The Wealth and Poverty theme presents the Ohio University Week on Immigrants, featuring Dr. Meredith Gartin on “Displaced Peoples and Migrant Health: The Case of the Karen in Akron, Ohio,” on Monday, Feb. 4, from 5-6 p.m. in Alden 319.
Meredith Gartin
Gartin is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Global Health in the Departments of Interdisciplinary Health Studies at Ohio University. Gartin’s research and teaching examines the human dimensions of global environmental health and urbanization, with a particular focus on vulnerabilities related to food and water. She is especially interested in how globalization and climate change impact health in local ways, like food security, displacement, water resources, and disease. Her training well supports this specific intersection of interests. She received a B.A. in environmental anthropology from the University of Georgia, an M.A. in sociology from Auburn University, a Ph.D. in global health from Arizona State University, and postdoctoral training in urban sustainability and global governance with the Global Institute of Sustainability also at Arizona State University. She has numerous publications in scholarly journals on medical anthropology, global sustainability, and global health.
Abstract: More and more people are being displaced from their homes and forced into resettlement in foreign and unknown countries because of climate change and/or political unrest. Displacement can lead to numerous health outcomes from the physical (infection) to the emotional (depression). The purpose of this talk is to present some perspectives from global health to migration and displacement trends that we see each day in news stories and political discourse. Drawing upon my own research with the Karen refugees in Akron, Ohio, I will present some data on their migration experience as well as current health issues with which they struggle. I will also present on the ways in which the Karen have formed a very close knit community that is providing them a number of health and economic buffers to strengthen their community and improve their health.
For more information on this talk or the Wealth and Poverty Week on Immigrants, please contact Dr. Yeong Kim at kimy1@ohio.edu.
About the Week on Immigrants
Immigration is a significant political issue across the world. An estimated 258 million people worldwide live in a country other than their country of birth. Nearly 50 million now live in the United States.
The Wealth and Poverty Week on Immigrants brings the Ohio University community together to discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by global migration flows both here and abroad.
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