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Dear all,
Thanks to those of you who have responded so far. This is a reminder that the deadline (13 January 2019) is approaching for this Phd studentship. Please see the link for details.

https://www.brighton.ac.uk/research-and-enterprise/postgraduate-research-degrees/funding-opportunities-and-studentships/2019-scdtp-hpv-vaccine-refusal.aspx <https://www.brighton.ac.uk/research-and-enterprise/postgraduate-research-degrees/funding-opportunities-and-studentships/2019-scdtp-hpv-vaccine-refusal.aspx> <https://www.brighton.ac.uk/research-and-enterprise/postgraduate-research-degrees/funding-opportunities-and-studentships/2019-scdtp-hpv-vaccine-refusal.aspx <https://www.brighton.ac.uk/research-and-enterprise/postgraduate-research-degrees/funding-opportunities-and-studentships/2019-scdtp-hpv-vaccine-refusal.aspx>>  

Querying Ethics, Knowledge Cultures, and Ethnicity in Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine Refusal

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine refusal varies according to ethnicity, class, and location in the UK. This interdisciplinary, qualitative project develops a cultural view on different institutional, medical and situated epistemologies at play in parental refusals to immunise their adolescent daughters against HPV. It develops an ethnicised critique of the biomedical and political logic that seeks to reduce HPV transmission through routine vaccination versus e.g. individual responsibilisation or sex education. The knowledge and inter-sectorial networks generated will support situated understandings of HPV vaccine refusal, the bio-ethical governance of young people’s sexual health, and people’s engagements with health professionals and government.

Indicative Questions. (Epistemology): What can an interdisciplinary analysis of cultural and situated knowledge around HPV vaccine refusal offer for collaborations between medicine and social science? (Ethnicity): How are vaccination decisions informed by ethnicity, religion, identities, and place? (Policy): How can policy suggestions emerging from communities refusing vaccination be leveraged for their integration, and for local policy implementation? What bearing does vaccine refusal have on people’s relationships to their communities, the state, and for sexual health policy? (Ethics): How does the “anti-vaxxer” discourse and shaming of people refusing vaccination (Silverman 2018) interplay with other class and racialised exclusions? (Bio-Ethics): What ethical concerns are raised by the logic that confers (i) consent and (ii) responsibility for young people’s sexual health on parents and the state?

Rationale. Since 2008 the HPV vaccination has been offered to 12-13 year old girls in schools. In the SE UK controversies around childhood vaccinations have led to disease re-eruption, with refusal differentiated by vaccine types and doses—and ethnicity (Foster 2017). Refusal is a highly social act, anchored in constructions of identities (Polzer et al. 2014) and often reflecting people’s changing relations with science and the state (Poltorak 2005). While refusal signals resistance, activism, and critiques of political-economy and biomedicine etc., it is also about avoidance, caution, identification, and it can reinforce social belonging and community ties (Sobo 2016). This interdisciplinary qualitative project investigates community and cultural knowledge; lay interpretations of the science behind vaccination; negotiation of identities and behaviour around HPV vaccine refusal; the differential valuation of refusal by policy-makers and parents according to ethnicity; and the bio-ethics involved in parental decision-making about children’s sexual behaviour. The situated knowledge produced will inform deliberation and action around local policy implementation. Culture refers broadly to cultures of classed, racialised and ethnic difference, cultures of vaccination, sexuality, the cultural assumptions that underpin health policy, and policy concerns to address cultural issues in communities.

Skills required. Essential: 1st or outstanding 2:1 degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. anthropology, psychology, sociology, public health); an interest in meeting people of various backgrounds; good communication and organisation skills; skills in qualitative methods, research design, research ethics knowledge for minority groups. Desirable: a post-graduate qualification at merit/distinction (medical anthropology, community health/psychology, sociology, ethnicity studies); relevant practical experience e.g. in community health/social work.

Supervisors. Nichola Khan, Reader in Anthropology and Psychology; Apurv Chauhan, Lecturer in Psychology; Gillian Bendelow, Professor in the Sociology of Health and Medicine.

Any queries or questions please feel free to contact me.

All best wishes,
Nichola 

Dr Nichola Khan 
Reader in Anthropology and Psychology
Deputy Director. Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics.
School of Applied Social Science
 University of Brighton
 Falmer Campus, Brighton BN1 9PH
Webpage https://www.brighton.ac.uk/staff/dr-nichola-khan.aspx <https://www.brighton.ac.uk/staff/dr-nichola-khan.aspx>

Recent books:
2017. Cityscapes of Violence in Karachi. Publics and Counterpublics, ed.
http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/cityscapes-violence-karachi/ <http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/cityscapes-violence-karachi/>
2017. Mental Disorder: Anthropological Insights.
http://www.utppublishing.com/Mental-Disorder-Anthropological-Insights.html <http://www.utppublishing.com/Mental-Disorder-Anthropological-Insights.html>    
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