Eugenia Rainey

Assistant Professor

Email : etrainey@wm.edu
Office: Samuel E. Jones House, 204
Area of expertise/Teaching Interests/Research Interests: African Diaspora religions, medical anthropology, race, lived religion, critical theory, colonialism

Bio

Eugenia Rainey is a cultural anthropologist who studies religion as a negotiated process. She focuses on this process at the intersection of Lucumí (also referred to as La Regla de Ochá or Santería) and medicine in south Florida. Through examining devotees’ experiences and perceptions of the medical encounter, and being well grounded in religious practice, she seeks to better understand how the healthcare infrastructure impacts constructions of race and lived religion, as well as how African Diaspora religions in the US support the healthcare needs of devotees and the healthcare infrastructure. Professor Rainey’s courses explore diverse constructions of religion, and how African Diaspora Religions in the Americas intersect with constructions of race, gender, healing, and infrastructure.