Applied Anthropologist Profile: Dr. Michelle Munyikwa, Resident of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics

Dr. Michelle Munyikwa

When Michelle Munyikwa was exploring her undergraduate options she knew what she wanted: she wanted a school where she felt like she belonged and where she could explore her academic interests fully.  When she visited the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, she believed she found everything she was looking for and more.  She moved from Delaware to the university and began her studies as a Murray 1693 Scholar.  She ended up pursuing two different majors: one was an interdisciplinary major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the other was in Anthropology.  By pursuing a degree in Anthropology she was able to satisfy her interest in people and cultures, particularly as it concerned gender, languages, public health, and literature. 

 

While at the College of William and Mary Munyikwa dedicated herself to her various interests.  She worked closely with faculty in the Biology program, conducting independent research under their supervision, but she also was a fierce advocate of social justice causes.  She was a leader for Students for Stop Hunger Now, an organization dedicated to ending domestic and international poverty and food insecurity; Vice President for Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthoods, which provided various educational programs and resources to students, as well as took piano and belly dancing lessons. 

 

Upon graduating from the College of William and Mary in 2011 she enrolled in a joint M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania.  This unique program enabled her to continue to pursue both of her interests: medicine and anthropology.  She self-identifies as a medical and political anthropologist who is concerned with studying and resolving matters related to political economy, history, and practices of care.  Her doctoral research focused on issues concerning access to health care among refugee populations in Philadelphia.  She earned her doctorate in 2019, and her dissertation is currently in press, meaning in the process of being published. 

 

In 2021 she completed her medical degree.  In her clinical practice she is most concerned with patients’ rights and the law, and she has worked closely with several lawyers to advocate for her patients.  Her passion for equitable treatment of all patients, regardless of race, gender, cultural background, etc., has led to working closely with various medical specialists, and she has prolifically published on these topics.  Her publications can be found in Synapsis: A Health Humanities Journal, New England Journal of Medicine, and Harvard Public Health Review.  She also served as the co-chair of the Physicians for Human Rights Student Advisory Board in 2021, as well as worked with the Social Needs Response Team for the Center for Health Equity Advancement at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

 

Currently, Munyikwa is a Resident of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania.  She continues to utilize her anthropological knowledge in her practice as she serves her patients.  Furthermore, she is already an inspiration to others given what she has already accomplished, and there is no doubt that she will continue to fight for better and more equitable health care options to all.

 

Works Cited

Arts & Sciences. "Michelle Munyikwa: Murray 1693 Scholar." n.d. College of William and Mary. Electronic. 5 July 2023.

Center for Health Equity Advancement. "CHEA Spotlight: Michelle Munyikwa." 2 May 2022. Penn Medicine: Center for Health Equity Advancement. Electronic. 5 July 2023.

Munyikwa, Michelle. About Me. n.d. Electronic. 5 July 2023.

 

Current Knowledge Concerning Tomato Domestication

Various types of contemporary tomato species (Source: University of Georgia/Alexis Ramos)

 

Paleobotanists and archaeologists concerned with agriculture know quite a bit about the origins of agriculture.  For the vast amount of information that is known there are countless questions that remain unanswered.  There are generally accepted trends within domestication, but the specifics concerning individual domesticates may not be precisely known.  A combination of multiple lines of evidence are helping answer several of these questions, leading to a greater knowledge pool that can be used to not only understand the past but better resolve matters in the present and prepare for a riper future.  Today’s blog post will discuss the latest advancements in knowledge concerning the origins of one of the world’s favorite vegetables: tomatoes.

 

Tomatoes are a popular vegetable (although they are technically a fruit) grown and used worldwide.  It has become a dietary staple in various cuisines, as well as is considered an essential component in some cultural dishes (e.g., Italian foods).  Tomatoes are perennial plants, meaning they come back every year, but they often act like an annual plant, one that needs to be replanted each growing cycle.  This is because while tomatoes can and are grown worldwide, they are particularly sensitive to their environmental conditions.  Too dry or too cold an environment leads to the death of the plants, requiring a new crop to be planted. 

 

Much of the variability in growing tomatoes has been credited to their origins, which have never been precisely known or understood.  It was clear from historical evidence that tomatoes were a New World plant.  Spanish Conquistadors encountered tomatoes when they came to Central and South America, eventually bringing it to the Old World, specifically Europe.  But where specifically in the Americas the domestication of tomatoes began was unclear.  Historical, biological, and linguistic (yes, you read that right!) led to two competing hypotheses concerning the origins of the domesticated tomato: one camp believed it was of Central American, specifically Mexican, origin, whereas the other camp was certain it was a South American, precisely Ecuadorian, domesticate.

 

In 2012 the answers began to bear fruit.  This was the year the first domesticated tomato species was fully genetically sequenced, which was followed by the sequencing of various other species.  From these early studies more information concerning the process of the domestication became clear.  It had always been hypothesized that tomato domestication was a two step process: first in increasing the tomato size from that of a blueberry to cherry sized, followed by artificial selection in size and physical appearance variations.  This was confirmed through the genetic analyses.  What was unexpected, however, was the additional information concerning this two step process.  It appears that tomato domestication did not occur in one location but in two!  Much like with maize domestication it appears tomato domestication occurred in both Central and South America.  While archaeological evidence is scant it appears that people in both locations traded the plants, and as they worked to domesticate it continued to trade and incorporate their artificial selection methods to the creation of the world’s most beloved vegetable/fruit.

