Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology in the School of Natural and Behavioral Sciences Patricia Antoniello has been awarded the 2023 AAA Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching of Anthropology from the American Anthropological Association. This prestigious recognition is given annually to educators who have impacted the discipline through outstanding teaching and inspiration to their students. What makes the award even more special is that Antoniello was nominated by her Brooklyn College students. Antoniello is a sociocultural anthropologist whose work falls within the subfield of medical anthropology and is concerned with social equity, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and global health. In 1988 she received a Ph.D. from Columbia University and began teaching at Brooklyn College in the Health and Nutrition Sciences Department, where she was one of the founding faculty members of the Master of Public Health Program. She has also served as coordinator of the Women’s Studies Program and taught in the CUNY Macaulay Honors College. Earlier in her career, Antoniello conducted ethnographic research on reproductive health in Brooklyn and HIV/AIDS in the South Bronx. In 2008 she began an ethnographic study at a primary health care center in Jamkhed, Maharashtra, India. This long-term research project (2008–present) led to the development of the India: Global Health study abroad program, providing a specialized experience for students to learn firsthand about global health in a local setting. Her study abroad program and advanced course on health and globalization have motivated several generations of students to develop and conduct independent research abroad and in the United States. Antoniello’s book, For the Public Good: Women, Health, and Equity in Rural India (Vanderbilt University Press, 2020), describes the life histories of women village health workers and challenges contradictions in the meaning of social disparities while emphasizing the underlying influence of ideology, power, and social relations to examine health and well-being in the social context.
