معرفی
Michele Friedner is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago. Her research focuses on medical anthropology, disability studies, and sensory ethnography, with a primary focus on deafness and disability in India. She explores how technologies like cochlear implants shape social, moral, and economic practices, analyzing intersections between disability, technology, and state policies. Her work challenges norms of sensory normality and examines dependencies created by medical interventions. Key projects include studies on cochlear implant infrastructures, disability inclusion in workplaces, and the ethics of substituted decision-making in guardianship systems.
Her book Sensory Futures: Cochlear Implants and Sensory Infrastructures in India (2022) won the 2023 Rachel Carson Prize. Supported by grants from the NSF and NEH, her research combines ethnographic methods with policy analysis. She teaches courses on disability, design, and global health, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to structural ableism and disability justice.
Awards: 2023 Rachel Carson Prize (SSK Society).
Current projects include longitudinal studies of cochlear implant recipients in India, investigations into communication practices in U.S. carceral institutions, and analyses of disability categories in Indian affirmative action programs. Her work bridges anthropology, STS, and public policy to advocate for inclusive futures.
