Michael C. Ennis-McMillan

Associate Professor of Anthropology

Office: Bolton 349A
Tel. (518) 580-5414
E-mail:  mennis@skidmore.edu
Office hours: Tu/Th 3-4 p.m.

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., Anthropology, Michigan State University, 1998.
• M.A., Anthropology, Michigan State University, 1994.
• B.S., Biology (summa cum laude), Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan, 1985.

EMPLOYMENT

• Associate Professor of Anthropology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2004-present.
• Faculty Director, Paris Fall Seminar, Skidmore College at IES French Studies, Paris, 2016.
• Chair, Department of Anthropology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2012-2015.
• Dean of Studies/Associate Dean of the Faculty for Academic Advising, Office of Academic Advising, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2006-2010.
• Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, 1998-2004.
• Visiting Research Fellow, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 2001-02.

REGIONAL FOCUS

RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS

Medical Anthropology, Humanitarianism, Grassroots Development, Water, Anthropology and Education, Visual Anthropology.

As a medical anthropologist, I am interested in the human experience of suffering and healing.  My research has focused on medical issues related to drinking water systems in Mexican communities and refugee assistance in France. In addition, shorter research projects included studies of water issues along the U.S.-Mexico border and on cultural aspects of health and healing in the U.S. My publications, conference papers, and current research interests explore the cultural and political aspects of global health, especially focusing on community responses.  My research includes local projects on sophomore experiences, community arts development, and language diversity. Moreover, I interested in supporting international studies, particularly field-based study abroad opportunities.

COURSES

• AN 101 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
• AN 229 Mexican Cultures
• AN 251 Culture, Illness, and Healing
• AN 228 Queer Cultures: Sexual and Gender Identities in a Globalizing World
• AN 201 Ethnographic Research Methods
• AN 209 The New Europe: French Identities in Comparative Perspective
• AN 349 Medical Anthropology
• AN 351 Global Mental Health
• SSP 100 Scribner Seminar: Emerging Diseases: Global Challenges to Human Health

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

• Ennis-McMillan, Michael C. 2006. A Precious Liquid: Drinking Water and Culture in the Valley of Mexico. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. (ISBN 0534612857)
• Ennis-McMillan, Michael C. 2001. La Purificación Tepetitla: agua potable y cambio social en el somontano (Drinking Water and Social Change in the Foothills). Translated by Carmen Viqueira Landa and Andrea Ruiz. Colección Tepetlaostoc, no. 7. Mexico, DF: Universidad Iberoamericana and Archivo Histórico del Agua. (ISBN 968-859-449-0)

OTHER SCHOLARSHIP

• Ennis-McMillan, Michael C., Theresa Ammirati, Andrea Rossi-Reder, Julie Tetley, and Robert Thacker. 2011.  Engaging Sophomore Students with Liberal Learning: Focused Exploration through Academic Advising.  A White Paper for the Teagle Foundation Initiative "Fresh Thinking for Liberal Education: Knowledge and Know-How for Student Learning."  Available online: http://www.teaglefoundation.org/learning/publications.aspx
• Ennis-McMillan, Michael C. 2005. La Vida del Pueblo: Women, Equity, and Household Water Management in the Valley of Mexico. In Opposing Currents: The Politics of Water and Gender in Latin America. Vivienne Bennett, Sonia Dávila-Poblete, and María Nieves Rico, eds. Pp. 137-153. Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh University Press.
• Ennis-McMillan, Michael C. 2002. 'A Paradoxical Privatization: Challenges to Community-Managed Drinking Water Systems in the Valley of Mexico.' In Protecting a Sacred Gift: Water and Social Change in Mexico. Scott Whiteford and Roberto Melville, eds. Pp. 27-48. La Jolla: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego.
• Ennis-McMillan, Michael C. 2002. Anthropologists and Campus Greening. Anthropology News 43(3):39-40.
• Ennis-McMillan, Michael C. 2001. 'Suffering from Water: Social Origins of Bodily Distress in a Mexican Community.' Medical Anthropology Quarterly 15(3):368-390. Winner of the 2001 Rudolf Virchow prize awarded annually by the Critical Anthropology of Health Caucus of the Society for Medical Anthropology for the paper that best advances the perspective of critical medical anthropology.

FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS, AND AWARDS

• 2015 - Faculty Development Grant, Skidmore College, to enroll in a three-week French immersion program organized by Road Scholar at the École International de Français de l’Université du Québec a Trois-Rivières (UQTR), at Trois-Rivières, Quebec, July 5-24.
• 2014 - Faculty Grant, Skidmore College, for exploratory research on Opportunity Program Alumni, with funding from the American Endowment Foundation, June-August.
• 2013 - Faculty Development Grant, Skidmore College, for travel to Mexico to update ongoing ethnographic research on drinking water issues, June.
• 2012 - Travel Grant, School for International Training to participate in a faculty site visit to the SIT Ghana Programs, Accra and Cape Coast, Ghana, March 9-21.
• 2011- Faculty Development Grant, Skidmore College, for travel to Guatemala to explore medical anthropology research opportunities and summer field schools, July.
• 2007 - Project Leader for “Engaging Sophomore Students with Deliberative Dialogues: A Pilot Project to Enhance Liberal Learning” (with Project Co-Leaders Theresa Ammirati, Andrea Rossi-Reder, Julie Tetley, and Robert Thacker), with funds from the Teagle Foundation to support a collaborative working group, consisting of Colorado College, Connecticut College, St. Lawrence University, and Skidmore College, 2007-2010.
• 2004 - Travel Grant, School for International Training (with funding from the Freeman Foundation for curriculum development in Asian Studies) to participate in a faculty site visit to the SIT Mongolia Program, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, June 2-10.
• 2001 - Visiting Research Fellowship, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, September 2001-June 2002.
• 1996 - Small Grant for Predoctoral Research from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research to support 6 months of field research in Mexico.
• 1995-96 - Doctoral Field Research Fellowship from the Inter-American Foundation to support 18 months of field research in Mexico.
• 1992-93 - International Predissertation Fellowship from the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies with funds provided by the Ford Foundation.

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIP

• American Anthropological Association (AAA) and various sections:
  • Anthropology and the Environment (A&E)
  • Association for Queer Anthropology (AQA - formerly Society for Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists)
  • Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology (SLAA)
  • Society for Medical Anthropology (SMA)
  • Critical Anthropology and Global Health Study Group (CAGH)
• Northeastern Anthropological Association (NEAA)
• Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA)

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

English (native); Spanish (advanced); French (intermediate); Nahuatl (elementary)