 

Genetic analyses are ongoing to further understand how specifically the domestication occurred, and hopefully with more archaeological study supporting evidence will be discovered and provided to back up the genetic data.  At this time, however, scholars are excited about what they have learned as it not only enhances our current understanding of tomato domestication, but this information can be useful in furthering the robusticity of this domesticate for future generations.

 

Bibliography

Denham, T. (2014). Tomatoes: Origins and Development. Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 7316–7319.

Razifard, H., Ramos, A., Della Valle, A. L., Bodary, C., Goetz, E., Manser, E. J., ... & Caicedo, A. L. (2020). Genomic evidence for complex domestication history of the cultivated tomato in Latin America. Molecular biology and evolution, 37(4), 1118-1132.

Oxford University Press. "Evolution on the vine: A history of tomato domestication in Latin America." Phys.org 7 January 2020. Electronic.

Universitat Politècnica de València. "Tomato domestication involved agricultural societies from Peru to Mexico." Phys.org 1 March 2022. Electronic.

 

 

 

What’s In a Name? Investigating the Origins and Meaning of “Buffalo Soldiers”

Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Calvary (Source: Library of Congress)

 

 

Some of the history of the Buffalo Soldiers was previously shared on this blog.  They were originally six, eventually, four regiments of exclusively Black Calvary and Infantrymen who served in the United States Army.  They were the first Black soldiers to serve in the regular Army.  They were tasked with helping rebuild the nation after the Civil War.  They were also responsible for protecting White colonists who moved into Indian territory as part of the Manifest Destiny doctrine, which mandated American incursions into Indian territories.  As expected American Indians, who had entered into several reprehensible agreements with the US government, were upset that these agreements were once again being willfully ignored, leading to what is now known as either the Apache or Indian Wars (1869-1890). 

 

Since this time there has been study of the Buffalo Soldiers, ranging from historical or archaeological investigations.  There are, however, some myths concerning the Buffalo Soldiers, one of which is going to be addressed in this piece.  This myth concerns some of the meaning of the term “Buffalo Soldiers”.  This blog post will discuss the documented origins of this name, as well as some of the reasons for the embellishment of the meaning and origins.

 

The term “Buffalo Soldier” did not enter the scholarly literature until the 1960s when William Leckie published one of the first books on their history.  In this piece he cited a letter written by Frances Roe, wife of Lieutenant Washington Roe of the Third (Calvary) Infantry, to her family which contained information about the phrase Buffalo Soldiers.  She said that the American Indians of the area referred to the Black soldiers as such due to “their wooly heads are so much like the matted cushion that is between the horns of the buffalo.”  Leckie went on to add his own speculation about why the Plains Indians, who were actively fighting against the Black regiments, may have referred to them by such a name.  He believed that this was a term of endearment and respect since the Indians “revered” the buffalo, meaning the Indians felt similarly about the soldiers they were fighting against. 

 

This led to some unfounded and unsupported notions about the original meaning of the phrase Buffalo Soldiers.  Popular lore began to come about claiming that there was a mutual respect between the Black and the American Indian soldiers who fought against each other.  Eventually there came about additional meanings of the name “Buffalo Soldiers,” specifically in that it was a nickname that represented respect by the American Indians of the Black soldiers.  It also purportedly represented the ferocity of combat and bravery reflected in the Black soldiers while they were engaged in combat. 

 

Given the nature of the conflict between Black and American Indian soldiers it is unlikely that the American Indians would have felt any positive feelings toward their enemies.  This has been directly stated by various American Indian leaders in the mid-1990s when they spoke out against this notion of the name being a moniker of respect.  Furthermore, newspaper interviews of enlisted Black soldiers from these Buffalo Soldier units published during and shortly after the Indian Wars showed no respect or appreciation of their American Indian enemies.  They used various slurs against the American Indians they fought against, showing a specific disdain against them.  Lastly, there is no evidence that the Black soldiers liked or accepted this name as they never referred to themselves as “Buffalo Soldiers” in any official documents or personal correspondence.

 

At present there is only documentation that supports part of the meaning of the name “Buffalo Soldiers”.  The evidence demonstrates a connection between personal appearance of the Black soldiers, particularly their hair, and buffalo fur, but there is no evidence that the name was a respectful or endearing one as some people claim.  So why did this portion of the meaning come about?  It may very well have been a good intentioned idea meant to provide recognition that had been long withheld to Black soldiers who fought and were largely responsible for American Westward Expansion, as well as their contributions in various conflicts in the decades after.  Why all the fuss about the original meaning?  Because it is disrespectful to misrepresent the histories and values of one group in favor of another.  It creates and fosters a misrepresentation of that group, which further misaligns them and is disrespectful. 

 

Works Cited

Brown, Maureen, Jose E. Zapata, and Bruce K. Moses. "Camp Elizabeth, Sterling County, Texas: An Archaeological and Archival Investigation of a US Army Subpost, and Evidence Supporting Its Use by the Military and" Buffalo Soldiers"." Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State 1998.1 (1998): 2.

Hall, Kenneth Estes. "The Buffalo Soldiers." Studies in the Western 23 (2015): 45-53.

National Park Service. Buffalo Soldiers. 5 January 2023. Electronic. 5 July 2023.

Schubert, Frank. "The Myth of the Buffalo Soldiers." 19 December 2009. BlackPast. Electronic. 5 July 2023.