Hailey Reissner

• SOAR Position: Member
• Major: Undergraduate: Anthropology, Masters: Liberal Arts
• Faculty Mentor(s): Dr. Ida Fadzillah Leggett

Current Focus: Eastern Understanding of Medicine Compared to Western: How Ideas of Health have Changed and How it is Addressed

Project Description

My research surrounds the idea of health and wellness and how it is perceived and dealt with in differing cultures. The westernized cultures act out cyclical cycles of getting sick, going to the doctor, then receiving a prescription. Eastern cultures challenge this tradition with the prevalent use of holistic medicinal practices at home.

Why does this topic interest you?

This topic interests me because of the historical use of home remedies compared to visiting the doctor's office and receiving prescription antibiotics. I like exploring the ideas that don’t go along with modern thought and approach them through anthropological methods to understand how and why we as humans practice this way.

What are your professional aspirations?

My professional aspirations would be to become a professor of Anthropology or work with cultural based curations at museums or expos. This field isn’t widely known, and I would love to share it with anyone interested in the history/ study.

Do you have any advice for future researchers?

Go for it! The experience alone will pay off in the long run and along the way you’ll meet some amazing people. Take the time, read the articles, and stay strong. If it is important to you, then it will be important to others. That’s the exciting thing about research; it may have already been investigated, but every angle matters and it can shine some new light. By “going for it”, I gained in-lab knowledge, was published in the URECA Newsletter, and landed a preliminary job in my field.

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