Kathryn Goldfarb

Dr. Kathryn Goldfarb is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on the intersections of social relationships, embodied experience, public policy, and scientific knowledge production. She holds a PhD from the University of Chicago (2012) and conducts longitudinal ethnographic work in Japan and the U.S. Her key project, Fragile Kinships: Child Welfare and Well-Being in Japan (2024), examines how family disconnection impacts well-being in Japan’s child welfare system, analyzing kinship ideologies and their ties to national identity. Her current work Knowing Air explores atmospheric data and environmental justice in Colorado’s wildland-urban interface. She collaborates with interdisciplinary teams and community organizations, including the Louisville Historical Museum’s Marshall Fire Story Project. Goldfarb’s work bridges medical anthropology, feminist science studies, and policy analysis, emphasizing how marginalized groups navigate systems of care and environmental inequity.

• Key Affiliations: University of Colorado Boulder, College of Arts and Sciences
• Research Themes: Kinship, Child Welfare, Environmental Justice, Embodied Knowledge
• Notable Projects: Japanese Child Welfare System ethnography, Boulder County Air Quality Initiative