Bettina Shell-Duncan (PhD 1994, Pennsylvania State)
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Nutritional anthropology, disease ecology, evolutionary medicine, maternal and child health, female genital cutting, integrated qualitative and quantitative study of medical anthropology and global health, field studies in Kenya, Senegal and The Gambia.
"Throughout my career I have been conducting mixed method biocultural research on maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa. My earlier research focus was on nutrition, immunity and morbidity among nomadic children in Kenya, the health effects of settlement of former nomads, and evolutionary approaches to the study of micronutrient nutrition. More recently my research has focuses on the study of female genital cutting (FGC). I have examined the cultural context and health consequences of FGC among Rendille women in northern Kenya, as well as debates over medicalization of the practice. Through my work with WHO and UNICEF, I have examined the politics of the international campaign to end FGC, and the implication of adopting a health and human rights framework. I have recently been conducting mixed method research on the theoretical and empirical dimensions of the dynamics of behavior change with respect to FGC in Senegal and The Gambia. This work examines the outcome of various strategies aimed at ending FGC, such as legislation and various community-based interventions, and evaluates their correspondence with leading theories of behavior change. I am also examining the connections between local and transnational strategies to end the practice, including legislation and asylum.”
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Selected Publications:
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2008
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From Health to Human Rights: Female Genital Cutting and the Politics of Intervention. American Anthropologist 110 (2): 225-236.
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2007
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Hernlund, Y., Shell-Duncan, B. (eds.) Transcultural Bodies: Female Genital Cutting in Global Context. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
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2007
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Hernlund, Y., Shell-Duncan, B. Contingency, context and change: Negotiating female genital cutting in The Gambia and Senegal. Africa Today 53(4):43-57.
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2006
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Shell-Duncan, B., Hernlund, Y. Are there “stages of change” in the practice of female genital cutting?: Qualitative research findings from Senegal and The Gambia. African Journal of Reproductive Health, special issue on Female Genital Mutilation 10 (2): 57-71.
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2005
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Shell-Duncan BK, McDade TW. Cultural and environmental barriers to adequate iron intake among Northern Kenyan schoolchildren. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 26 (1): 39-48.
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2004
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Shell-Duncan, B.K., Yung, S.A. The maternal depletion transition in northern Kenya: The effects of settlement, development and disparity. Social Science and Medicine 58: 2485-2498.
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2004
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Shell-Duncan BK, McDade TW. Use of combined measures from capillary blood to assess iron status in rural Kenyan children. Journal of Nutrition 134:384-387.
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2002
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McDade, T.W., Shell-Duncan, B. A minimally-invasive method for assessing transferrin receptor in whole blood spots. Journal of Nutrition 132:3760-3763.
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2001
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Shell-Duncan BK. The medicalization of female "circumcision": harm reduction or promotion of a dangerous practice? Social Science and Medicine 52:1013-1028.
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2000
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Shell-Duncan BK, Hernlund Y. (eds) Female “Circumcision” in Africa: Culture, Controversy and Change. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, CO.
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