My Dedication to Study Anthropology at Ohio State University

I am applying to your Ph.D. program in Anthropology (Cultural) at Ohio State University (OU) in order to further my research interests related to migration and health. After graduating in 2009 from Iran Islamic Azad University, Tehran Central Branch with a Master’s Degree in Archaeology, I worked for nearly seven years at the Golestan Institute of Higher Education in Iran. Throughout my graduate career, I was interested in topics related to medical anthropology; during this time, I worked for a traditional medicine center in Iran and learned a great deal about popular treatments and herbal remedies. I decided I wanted to gain further expertise in this area, and I applied to the M.A. program in Anthropology at Georgia State University, which I completed in May of 2019.

Since moving to the Atlanta metropolitan area for my graduate studies, I have had some great opportunities to work with organizations that help refugee communities. I volunteered with WellRefugee Center in Clarkston, Georgia (a refugee-accepting town that is often called “the most diverse square mile in America”) and did volunteer work, including translation and ethnographic research. While I was doing my research on traditional medicine in different cultures for one of my classes, I was able to help several refugee families gain access to better health care in Atlanta. I had an opportunity to cooperate with another nonprofit organization in Clarkston, the Family Heritage Foundation, and it was there that I first became interested in childhood trauma among refugee families. This nonprofit offers educational facilities and other services to refugee families and their children. As a volunteer in June 2018, I met refugee families and learned about the challenges they face when migrating to the United States as well as their current living situations here. Through this volunteer opportunity, I became interested in and passionate about refugee mental health and the effects of migration on refugee children. Therefore, my Master’s thesis research in Anthropology focused on adversities among refugee families based on ethnographic work, including in-depth interviews. The main findings from my thesis were tied to the academic challenges among refugee children who had endured violence and dislocation from their homes and the inability of refugee families to navigate the complicated healthcare system in the U.S. Through my anthropological studies, I gained valuable skills in conducting in-depth interviews and use of mixed methods.

As a PhD student, I will expand on these studies by continuing to research the cultural and contextual influences on health among migrant and refugee populations, examining programs and policies that affect these individuals, and identifying the ways that the immigration and resettlement process exacerbates or mitigates the stressors associated with immigration. I also plan to identify potential ways to prevent trauma among refugee communities. Specifically, I want to study how the refugee experience is especially stressful for immigrants and their children, by looking at the wider context of trauma through the experiences of living in refugee camps, migrating (sometimes leaving family and community behind), experiencing food insecurity, linguistic adaptations, death of family members, exposure to warfare, and experience of new environments. I will attempt to answer the questions about when and where a pattern of trauma is predictable at high occurrences among refugee families due to the social and environmental backgrounds in which various elements are found. In my PhD studies, I will take a holistic approach to study immigration and resettlement processes and their possible effects on refugees’ mental health and well-being, as well as the factors which may mitigate or exacerbate the effects of trauma on the refugee communities. Measuring and characterizing psychosocial stress among refugee families provides valuable insights into the vulnerability of refugees and their families to trauma and other health issues.

I found that qualitative, ethnographic research methods (including participant observation, formal interviews, and conversations), along with my dual role as a researcher and intern, facilitated important insights into the challenges faced by the people I was working with and studying. In undertaking my PhD research, I will contribute empirically and theoretically to the fields of child health, health promotion, mental health, and wellbeing among refugee communities. The work of several social scientists has informed my research and thought process as an anthropologist so far: Donna Goldstein for her work in favela communities in Brazil, particularly her discussion in her ethnography Laughter Out of Place of how we might contextualize (without condoning) abusive parenting practices in the context of Brazilian favela communities; Gay Becker’s work on the stress associated with the sudden uprooting that takes place for many refugees and Brandon Korht; and Daniel Hrushka’s work on psychological trauma among Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. Also at Georgia State University, I had a chance to consult with Dr. Shanta Dube, a professor of public health who also worked for many years as a CDC researcher on a well-known Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study to learn more about her work on childhood trauma from a public health perspective. I have also gained insights from Arthur Kleinman's work on collecting qualitative data on health and illness experience, including his recent arguments about endurance vs. resilience in discussing trauma.

My goal in choosing the PhD program in Anthropology (Cultural) is to combine my background in medical anthropology – which includes training in ethnographic methods, ideally suited for building deeper understanding of immigrants’ cross-cultural adjustments – with the skill sets and perspectives available in a doctoral program in Anthropology, so that in the future I will be better equipped to design culturally-appropriate and effective community health interventions or shape community health policy, particularly for immigrants. I am confident that with my academic background, as well as the work experiences gained during my M.A studies at Georgia State University, I am prepared to successfully complete a Ph.D. in Anthropology (Cultural). After graduation, I plan to pursue a tenure-track position where I can demonstrate my passion for research and teaching.

The Anthropology doctoral program at Ohio State University will offer me further training in theory and its application, as well as innovative research methods and designing and applying those research techniques to the real world in an ethical way. From a careful review of the several research projects, faculty members and course designs I believe that the Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University offers me ideal opportunities for my future PhD ambition. In particular, Dr. Douglas Crews’ work is relevant to my own, and I corresponded with him over email in September- October 2019. Dr. Crews’ and Dr. Cohen’s study on Mexican immigrants in Columbus (“A disconnect between migrants’ stories and their health”) is compelling and could inform my future research. Dr. Crews’ current research on maternal health and pregnancy outcomes also overlaps with my research interests in terms of population health. If given an opportunity, I would be keen to engage with both Department of Anthropology and Department of Public Health, and I know that Dr. Crews is affiliated with Public Health as well. Also, Dr. Jeffery Cohen,’s work expertise on migration of Mexicans to Columbus, Ohio and Dr. Barbara Piperata’s research on maternal mental and physical health and child health overlap with my research interests as well. Given her expertise, Dr. Piperata’s work is relevant to the research I would like to pursue for my PhD in terms of childhood trauma, global health, and health disparities and will provide the guidance necessary to explore my research themes. Under their mentorship, I could continue my research among refugee populations in Clarkston, Georgia since I already have established connections or if given any chances I would be open to work with refugee and immigrant population in Columbus or any other settings; I know that Cleveland, Ohio, has a significant refugee population as well, and they have some links to Clarkston. I believe that I will be able to contribute to and learn from the academically challenging environment at the Ohio State University department of Anthropology.

As a foreign speaker of English, I have not mastered standardized GRE test-taking in a way that the test reflects my full competency in English. However, my GPA in GSU’s MA program (4.13 average) and my success conducting fieldwork demonstrates my fluency, including my capacity to grasp difficult concepts and complex situations in real-life contexts.

I am confident that my previous training, my dedication to higher education, and my desire to support the community health outcomes of immigrants will make me a successful graduate student and a valuable contribution to your department. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any additional information. Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.