Tara Lumpkin, PhD
medical and environmental anthropologist

Background

Tara has published extensively in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and has won more than half a dozen writing prizes, fellowships and grants, including a MD State Arts Council grant for fiction.

She worked for the environmental newspaper High Country News as an investigative reporter, has taught in the Media and Writing department at Loyola College, and has taught poetry writing to youth and adolescents through the Maryland State Arts Council Artists-in-Education program.

In addition, she has worked as an anthropologist in Namibia with traditional healers on health issues and has worked on justice issues in post-genocide Rwanda. In Panama, she worked with communities promoting their involvement in local ecotourism ventures.

She also runs a non-profit, Perception, which has projects around the world. Tara received a Ph.D. in environmental and medical anthropology from the Union Institute (1996), a masters degree in creative writing from Antioch University (1988), and a bachelor of arts degree in literature from Yale University (1982).


TRAVEL WRITING
(select any title to download pdf)

In the House of a Sangoma, NarrativeMagazine.com, www.narrativemagazine.com, May 5, 2005.

Canoeing the River of Grass, Pack and Paddle, Port Orchard, WA, September 1993.

Conquering the Northern Trails, Dog Fancy, Mission Viejo, CA, November 1990.

Song of Thunder, Mother Earth News: American Country--The Great Outdoors, Volume 11, Number 2, New York, NY, Summer 1988.

Climbing Volcanoes in Ecuador, Transitions, Amherst, MA, Winter 1984.


NONFICTION (select any title to download pdf)

AIDS & Traditional Healers in Namibia: Improving Collaboration between Traditional Healers and Biomedical Professionals, NamibWeb.com - The Online Guide to Namibia, namibweb.com/aids.htm, April 2001.

Lise Hanssen, Okonjima, and Africat Foundation: One Woman's Odyssey among Namibia's Big Cats, NamibWeb.com - The Online Guide to Namibia, namibweb.com/africat.htm, April 2001.

Community Based Ecotourism in the Panama Canal Watershed: Executive Summary, May/mayo, Planeta.com: Eco Travels in Latin America, www.planeta.com/planeta/99/0799panama.html, May 1998.

Hacking the Game: One Woman's Life as a Professional Gambler, CigarCafé: CigarGoyles Feature, June-August 1997.

Conservation-based Empowerment of Women, EarthTones: Creative Perspectives On Ecological Issues, Belinda Subraman, Ed., Vergin Press: El Paso, TX, 1994.

Learning to Love the Land, Nikon Presents Big Game Hunting, Shrewsbury, NJ, 1988.

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JOURNALISM

Numerous nonfiction articles on the environment, High Country News, Paonia, CO, Winter/spring 1988.

Contributor, Yale Daily News, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 1979-1982.


ACADEMIC JOURNALS (select any title to download pdf)

Dissertation: Perceptual Diversity and its Implications for Development—Based on Research among Traditional Healers and upon Community Use of Traditional Medicine in Namibia, March 1996. (17.7mb file)

Perceptual Diversity: Is Polyphasic Consciousness Necessary for Global Survival?, Anthropology of Consciousness, American Anthropological Association, Volume 12, Number 1, 2001.

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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (select any title to download pdf)

Maternal and Child Health Care in Gargon: Findings from Surveys, Focus Groups, and Clinical Data, Perception: Tibetan Video Archive Project, May, 2005.

Community-based Ecotourism in Gargon and Taju, Findings from Focus Groups, Perception: Tibetan Video Archive Project, May 2005.

Community Based Ecotourism in the Panama Canal Watershed, USAID/Panama and the Panama National Environmental Commission, Panama City, Panama, May 1998.

Ecoturismo com Participacion Comunitaria en la Cuenca del Canal de Panama, agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional en Panamá con el apoyo de la Comisión Nacional del Medio Ambiuente Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá, mayo de 1998.

Traditional Healers and Community Use of Traditional Medicine in Namibia, UNICEF and Ministry of Health and Social Services, Windhoek, Namibia, May 1994.

Intercultural Communication Between Traditional Healers and Modern Health Practitioners in Namibia--A Pilot Study, UNICEF and Ministry of Health and Social Services, Windhoek, Namibia, April 1993.

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SHORT STORIES (select any title to download pdf)

Wolf Rising, Hawaii Pacific Review The Best of a Decade 1986-1996, Volume II, Honolulu, HI, Spring 1997.

Wolf Rising, Hawaii Pacific Review, Honolulu, HI, Spring 1993.

Wolf Rising, The Rural Sophisticate, Number 2, Maysville, GA, Winter 1993.

Wolf Running Alone, Buffalo Spree, Volume 25, Number 3, Buffalo, NY, Fall 1991.

Sacred Thunder, Buffalo Spree, Volume 25, Number 2, Buffalo, NY, Summer 1991.

The Wedding Dress, Earth's Daughters, Volume 36--Over The Transom, Buffalo, NY, February 1991.

Artist in Mexico, Buffalo Spree, Volume 24, Number 4, Buffalo, NY, Winter 1990.

Clamming, Buffalo Spree, Volume 24, Number 4, Buffalo, NY, Winter 1990.

Night of Fire, Buffalo Spree, Volume 23, Number 2, Buffalo, NY, Summer 1989.

Perry and Maud, Buffalo Spree, Volume 23, Number 2, Buffalo, NY, Summer 1989.

Divorce, Buffalo Spree, Volume 23, Number 1, Buffalo, NY, Spring 1989.

Outside the Window, Buffalo Spree, Volume 23, Number 1, Buffalo, NY, Spring 1989.

Dockwalloper, Buffalo Spree, Volume 23, Number 1, Buffalo, NY, Spring 1989.

No Way Out, Buffalo Spree, Volume 22, Number 4, Buffalo, NY, Winter 1988.

Autumn 1982, The Clothesline Review, Volume 1, Number 3, Hyde Park, IL, 1986.

The Gerbil's Wheel, The Clothesline Review, Volume 1, Number 2, Hyde Park, IL, 1985.

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POETRY (select any title to download pdf)

New Age Shamans, Anthropology and Humanism, Volume 32, Number 1, Berkeley, CA, June 2007.

The Waiting Room, Buffalo Bones, Volume VI, No. 3, Evergreen, CO, Spring 2000.

La Tristeza, Buffalo Bones, Volume VI, No. 3, Evergreen, CO, Spring 2000.

Sea Nymph, Buffalo Bones, Volume VI, No. 3, Evergreen, CO, Spring 2000.

Panama Soul, Anthropology and Humanism, Volume 25, Number 1, Arlington, VA, June 2000.

Ships Passing in the Night, Anthropology and Humanism, Volume 25, Number 1, Arlington, VA, June 2000.

Senegal Shaman, Anthropology and Humanism, Volume 25, Number 1, Arlington, VA, June 2000.

Rwanda, Geronimo, Volume 2, Number 8, Taos, NM, August 1999.

Maximum Level, Anthropology and Humanism, Volume 22, Number 2, Arlington, VA, December 1997.

The Mountaineer, Anthropology and Humanism, Volume 22, Number 1, Arlington, VA, June 1997.

Tribute to Tasha, