Clara Han

Clara Han is a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. She holds appointments in the Program for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality; Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship; East Asian Studies; and the Center for Medical Humanities and Social Medicine. Her work bridges anthropology, public health, and social theory.

• Education: PhD in Social Anthropology (Harvard, 2007); MD (Harvard Medical School, 2007); BA in Molecular Biology & International Affairs (Princeton, 1997)
• Research Sites: Santiago, Chile (20+ years); Korea (recent focus)

Her research examines intersections of violence, care, urban poverty, and kinship. Key themes include:

• Slow violence of economic precarity
• Catastrophic violence (torture, extrajudicial killing, war)
• Illness experience in deprived contexts
• Inheritance of trauma through childhood

Recent projects include a study on police violence in Santiago and a NSF-funded pandemic study on household decision-making. She co-founded the Critical Responses to Anti-Asian Violence initiative and leads the Forms of Life network (CNRS-funded).

• Awards: 2022 Feminist Anthropology Book Prize
• Editorial Roles: Co-founder of Thinking From Elsewhere book series (Fordham UP)