Brenna McCaffrey
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Bailey Hall 107
(585)245-5818
bmccaffrey@geneseo.edu
she/her
Office Hours
Fall 2026
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 3:30pm-4:30pm
Curriculum Vitae
Education
PhD Anthropology, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Advanced Certificate in Public Health, CUNY School of Public Health
BA Anthropology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, SUNY New Paltz
Selected Publications
2026. “Abortion Activism” in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Gender and Women’s History. Amanda Capern, ed.
2025. Pills & Protest: Abortion Access in Ireland. Bloomsbury Academic Press.
2024. “The Woman is the Active Agent: General Practitioners and the Agentive Displacement of Abortion in Ireland” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 38(2): 193-207.
2024. “Aiding, Abetting, & America’s Bitter Abortion Pill”. L’Homme: European Journal of Feminist History, 35(2): 111 – 116.
2023. “Technologies of Protest in Irish Abortion Activism.” Feminist Anthropology 4(1): 115-131.
Williamson, McCaffrey, Premkumar, Mishtal, Cogburn, Howes-Mishel, and Lowe. 2022. “CAR (Council on Anthropology and Reproduction) Statement on the Reversal of Roe v. Wade”. Rapid Response Series, Medical Anthropology Quarterly.
2022. “Op-Ed: We Should Talk More About the Abortion Pill.” SAPIENS, May 12.
Research Interests
Dr. McCaffrey is a cultural and medical anthropologist whose research explores the interaction of activism, health, and gender in Europe and the United States.
Student Research Opportunities
Dr. McCaffrey runs the Reproductive Politics research lab, which explores topics related to: abortion activism & access; reproductive health & decision-making; and young people, climate change, and environmental activism & conservation.
Student research assistants on these projects work on background research, literature reviews, research design, interviews, qualitative data analysis through Atlas.TI software, and written and oral presentations. Students have opportunities to author and present research at Geneseo, as well as at regional and national conferences.
Student who wish to become involved should be majors or minors in Sociomedical Sciences or Anthropology, or a related social science major with some course experience in the research topics. Students should take ANTH319: Politics of Reproduction if offered, or another course with Dr. McCaffrey, and have a strong academic record. Preference for students who can commit to at least two semesters of involvement. Email Dr. McCaffrey or stop by her office hours for more information!