Introducing Dr Anitha Tingira
The Re-imagining Reproduction project has five postdoctoral research fellows working in various African countries. Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing these incredible researchers to our community. We asked each of our fellows nine questions to get to know them better.
Please tell us who you are, what your area of interest/expertise is, and where in the world you work.
Anitha Tingira is a lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Dar es Salaam. Her area of interest is in sexual and reproductive health. For her doctoral degree, she researched on the provision and uptake of maternal health services in central rural Tanzania focusing on women and healthcare providers’ experiences. She is also interested in pesticide use and chronic gynaecological conditions, infertility and gendered trajectories of infertility treatment seeking.
What/who inspired your current research field?
Working on the provision and uptake of maternal health services, the question of infertility emerged as a critical area of concern for women. This inspired me to pay more attention to infertility, treatment seeking, conditions leading to infertility and how infertility (re)shapes women’s identities in the neo-liberal context.
Who are your research/practitioner partners?
Under the AnthEM (Anthropology of Environment and Medicine in East Africa) project Anitha Tingira works with a team of researchers from Maseno University, Makerere University, the University of Oslo, Kenya Medical Research Institute and the National Institute for Medical Research, Tanzania.
What projects have you been working on recently?
Recently I have been working on women’s experiences of chronic pain (with particular focus on endometriosis) infertility and identity.
What about your work challenges you, and which parts make you smile?
Knowing that the work I do can potentially bring a positive impact to society makes me smile. On the other hand, researching topics that involve the experiences of pain and suffering is challenging, knowing that there is little the researcher can do to change the situation at the time.
What three positive things have you achieved in the last year?
- Turned a PhD dissertation into a book.
- Submitted one article to the Tanzania Journal of Sociology.
- Submitted two abstracts for conferences and both were accepted.
What advice can you give to people aspiring to work in your field?
I would encourage them to join the field, it makes one more human-centred, critical and humble.
What impact would you like your work to have?
I would like my work to have a positive impact on society and individuals and also add to the growing scholarship on sexuality and reproductive health, particularly in Africa.
If you had the opportunity to change anything in your field: what would it be, how would you change it, and why?
Anthropologists researching areas involving the experiences of suffering and pain can potentially be affected psychologically. While it is important to carry out such kind of research, I would make counselling services readily available for such researchers and also teach the upcoming researchers the possibility of being affected by the experiences of others.