Research Associate Professor (retired)
Anthropology
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
M.P.H., Harvard School of Public Health

Department of Anthropology
Old Science Building, Suite 230
University of Houston
Houston, Texas  77204-5020

Biographical Summary

Professor Gordon has recently completed field work in Belize, where he has had an ethnographic field school for UH graduate and undergraduate students.  In addition to his recently published book and articles related to this research, and drawing on this field experience, he is currently working on Rastafarians in Belize in the effort to examine new social movements in the context of globalization. Gordon is also invested in bringing together varied theoretical strands of his work — on schema theory, on neuroplasticity, and on addictions —in an effort to deepen our understanding of diabetes and its cultural and biological expressions. His work on diabetes draws on both his longstanding research on addictions and on his more recent fieldwork with the Houston Hispanic community.  Professor Gordon also maintains his activity in applied anthropology concerned with the asylum issues of Fulani and in increasing voter participation in the democratic process.

Selected Publications

• 2018a Gordon, Andrew J. Editor’s Introduction to special issue “Ethnographic Methods in the Study of Ethnicity and Substance Abuse,” Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse 18 (1)
• 2018b  Gordon, Andrew J. “Exploring Cooperatives, Cooperation and the Nature of Work in a Belizean Village.”  International Journal of Cooperative Studies 7 (1):1-13.
• 2017 Gordon, Andrew J. Agents of Change in Bullet Tree Falls: How a Village in Belize Responded to Influences of Globalization.  Boston: Cengage.
• 2016 Gordon, Andrew J. Globalization in Belize: Weak and Strong Forces. Research Reports in Belizean History and Anthropology 4 (4):  87-95.
• 2008 Gordon, Andrew J. and Atoulaye Sall, “Fulani Beliefs.”  In Health Knowledge and Belief Systems in Africa, Toyin Falola and Matthew M. Heaton, eds. pp 67-82.  Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
• 2007 Gordon, Andrew J. P. Stanley Yoder, and Mamadou Camara, “Witnessing Practice: The Treatment of Childhood Illness In Upper Guinea, Western Africa.” The Applied Anthropologist 27 (3):  139-153.
• 2004 Gordon, Andrew J., P. Stanley Yoder, and Mamadou Camara Signs of Illness, Treatment, and Support for Young Children in Guinea:  A Prospective Community Study.  USAID-contract No. HRN-C-00-97-00019-00, 2004.
• 2002 Gordon, Andrew J, Conakry in  World Encyclopedia of Cities, Mel Ember and Carol Ember, eds. Vol.2  pp 70-76.  New York:  Grolier Press

Research Interests

Medical and Applied Anthropology, Urban Environments, International Development, Globalization and Alcohol/Drug Studies:  Latin America, West Africa, U.S. Cities

Photos

Professor Gordon in Konindou, Haut Guinee, W. Africa	With ex-prime minister "Father of the Belize", George Price