Daniel didn’t even mention this to me, but looking for a photo of him for a poster, I came across this press release: our leading contributor also managed to pick up the University of Notre Dame’s 2009 Rodney F. Ganey, Ph.D., Faculty Community-Based Research Award for his many contributions to community-based research at Notre Dame.

Although he’s done a number of community-based research projects and supported student research (some of which we’ve read about on this site), the press release of the award also singles out his innovative design of the course, ‘Researching Disease: Methods in Medical Anthropology.’ In this class, Daniel has teamed up with local organizations like Imani Unidad, African American Women in Touch, Notre Dame Office of Alcohol and Drug Education, and a support group for veterans suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in order to place students where they can do research of real consequence to the local community. As the press release describes:

The research has since enabled community organizations to improve the conditions in hospital waiting rooms, educate the public about PTSD and provide better services to women living with HIV/AIDS. Findings have been published electronically on Neuroanthropology.net, and one project was turned into a guide book, “Underneath It All: Humor in Breast Cancer,” which has been used by McKinney-Arnold and Memorial Hospital in South Bend.

If you want to know more, go to the Notre Dame Anthropology news page to check out the video link, or see some of the reports Daniel has posted from the research on Neuroanthropology.net, including a number of pieces by the students themselves.

When Pink Ribbons Are No Comfort: On Humor and Breast Cancer
More Than A Waiting Room
Forever at War: Veterans’ Everyday Battles with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Just a Place to Talk: Women and HIV/AIDS