Jarrett Zigon

Jarrett Zigon is the William & Linda Porterfield Chair in Biomedical Ethics and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on the anthropology of ethics, bioethics, and critical hermeneutics, addressing topics like the war on drugs, artificial intelligence ethics, and climate crisis ethics. He has conducted fieldwork in Russia, the U.S., Canada, and Denmark, and his work bridges continental philosophy with empirical ethnography.

Education: Ph.D. in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center (2006); M.A. in Liberal Arts (focus: moral and political philosophy), St. John’s College (1998).

Research Interests: Zigon’s work explores relational ethics, the ethical implications of data-centric technologies, and the political dimensions of drug user movements. His frameworks emphasize care, responsibility, and attunement in navigating contemporary crises like algorithmic governance and environmental collapse. Recent publications include How is it between us? (2024) and A War on People (2019).

Articles Trends: His scholarship critically examines how ethical frameworks respond to modern challenges—e.g., data privacy, algorithmic bias, and post-truth dynamics. He advocates for relational ethics as a lens to address systemic issues in health, technology, and social justice.

Awards:

• Fulbright-Hays Fellowship
• Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) Grant
• European Research Council (ERC) Funding

Advising & Grants: Zigon has directed the Health, Ethics, and Society Program and founded the Center for Data Ethics and Justice at UVA. His grants include interdisciplinary projects on moral experience and ethics in AI.

Labs/Teams: His work intersects with the Center for Data Ethics and Justice (now led by others) and collaborates with global research networks exploring ethics in technology and health.