1. People & Departments
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  3. Emily Steinmetz

Emily Steinmetz

Faculty
Department of Anthropology & Archaeology
  • Associate Professor of Anthropology • Chair of Anthropology & Archaeology • Co-Director of the Cromwell Center for Teaching and Learning

esteinmetz

Campus Service
  • Education Volunteer - Baylor Women's Correctional Institution, New Castle, DE
  • Lead Spring Lobby Weekend student trip to Washington, DC, each spring
  • Washington College Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP-WC) Executive Committee Officer.

Emily Steinmetz

 

Office Hours

Mon: 9:30-11am, Thurs 2-3pm, or by Appointment

I am a public anthropologist who uses ethnographic and collaborative research methods to answer questions about inequalities in U.S. life. More specifically, my work explores the carceral state, women's experiences with life sentencing, health, housing, and the intersections of incarceration and environmental justice.

 

Education

  • Ph.D., Anthropology, Northwestern University, 2013
  • M.A., Public Anthropology, American University, 2003
  • B.A., English & Anthropology, University of Rhode Island

 

Academic Expertise

  • Mass Incarceration/U.S. Carceral State
  • Women's imprisonment
  • Life Sentencing
  • Environmental Justice
  • Medical Anthropology and Health Disparities
  • Housing Inequalities (and U.S. Poverty)

I love teaching and mentoring undergraduate students, and I especially enjoy developing experiential learning opportunities. I have been a proud educator at several colleges, universities, and prisons since 2007, and I joined the Washington College faculty in 2018. Two of my courses, Inside-Out (a prison exchange class) and my First Year Seminar, bring incarcerated and campus-based students together for shared learning experiences and dialogue. Some of my recent course offerings include Sex, Gender, and Culture; Anthropologies of Hope; Medical Anthropology; Prisons, Punishment, and Social Control; and Environmental Justice.

 

Additional Information

  • Assistant Professor, 2014-2018, Antioch College (Yellow Springs, Ohio)
  • Term Faculty, 2012-2014, American University (Washington, DC)
  • Adjunct Faculty 2007-2011, Central New Mexico Community College (Albuquerque, NM)
  • Inside-Out Instructor Certification (2013)
  • 2022 Hunleth, Jean M. and Emily K. Steinmetz. “Navigating Breast Cancer Screening in Rural Missouri: From Patient Navigation to Social Navigation.” Medical Anthropology, 41 (2): 228-242. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2021.2015347.
  • 2021 Steinmetz, Emily and Kaitly Pritchard, “Women Serving Life Sentences in Ohio: Research Findings and Recommendations.” Report to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. [published with student]
  • 2021 Steinmetz, Emily. “The Punisher: Vigilante Symbolism, Violence, and the Carceral State.” Anthropology News, November 8, https://www.anthropology-news.org/articles/vigilante-symbolism-violence-and-the-carceral-state/.
  • 2020 Steinmetz, Emily and Raven Bishop. “Virtual Reality: A Tool to Challenge Stereotypes About Unhoused People.” Teaching and Learning Anthropology Journal.
  • 2019 Steinmetz, Emily, Samantha Benac, Amelia Gonzalez, and Rachel Humphreys. “Building Transformational Educational Spaces Inside Prison Walls: Putting Radical Imagination into Practice through Process-Based Collaboration.” Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy 29 (2): 174-197. https://doi.org/10.1353/tnf.2019.0015. [published with 3 students]
  • 2019 Steinmetz, Emily, DaRyndA, Inza, Mel V., Naẽ, Pandora, Roxanne, Sarai, and Forest Bright. “I Choose to Look Above the Prison Walls…” Anthropology News 60 (6): 18-23. [co-authored with 7 incarcerated students/ participants]
  • 2018 Collaborated with visual artist Forest Bright, a class of college students, and a group of women serving life sentences to produce peer-reviewed content for the "States of Incarceration" national traveling exhibition. A portion of our work, "Life Sentences: Death Penalty on the Installment Plan," is accessible at: https://statesofincarceration.org/states/ohio-death-penalty-installment-plan
  • 2016 Hunleth, Jean M., Emily K. Steinmetz, Amy McQueen, and Aimee S. James. “Beyond Adherence: Health Care Disparities and the Struggle to Get Screened for Colon Cancer.” Qualitative Health Research 26 (1): 17-31. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732315593549.
  • Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching, Washington College (2024)
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., Drum Major for Justice Award, Coretta Scott King Center, Antioch College (2017)
  • Excellence in Teaching Award, Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) (2016)
  • Introduction to Anthropology
  • Sex, Gender, and Culture
  • Medical Anthropology
  • Prisons, Punishment, and Social Control
  • Applied Anthropology
  • Culture, Power, and the Human Experience: Anthropological Inquiry
  • Inside-Out: Race, Gender, and Citizenship
  • Inside-Out: Anthropologies of Hope
  • First Year Seminar: Liberation
I research, teach, and advise students on issues relating to culture and medicine, gender and sexuality, environmental justice, health and housing inequalities, and a variety of topics related to the U.S. carceral state. My annual Inside-Out course brings together Washington College students and students who are incarcerated at a Delaware women's prison to learn side by side as peers. Most recently, I have conducted research with students about 1) women's experiences with life sentencing and parole in Ohio, and 2) using GIS (and in partnership with the Geospatial Innovation Program) to better understand interconnections among environmental injustices; health, social, and economic inequalities; gender; and mass incarceration.

While I publish my work in a range of places, I am most excited about public-facing anthropology that results in museum exhibits, applied research reports, and essays intended for public audiences. I regularly include students in my research and together we have produced exhibits, authored scholarly publications, and presented at professional conferences. I have also collaborated with public health researchers at Washington University (St. Louis) School of Medicine, visual artist Forest Bright (Antioch College), and a group of women serving life sentences in Ohio. Currently, I am working with Forest and the women "lifers" on a collaborative book project entitled Wild Hearts: Women Living Life Sentences in Ohio, USA. The book weaves together narratives and poetry from the “lifers,” visual art, and scholarly perspectives on extreme sentences and the structural injustices that shape many incarcerated people's lives.

Currently (2024-2026) - spearheading the Hostile Terrain 94 exhibit at Washington College. This involves installing and developing supplemental exhibit materials, supervising 5 student interns, engaging with the Washington College community and off-campus community in participatory activities, and coordinating related events. HT94 is an exhibit developed by anthropologist Jason De León designed to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

2024 - Presented with student (Sophie Esdale) on our prisons and environmental justice research: “Solidarity Across Borders: Imagining Healthier Futures for Justice-Impacted and Overburdened Communities" at the American Ethnological Society / Association for Political and Legal Anthropology Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, April 4-6.