About Us

Symposium Organizing Committee:

	Julia A. Rivera Drew, Committee Chair Julia is a third-year graduate student in Sociology. Her research interests include the sociology of disability, gender and racial differences in health and access to health care, households and family, and population health. More information about Julia can be found on her personal webpage at the Department of Sociology.
	Pilapa Esara Pilapa is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology. Her research interests include issues of gender inequality and social difference, marriage and family, identity and transnationalism, labor migration and development, and globalization in Asia. Recently, Pilapa successfully defended her dissertation entitled, Changing Marriage, Changing Thai Society: Contradictions of gender, class and identity in an era of globalization.
	Julie Fennell I am interested in fertility and contraceptive decision-making, with a focus on unintended pregnancy.  My work is grounded in the theoretical principle that these decisions are made in the sexual context of a couple, and my dissertation seeks to clarify how these decisions and negotiations are made.
	Thandie Hlabana Thandie is second year graduate student in the Sociology Department.  Her major interests are family and child well-being, as well as fertility and reproductive health in Southern Africa.  Her current research looks at child outcomes and living arrangements with biological fathers; HIV/AIDS stigma and adolescent's sexual behaviour; and the effects of non-marriage on child spacing.
	Andrea Mazzarino Andrea Mazzarino is a third-year doctoral student in cultural anthropology and demography, with research interests in Russia, gender, sexuality, and reproductive health.  Her master’s research looked at how highly educated women in St. Petersburg make decisions about sexual relationships, in a contemporary context of socioeconomic changes and shifting gender ideals.  She is currently planning her dissertation field research in St. Petersburg, which will examine links between socioeconomic inequalities and women’s reproductive health.
	Chantal Munthree Chantal Munthree is a visiting Scholar at Brown University, currently registered for PHD Studies in South Africa (University of KwaZulu-Natal). Study interests include sexual behaviour, HIV/AIDS and Ageing. Current research focus “HIV/AIDS among Older Men and Women in KwaZulu-Natal”

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