedback on your writing? Are you struggling with the argument on a paper? Do you miss having a PhD advisor to run your ideas by? The Anthropology and Environment Society’s Junior Scholar Writing Workshop is for you! The Anthropology and Environment Society is pleased to announce that it will be organizing a Junior Scholar Writing Workshop at this year’s AAAs. The workshop is intended for junior scholars, understood as anyone post PhD and pre-tenure, regardless of whether or not they are currently in an academic position. The goal of this workshop is to support scholars in the early stages of their careers by offering an opportunity for detailed peer feedback on a piece of written work and building a community of environmental anthropologists at a similar point in their career trajectories. Participants will be clustered in groups of three, will exchange papers in advance of the AAAs, and meet for a 3-hour time period to workshop each paper for an hour.
The Department of Anthropology at Princeton University invites applications for a tenure-track (assistant professor) or tenured position (associate or full professor). We are especially interested in candidates whose scholarship and teaching are centered on law, technology, and ethics or in areas not currently covered by the Department. Applicants must have an outstanding record of ethnographic research and theoretical innovation and have a commitment to effective teaching and mentoring. The successful candidate must have a Ph.D. at the time of application and will be expected to teach and advise students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and contribute to the intellectual diversity of the department. The term of appointment is expected to begin on July 1, 2024. Applicants should submit: 1) a curriculum vita; 2) a cover letter summarizing research and scholarly accomplishments and teaching experience; 3) a one-page statement describing future research and writing goals; 4)