معرفی
Thomas Strong is a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Maynooth University, within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. He holds a BA from Reed College (1994) and a PhD from Princeton University (2004). His research explores witchcraft, HIV/AIDS, queer theory, and the sociocultural symbolism of the body, with extensive fieldwork in Papua New Guinea and studies on gay male sexual cultures in San Francisco and Dublin.
Research interests include the intersection of witchcraft, modernity, and colonialism in Papua New Guinea; HIV/AIDS-related stigma; and the ethics of proximity during the pandemic. He has led projects funded by the Irish Research Council (Culture and Sexual Risk) and the Social Science Research Council (Invisible Monsters?), examining sexual health and pandemic imaginaries.
Teaching focuses on Medical Anthropology, Witchcraft, and Queer Theory, emphasizing ethnographic methods and the 'Law of the Familiarstrange' to challenge cultural assumptions. He actively engages with NGOs addressing Ireland's HIV crisis and housing activism, linking contemporary issues to historical allegories of dispossession.
Professional affiliations include the American Anthropological Association, European Society of Oceanists, and Finnish Anthropological Society. His work spans peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and conference presentations on topics ranging from Papua New Guinea's witchcraft violence to Ireland's Eighth Amendment repeal.
