Expertise: medical and environmental anthropology; critical race studies; gender and sexuality, indigenous studies

Ruth Goldstein, global and international studies assistant professor, pursues research at the intersections of medical and environmental anthropology. She applies her interests to analyze the socio-environmental consequences of transnational infrastructure projects and climate change, with a particular focus on intersections of race, indigeneity, women’s health, and human rights in South America.  Her current book project examines the traffic in women destined for the sex-trade, plants employed for reproductive health – often en route to pharmaceutical analysis, and Amazonian gold along the Interoceanic Road in Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia.

Her work has been supported by the Teagle Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. Findings have been published in Anthropology Matters, Latin American Policy, and Pragmatics and Society, among others.

Goldstein earned her Ph.D. in medical anthropology through a joint program with the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, San Francisco. She has an M.A. in folklore from UC Berkeley and a B.A. in the College of Letters and French studies from Wesleyan University.