Part-time Instructor of Anthropology

Research Interests

Physical anthropology; archaeology; skeletal biology; forensics; osteoarchaeology; world prehistory; South American archaeology; archaeology of the New World; archaeological theory; medical anthropology; anthropology of children; poverty and health care; teaching on the web.

Current Research

I teach part-time at NKU and at Gateway Community and Technical College, and work full-time at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Through my work at CCHMC, I have just completed two Photovoice action research projects. We assessed at-risk mothers' views of a home visitation program. We also used this methodology with Latina tweens (8-14 yrs old) views of health through their own photo documentation. The Web site http://www.photovoice.com/ explains purpose and steps of the methodology, where we give our study group cameras and ask them to photo-document their own lives. We had weekly meetings/discussions with the mothers to explain the photos and provide captions. A qualitative analysis of the photos helped us to understand the deficits in the healthcare availability and education for these two populations in the Greater Cincinnati area. At the end of the project, an exhibition showcased their photographs to local policy makers and persons who can effect change. These two papers have been published (see below) and a third is under review in Action Research.

I have also been conducting research and writing book chapters in cultural and medical anthropology. This year I have written book chapters on Social Network Analysis, Human Growth and Development, and Human Biocultural Diversity that have been accepted for publication in 21st Century Anthropology: A Reference Handbook, H. James Birx (ed.), Thousand Oaks, Sage. I have also been researching the intersection of medicine, culture, and socioeconomic status that often results in ethnic health disparities. This research has been accepted for publication in a chapter titled Medical Anthropology in Pediatrics for the Textbook of Global Child Health, Deepak Kamat, MD, PhD, FAAP (ed.), American Academy of Pediatrics.

Academic Degrees

• M.A. University of Cincinnati
• B.S. Central Michigan University

Courses

• ANT 100 Cultural Anthropology

Accolades

• 2007 Graduate Poster Forum Outstanding Poster Presentation, Human Decapitation at Amato, Peru, University of Cincinnati.
• 2006 Charles Phelps Taft Graduate Enrichment Grant, University of Cincinnati.
• 2005-2007 University Graduate Scholarship, University of Cincinnati.

Selected Publications

• 2009 Vaughn, L., Forbes, J., & Howell, B. (2009). Improving Home Visitation Programs: Input from a Participatory Evaluation Using Photovoice. Infants and Young Children, 22(2):129-142.
• 2008 Vaughn, L., Rojas-Guyler, L., and Howell, B. Picturing Health: A Photovoice Pilot of Latina Girls' Perceptions of Health. Family and Community Health, 31(4):305-316.
• 2007 Evidence for Interpersonal Violence or Human Sacrifice? The Case Study of Amato, Acarí Valley, Peru. MA thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Cincinnati. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.

Associated Websites

• Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center