Smith College Department of Anthropology

Donald Joralemon is professor of anthropology at Smith College. He received his BA from Oberlin College (1974) and his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles (1983). He is the author of Exploring Medical Anthropology (1999) and the coauthor (with Douglas Sharon) of Sorcery and Shamanism (1993). Among his published articles on Peruvian shamanism is the essay, "The Selling of the Shaman and the Problem of Informant Legitimacy" (Journal of Anthropological Research, 1990). His present work focuses on the anthropology of organ transplantation and medical ethics. His article "Organ Wars: The Battle for Body Parts" (Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 1995) won the Polgar Prize from the Society for Medical Anthropology. He has published additional articles on the ethics of organ transplantation in the Journel of Medical Ethics (2001) and in the Hastings Center Report (2003). Joralemon also has written on the topic of medical futility for the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (2000). The revised edition of his textbook has just been published. Joralemon's current project is a book on dying and death in America.

At Smith College, Professor Joralemon teaches Medical Anthropology (ANT 248), Native South Americans (ANT 237), Dying and Death (ANT 255), and a seminar on Anthropology and Medical Ethics (ANT 344).