Tess Bird
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Tess B. Bird
Curriculum Vitae

Education
DPhil Anthropology; University of Oxford; 2018
MSc Medical Anthropology; University of Oxford; 2012 (with Distinction)
BA Women’s Studies; University of Connecticut; 2008 (magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa)

Professional Appointments
  • Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Writing for the Social Sciences, Shapiro Center for Writing, Wesleyan University, CT. ​

Current Affiliations
  • Research Affiliate, Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford (2020-2022)
  • Fellow, Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity, University of Oxford (2018-present)​

Publications
​​Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles in Anthropology
  • Bird, T. (2021) Being Alone Together: Yoga, bodywork, and intimate sociality in American households. Anthropology and Medicine. 28(3). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13648470.2021.1949960
  • Bird T. (2019) The Creativity of Everyday Uncertainty: Improvisation, material security, and wellbeing in urban households in the Northeastern United States. Journal of Organisational Ethnography, 9(1):1-16.  https://doi.org/10.1108/JOE-12-2017-0073
​Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles in Public Health and Science Studies
  • Bird, T, Steffen J, Tran T, and Egilman D. A review of the talc industry's influence on federal regulation and scientific standards for asbestos in talc. New Solutions. 31(2). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1048291121996645 
  • Steffen J, Yimam M, Tran T, Bird T, Clancy K, Rigler M, Longo M, Egilman M. (2020). Serous ovarian cancer caused by exposure to asbestos and fibrous talc in cosmetic talc powders – a case series. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Feb;62(2):e65-e77. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31868762/
  • Egilman D, Bird T, Wilson R. (2018) The use of anti-warnings to falsely reassure downstream users: An asbestos example. New Solutions. 28(3). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30126335/
  • Egilman D, Bird T. (2016) Short Fiber Tremolite Free Chrysotile Mesothelioma Cohort Revealed. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 59(1). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26725926/
  • Egilman D, Bird T, Lee C. (2014) Dust Diseases and the Legacy of Corporate Manipulation of Science and Law (Part 2 of 2). International Journal of Occupational & Environmental Health, 20(2). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4090870/
  • Egilman D, Bird T, Lee C. (2013) MetLife and its corporate allies: dust diseases and the manipulation of science (Part 1 of 2). International Journal of Occupational & Environmental Health, 19(4). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24588035/
  • Egilman D, Ardolino E, Howe S, Bird T. (2011) Deconstructing a State of the Art Review of the Asbestos Brake Industry. New Solutions, 21(4). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22202589/​
Commentaries and Letters
  • Egilman D, Castleman B, Bird, T. (2021) Letter to the Editor Regarding Bolluck 2020. Critical Reviews in Toxicology. Ahead of publication: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408444.2020.1856773 
  • Bird T and Egilman D. (2019) A Letter from the Editors: An Introduction to the Journal of Scientific Practice and Integrity. The Journal of Scientific Practice and Integrity, 1(1). Online: https://doi.org/10.35122/jospi.2019.873868
  • Tran T, Steffen J, Clancy K, Bird T, and Egilman D. (2019) Talc, Asbestos, and Epidemiology: Corporate Influence and Scientific Incognizance. Epidemiology. 30(6): 783–788. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6784763/
  • Egilman D, Bird T, Mora F, Druar N. (2011) Gets AIDS and survive? The “perverse” effects of aid: addressing the social and environmental determinants of health, promoting sustainable primary care, and rethinking global health aid. Int J Occup Environ Health. Oct-Dec 2011;17(4):364-82. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22069935/​
Department Pedagogical Publications
  • Bird, T. (2020) Writing an Analytical Essay Across All Disciplines. Shapiro Center for Writing, Resources for Students. Available from: https://www.wesleyan.edu/writing/writingworkshop/resourcesforstudents/How-to-think-about-writing-an-essay-in-any-discipline.pdf
  • Bird, T. (2020) Teaching Writing Online (response to Covid-19). Shapiro Center for Writing, Resources for Faculty. Available from: https://www.wesleyan.edu/writing/writingworkshop/resourcesforfaculty/A-Guide-to-Teaching-Writing-Online_Shapiro-Center-for-Writing.pdf
  • Bird, T. (2020) Mindfulness for Long Writing Projects. Shapiro Center for Writing, Resources for Students. Available from: https://www.wesleyan.edu/writing/writingworkshop/resourcesforstudents/Mindfulness-for-Long-Writing-Projects.pdf

Grants, Fellowships, and Awards
  • 2018-2020, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Writing for the Social Sciences, Wesleyan University
  • 2019, Sustainability & Environmental Justice Pedagogical Initiative Grant, Wesleyan University
  • 2014-2017, Philip Bagby Scholarship, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford
  • 2013-2016, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology School Bursary, University of Oxford
  • 2017, Vice-Chancellors’ Fund, University of Oxford
  • 2017, Best Poster Award, 1st Place, 12th Annual International Ethnography Symposium, Manchester, U.K., 29 August-1 September
  • 2008, The Connecticut Poetry Circuit (University of Connecticut awardee)

