The worlds of healing across cultures, the meanings people ascribe to illness, and the social lives of medicines fascinate me. I am also deeply curious about how communities navigate processes of migration and social change. My research takes me to the Nepal Himalaya, Tibetan regions of China, and among Nepali and Tibetan communities in the United States.
Craig, Sienna R., Barbara Gerke, and Victoria Sheldon. 2019. "Sowa Rigpa Humanitarianism: Local Logics of Care within a Global Politics of Compassion." Medical Anthropology Quarterly. doi:10.1111/maq.12561.
This article examines the circulation of humanitarian ideas, materials, and actions in a non‐biom... more This article examines the circulation of humanitarian ideas, materials, and actions in a non‐biomedical and non‐Judeo–Christian context: Sowa Rigpa or Tibetan medical camps in India and Nepal. Through these camps, practitioners and patients alike often overtly articulate Sowa Rigpa medicine as part of a broader humanitarian “good” motivated by a Buddhist‐inflected ethics of compassion and a moral economy of care, diverging from mainstream public health and conventional humanitarian projects. Three ethnographic case studies demonstrate how micro‐political interactions at camps engage with ethical and religious imaginaries. We show how the ordinary ethics of Sowa Rigpa humanitarianism gain distinct political meaning in contrast to non‐Tibetan forms of aid, reconfiguring the relationship between Buddhism, essential medicines, moral economies, and politics. While Sowa Rigpa as a medical system operates transnationally, these camps are organized around local logics of emergent care, employing narratives of “charity” and Buddhist compassion when addressing health needs.
"PART ONE Tibetan Medicine in Modern Contexts: Challenges and Innovation PART TWO Medical Pl... more "PART ONE Tibetan Medicine in Modern Contexts: Challenges and Innovation PART TWO Medical Pluralism: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives PART THREE Experiences of Medicine, Illness, and Social Change"
The informed consent process is an essential com-ponent of ethical clinical research.' Despi... more The informed consent process is an essential com-ponent of ethical clinical research.' Despite the growing emphasis on the use of simple, nontech-nical language and clear explanations,2 researchers and ethicists are concerned that many individuals, even in ...
Craig, Sienna R., Barbara Gerke, and Victoria Sheldon. 2019. "Sowa Rigpa Humanitarianism: Local Logics of Care within a Global Politics of Compassion." Medical Anthropology Quarterly. doi:10.1111/maq.12561.
This article examines the circulation of humanitarian ideas, materials, and actions in a non‐biom... more This article examines the circulation of humanitarian ideas, materials, and actions in a non‐biomedical and non‐Judeo–Christian context: Sowa Rigpa or Tibetan medical camps in India and Nepal. Through these camps, practitioners and patients alike often overtly articulate Sowa Rigpa medicine as part of a broader humanitarian “good” motivated by a Buddhist‐inflected ethics of compassion and a moral economy of care, diverging from mainstream public health and conventional humanitarian projects. Three ethnographic case studies demonstrate how micro‐political interactions at camps engage with ethical and religious imaginaries. We show how the ordinary ethics of Sowa Rigpa humanitarianism gain distinct political meaning in contrast to non‐Tibetan forms of aid, reconfiguring the relationship between Buddhism, essential medicines, moral economies, and politics. While Sowa Rigpa as a medical system operates transnationally, these camps are organized around local logics of emergent care, employing narratives of “charity” and Buddhist compassion when addressing health needs.
"PART ONE Tibetan Medicine in Modern Contexts: Challenges and Innovation PART TWO Medical Pl... more "PART ONE Tibetan Medicine in Modern Contexts: Challenges and Innovation PART TWO Medical Pluralism: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives PART THREE Experiences of Medicine, Illness, and Social Change"
The informed consent process is an essential com-ponent of ethical clinical research.' Despi... more The informed consent process is an essential com-ponent of ethical clinical research.' Despite the growing emphasis on the use of simple, nontech-nical language and clear explanations,2 researchers and ethicists are concerned that many individuals, even in ...
I was very fortunate to collaborate with the wonderful Dolpo artist and social entrepreneur, Tenz... more I was very fortunate to collaborate with the wonderful Dolpo artist and social entrepreneur, Tenzin Norbu, on this story about the making of art, the meaning of home, and the challenges we face in our everyday lives. The story was written during 2001, when Norbu got to spend some time with us in the US. The book is now in its second edition and is currently being translated and published in Tibetan language, thanks to the Tibetan Arts and Literature Initiative. To purchase Clear Sky, Red Earth, please visit Amazon, or contact me. To read a review of Clear Sky, click here.
The book is now in its second edition and has also been produced in Tibetan Language, thanks to the Tibetan Arts and Literature Initiative.
A Sacred Geography: Sonnets of the Himalaya and Tibet is borne out of years I’ve lived in the Nep... more A Sacred Geography: Sonnets of the Himalaya and Tibet is borne out of years I’ve lived in the Nepal Himalaya and in Tibet. These sonnets are written in homage to places on the edge of things. Each locale invoked through these poems has made me more attentive to the stories that live within a landscape. These places are touchstones. I have chosen the sonnet-as-form, in part, because these poems are an act of love. They are offerings, written in the spirit of ritual and with the knowledge that, like love, landscapes must be true to change. I was fortunate to work with my mother, Mary Heebner on this artist’s book project. To learn more about the process of making A Sacred Geography click here: In June 2006, the exhibit “Mani Wall and A Sacred Geography” opened at the UCLA Fowler Museum. This installation featured a series of paintings by Mary Heebner, the artist’s book, and photography of the region by Macduff Everton, my stepfather.
This work combines a series of my poems with traditional court songs from Mustang, Nepal, compose... more This work combines a series of my poems with traditional court songs from Mustang, Nepal, composed for combined choruses and chamber orchestra by Andrea Clearfield. Co-commissioned by the Mendelssohn Club and the Pennsylvania Girl Choir for premiere with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia on April, 29 2012.
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The book is now in its second edition and has also been produced in Tibetan Language, thanks to the Tibetan Arts and Literature Initiative.