- Associate Director, Center for Applied Anthropology
- Director, Culture, Society & Health Program
- Faculty Sponsor, Lambda Alpha Gamma, National Anthropology Honor Society
Contact Information
- Office: 246 Landrum
- Phone: (859) 572-7845
- FAX: (859) 572-6086
- Email: lottj1@nku.edu
Research & Teaching Interests
Medical anthropology; feminist anthropology; intersectionality; gender and health; the anthropology of reproduction; the politics of reproduction; health disparities; anthropology of the United States, Latin America
Current Research
My research uses narratives to illustrate lived experiences of reproductive negotiations and constraints among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. I am interested in how structural inequalities (such as sexism and racism) affect the intimate worlds of reproductive negotiation, family formation, and pregnancy in cultural context. I use narrative to learn how women, in particular, mobilize their gendered identity and cultural norms to negotiate with social and structural limitations they experience as they become mothers (or push against that role). My dissertation explored these themes among heterosexual, middle-class Latinx couples in Dallas, Texas. As participants engaged with a middle-class identity and expectations, they leveraged various gendered ideals and the value of familismo to maintain social standing in their extended families. At NKU, I am continuing to explore the themes of identity and structural constraints in the context of reproduction in the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati region.
Academic Degrees
- Ph.D. Southern Methodist University
- M.A. Southern Methodist University
- B.A. Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Courses
- ANT 100 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
- ANT 201 World Cultures
- ANT 321 Medical Anthropology
- ANT 330 Sex, Gender, and Culture
- ANT 340 Ethnographic Methods and Research
Accolades
- 2025 Help a Norse Champion
- 2007 “Article of the Year” from The Writing Center Journal (joint honor with coauthors)
- 2007 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (Honorable Mention)
Selected Publications
- 2021 Lott, Jessica and Jennifer Sullivan. “Authentic Learning in Cultural Anthropology: Editing Wikipedia for Real-World Impact.” In Wikipedia and Academic Libraries: A Global Project, edited by Laurie Bridges, Raymond Pub, and Roberto Arteaga. Maize Books (an imprint of Michigan Publishing). Available here: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11778416.ch5.en
- 2015 “Is it Selfish Not to Have Children?: Reproductive Decision Making among Latino Couples” Council for the Anthropology of Reproduction Newsletter.
- 2013 “Critical Intersections: Histories of Latinos, Reproduction, and Disability” National Museum of American History Blog: O Say Can You See?
