William Robertson

Broadly, I am interested in the connections between biomedical practice and cultural norms concerning bodies, genders, and sexualities. My research sits at the intersections of critical medical anthropology, queer theory, and science & technology studies.

My work has focused on issues concerning queer and trans people in medical settings. My dissertation project, based on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork at an anal cancer prevention clinic in Chicago, developed a queer theory of care that challenges heteronormative logics underlying both medical care and anthropological scholarship on care. My earlier Master's Thesis work examined the experiences of queer medical students as they were socialized into medical professionalism and developed a heteronormative medical gaze.

My new work builds on my queer theory of care in a collaborative engaged-applied project in Memphis examining the care and wellbeing needs of LGBTQ+ people in re-entry after incarceration.