Emmily Mobley | Hughes Prize

Other Awards: Lambda Alpha inductee

Hometown: Mount Holly, North Carolina

Favorite Experience: I have been engaged in perinatal health research with Dr. Holly Horan since November of 2020. We have interviewed mothers, physicians, and providers to gleam an understanding of the perinatal health communities research needs in Alabama. I learned the value of listening to first-hand experience and the strength of data from the individual versus in the aggregate. Listening to providers share their struggles with a system that doesn’t support what they believe to best for their patients showed me just how much the system needs to change. The research process showed me how much I aspire to connect birth givers, physicians, providers, legislators, insurance companies, and all of the other stake holders who have a part in the perinatal health care crisis. Every week I learn a little bit more about the varied perspectives of stake holders and generate new ideas on how to elevate the experiences of birth givers through advocacy and research.

Favorite Professor: My favorite professor is Dr. Stephanie McClure who taught my Intro to Cultural Anthropology course. She brought up divergent perspectives from all of the stakeholders of an issue being sure not to leave any perspective unexamined. We learned about far off places and cultural differences which were all new and exciting. However, my favorite part of her course was examining cultural differences in America and learning about her work examining cultural norms.  Even online she managed to make class invigorating and exciting and pull all of us in with phenomenal story telling of the history of the discipline as well as explaining the context for how a study could have been done with more inclusivity. I look forward to taking upper level courses with her to learn more about her perspectives and dive deeper into cultural anthropology.

Future Plans: I plan to be a Perinatal Health Advocate through earning my PhD and pursuing applied medical anthropology research.