Dr. Janis Hutchinson

janis hutchinson

Department of Anthropology

Telephone: (713)743-3785

Fax: (713)743-4287

Texas 77204-5020

Education

M.P.H., School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1997.
Ph.D., University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, Anthropology, 1984.
M. Phil., University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1982.
M.A., University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Anthropology, 1980.
B.A., University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Anthropology, 1975.

Honors

Who’s Who in America, 2004.
Phi Beta Delta-UH, Honor Society for International Scholars, 2000.
Visionaries of Excellence Award, National Women Achievers-Houston Chapter, 1996.
Heritage Education Award, given to `Keep Five Alive' for Evergreen Negro Cemetery Project, 1994.
Fellow, American Anthropological Association, 1993-present.
Nominated for Teaching Excellence Award, The University of Houston, 1992.
Nominated for Teaching Excellence Award, The University of Houston, 1989.
Nominated for Teaching Excellence Award, The University of Houston, 1988.
Summer Fellowship, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1983.
Gerontology Fellowship, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1981-1982.
Post-baccalaureate Fellowship, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1980-1981.

Selected Publications

Hutchinson, Janis Faye, Editor, CULTURAL PORTRAYALS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS: CREATING AN ETHNIC/RACIAL IDENTITY. Westport, Conn.:Bergin and Garvey, 1997.
Hutchinson, Janis, THE COEXISTENCE OF RACE AND RACISM: CAN THEY BECOME EXTINCT TOGETHER. University Press of America, in progress.
Hutchinson, Janis, POWER, RACE, AND CULTURE: THE EVOLUTION OF A BLACK ANTHROPOLOGIST. Hamilton Books, in progress.

Research Interests

I am currently conducting an oral history study on African American and Creole history in Natchitoches Parish. Over a hundred people were interviewed between 2000 and 2002. Through examination of these oral histories and analysis of primary and secondary sources, I am investigating the history, development and culture of Africans, Creoles, and African Americans from 1722 to the 1960s. This study focuses on traditional medicines and health, plantation life/sharecropping, education, local politics, race/culture, foodways, agriculture, leisure time and social activities as well as daily life.
I am currently working on the Human Genome Project where I am examining the impact of new genetic information on health beliefs of Indian Americans in Houston, Texas. I will conduct focus groups to engage community members in discussions about: 1) human genetic variation research and the construction of an international haplotype map; 2) social meanings attached to racial and ethnic identities; and 3) the potential for genetic variation research and haplotype mapping to affect how members of the community interpret those racial and ethnic identities.

Teaching

African American Studies