Brenna McCaffrey
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Bailey Hall 107
585-245-5818
bmccaffrey@geneseo.edu
she/her
Office Hours:
Fall 2025
Mondays 2:30pm- 4:30pm
Wednesdays 3:30pm-5:00pm
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
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 Feminism.” 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. https://medanthroquarterly.org/rapid-response/2022/08/car-statement-on-the-reversal-of-roe-v-wade/
2022. “Op-Ed: We Should Talk More About the Abortion Pill.” SAPIENS, May 12. https://www.sapiens.org/culture/abortion-pill-change-activist-strategies/
Research Interests
Dr. McCaffrey is a cultural and medical anthropologist whose research explores the interaction of medicine, activism, and gender in Europe and the United States.
Student Research Opportunities
Dr. McCaffrey has two on-going research projects related to reproductive politics, health, and gender, that interested students can become involved in:
- Reproductive Justice and Interstate Solidarity in Post-Dobbs New York State
- Gender Politics and Reproductive Futurity in the Face of Demographic Decline
Student research assistants on these projects work on background research, literature reviews, research design, interviews, qualitative coding through Atlas.TI software, data analysis, and written and oral presentations. Students have opportunities to author and present research at Geneseo, as well as at regional and national conferences. Preference for students who can commit to at least two semesters of involvement. The research team generally meets on Monday or Wednesday afternoons. Email Dr. McCaffrey or stop by her office hours for more information!