Laura L. Heinemann, PhD

Department

• Cultural and Social Studies

Position

• Associate Professor

• Medical Anthropology; Ethnography; Anthropology of Food

Laura L. Heinemann, PhD, MSW, MA is an Associate Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Cultural and Social Studies at Creighton University, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Medical Humanities at Creighton’s School of Medicine. She also is the director of undergraduate programs in anthropology at Creighton. Her research foci include caregiving, care work, and interdependence; health and healthcare systems and practices; kinship and domestic life; food and community health; and migration, displacement, and health. Dr. Heinemann holds Master’s degrees in Social Work and in Anthropology, and a Joint PhD in Social Work and Anthropology, all from University of Michigan.

Curriculum Vitae

View my CV.

Books

Articles

Publications

Editing and Reviews

Presentations

Research and Scholarship Interests

• Care, Caregiving, and Care Work; Kinship and Domestic Life; Health Policy, Systems, and Practice; Food Systems, Foodways, and Community Health; North America, U.S. Midwest, Haiti; Migration, Displacement, and Health; Community-Based Participatory Action Research

Current Research Projects

• • Co-Investigator. Traveling Mercies on the Road to Health: Journey Mapping After Acute Care. Pilot community-based participatory action research (CBPR) journey-mapping project with Black older members of the North Omaha community, in partnership with Immanuel Community Church, to learn about Black seniors’ perspectives and experiences before, during, and following a recent hospitalization and to inform efforts to support Black senior health. (Interdisciplinary collaboration with LaShaune P Johnson, PhD (Principal Investigator), MPH Program, Creighton University Graduate School; April Dixon, MPH, ICC First Lady and Health Educator, CU School of Medicine; Kevin Fuji, PharmD, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions; and Emily Sierra, Hannah Olsen, Jenna Reformina, and Daniela Hinchman-Dominguez.)
  • Co-Investigator. Learning from Times of Restriction: College Student Experiences of Stressors and Supports in COVID Quarantine/Isolation. Interdisciplinary team research, using Group Concept Mapping and Semi-Structured Interviewing to better understand student experiences during Covid-protocol-related quarantine or isolation, particularly sources of stress, sources of support, and students’ short and long-term needs and concerns. (Multi-disciplinary collaboration with Alexander Roedlach, PhD Associate Professor of Anthropology, Medical Humanities, and ; Monica White, MSW, LCSW Assistant Professor of Social Work; Cathy Fox, MSW, Assistant Professor of Social Work; Angela Maynard, RN, MSN, CPN, Associate Director of Student Health Education and Students Insurance, and Chloe Cassens, Jamaica Dulluog, Alissa Jeffrey, Anna Kotula, Megan Loh, and Thea Pflum.)
  • Co-Principal Investigator. NDSU-Creighton Medical Anthropology Collaborative Assignment: A Pedagogical Study.
    Collaborative pedagogical research on a qualitative interview assignment co-created to allow students a semester-long opportunity to both learn and apply medical anthropology knowledge and skills. (Collaboration with Ellen Rubinstein, PhD, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at NDSU)
  • Principal Investigator. Health Care at Home: Ethnographic Explorations of Post-Discharge Care in Home Settings. Qualitative ethnographic research to better understand post-discharge care in the home, following a hospitalization or outpatient medical intervention, with particular attention to families’ management of the patient’s health-related needs alongside other obligations. (Research Assistants: Kristina Davis and Bridget Backer)
  • Investigator. SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy) Survey Study.
    (Multi-disciplinary collaboration at Creighton University with Principal Investigator Kristina Simeone, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, School of Medicine; and Pierce Greenberg, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology)

Grant Funding Received

• 2017 Creighton Global Initiative Award, “Understanding the Process of Developing Cultural Competency in Facilitating Cross Cultural Communication While Implementing Patient Centered Care” (Kristina Peterkin; Kim Galt, PharmD, PhD; Laura Heinemann, PhD; Amanda Holman, PhD; Lisa Jordan, OTR/L; Faith Kurtyka, PhD; Janel Meis, OTD; Kelly Nelson, DPT; Angela Patterson, OTD; Kendra Schnack, OT student. Faculty Collaborator; offered proposal edits).
• 2019-2020 Haddix Full-Year Sabbatical Award, “Health Care at Home: Ethnographic Explorations of Post-Discharge Care in Home Settings.” College of Arts & Sciences, Creighton University.

• Outstanding Teacher of the Week, Delta Zeta, Theta Eta Chapter, Creighton University, 2015
• Professional Excellence in Major Advising, College of Arts and Sciences Dean, 2015
• IGGY Award, Creighton University, 2013
• Distinction - Preliminary Examinations in Socio-Cultural Anthropology, University of Michigan, 2006
• Rackham Regents Fellowship, University of Michigan Rackham School of Graduate Studies, 2002