Research/Areas of Interest:
Latin American Studies, with an emphasis on the Andean Region
Critical theory applied to medicine, psychology and anthropology
Gender studies
Domestic, structural and political violence
Human rights and international humanitarian law
Truth commissions, transitional justice and reconciliation
The politics of post-war reparations
Comparative peace processes
Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs for ex-combatants
US counter-narcotics policy
Education
- BA, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, United States, 1991
- MPH, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States, 1993
- MA, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States, 1997
- PhD, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States, 2002
Biography
Professor Theidon is medical anthropologist focusing on Latin America. Her research interests include political violence, transitional justice, humanitarian and post-conflict interventions, gender studies and drug policy. She is the author of many articles, commissioned reports, and two books. Entre Prójimos: El conflicto armado interno y la política de la reconciliación en el Perú (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 1st edition 2004; 2nd edition 2009) was awarded the Latin American Studies Association 2006 Premio Iberoamericano Book Award Honorable Mention for outstanding book in the social sciences published in Spanish or Portuguese. Her second book, Intimate Enemies: Violence and Reconciliation in Peru (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012) was awarded the 2013 Honorable Mention from the Washington Office on Latin America-Duke University Libraries Book Award for Human Rights in Latin America, and the 2013 Honorable Mention for the Eileen Basker Prize from the Society for Medical Anthropology for research on gender and health. She is currently completing two book manuscripts. Pasts Imperfect: Working with Former Combatants in Colombia is based on research with former combatants from the paramilitaries, the FARC and the ELN. Sex at the Security Council: A Greater Measure of Justice draws upon her research in Peru on sexual violence, children born of wartime rape, and the politics of reparations.