Conference Participation
Panels Organized
  • 2019, Panel organizer: “Toxicity Beyond the Human: The Corporation, Uncertain Science, and Methodologies of Encounter,” 118th American Anthropology Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, 19-24 November.
  • 2017, Roundtable organizer: “Recovering Anthropology’s Voice: From Ethnographic Practice to Writing for the Public,” 116th American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, 28 November-3 December, Washington, DC.
Papers Presented
  • 2019, “Manipulating Uncertainty and Inventing Futures: Thinking About Corporate Documents from an Anthropological Lens.” In: Toxicity Beyond the Human: The Corporation, Uncertain Science, and Methodologies of Encounter (panel). 118th American Anthropology Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, 19-24 November.
  • 2019, "Utilizing Everyday Material Culture in Home-based Studies of Health and Wellbeing.” In: Evaluation in Health Care and Public Health: Anthropological Approaches (panel), Association of Applied Anthropology Annual Meeting 2019, Portland, OR, 19-23 March.
  • 2018, “Beyond the Fit Body: yoga as a connector in the everyday lives of middle class households in Providence, Rhode Island, USA.” In: Yoga Bodies and the Transformation of the Self (panel), Association of Social Anthropologists Annual Conference 2018, Oxford, UK, 18-21 September.
  • 2017, “Encouraging Providence: Negotiating Uncertainty and Wellbeing in the Home,” In: Silver Linings: The Creative Potential of Uncertain Times (panel/stream), 12th Annual International Ethnography Symposium, Manchester, UK, 29 August-1 September.
  • 2011, Get AIDS and Survive: Are we making things worse by ‘doing good’?” American Public Health Association Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
  • 2006, “Getting the [Creative] Word Out: Creating Connections with Creative Writers in Writing Centers at the University and High School Level,” Northeast Writing Center Association Annual Conference, Amherst, NH.

Talks
Invited
  • 2021. "Lock Down Food: Podcasting through the Pandemic." Oxford Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity, University of Oxford, UK, 13 May.
  • 2020, “The Visual Materiality of Corporate Science: Asbestos, Tobacco, Pharma, and Food,” Oxford Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity, University of Oxford, UK, 12 March.
  • 2019, “What’s in the Fridge? The Everyday Material Culture of Health and Wellbeing,” Oxford Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity, University of Oxford, UK, 16 May.
  • 2018, “Locating Everyday Uncertainty,” Copenhagen Centre for Health Research in the Humanities (CoRe), University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 11 December.
Institutional/Departmental
  • 2020, “Teaching Writing Online.” Shapiro Center for Writing, Wesleyan University (Spring 2020)
  • 2019, “From Anxiety to Creativity: Utilizing Uncertainty in the Classroom.” Center for Pedagogical Innovation, Wesleyan University (Spring 2019)
  • 2017, “The Uncertainty of Love: Intimacy, Care, and Wellbeing in the Urban American Home,” International Gender Studies Centre, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, Spring 2017
Co-Convened Seminar Series
  • 2017-2018, Oxford Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity termly seminar series (Winter 2017; Spring 2017; Fall 2017; Winter 2018)
  • 2017, Oxford International Gender Studies Centre termly seminar series: “The Making and Unmaking of the Home in an Uncertain World” (Spring 2017)

Teaching     
Verto Education, First Year Study Abroad Programs 
  • Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Hawai’i (2020)
Wesleyan University (2018-2020)
  • Uncertainty and the Future (First Year Seminar, cross-listed: Science in Society, Writing) (Course Description)
  • Extreme Landscapes of the Anthropocene (cross-listed: Science in Society, College of the Environment, Writing) (Course Description)
  • Living within the BioLogical (First Year Seminar, cross-listed: Science in Society, Writing) (Course Description)
University of Oxford (2017-2018)
  • Nutritional Anthropology (graduate and undergraduate)
University of Georgia Study Abroad at University of Oxford (2016-2017)
  • Introduction to Anthropology
The Washington International Studies Council & The Oxford Study Abroad Programme (2016-2017)
  • Introduction to Anthropology
  • Medical Anthropology
  • Anthropology of Biology and Medicine
Brown University, Alpert Medical School (2013-2014)
  • Science and Power, Teaching Assistant
Peer Writing Tutor, University of Connecticut Writing Center (2004-2008)

Professional Development
  • 2018, Story Time: How to Write for the Public Workshop, American Anthropological Association, Vancouver, BC
  • 2017, Venture Idea Exploration Workshop (VIEW), Enterprising Oxford, Oxford University, UK (entrepreneurship training)
  • 2017, AnthropologyCon Games Workshop, American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC (using games in teaching and learning)

Professional Experience
  • ​2011-2020, Medical-Legal Researcher (Part-Time), Never Again Consulting, Attleboro, MA  
  • 2010-2011, Medical-Legal Researcher (Full-Time), Never Again Consulting, Attleboro, MA  
  • 2012-2013, Communications Associate & Event Organizer, Global Health through Education, Training, and Service, Attleboro, MA
  • 2013-2014, Social Medicine Course Developer/Editor, NextGenU.org, Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • 2008-present, Independent Writing Coach and Editor (corporate, academic, and ESL clients)


 

Copyright Tess Bird 2021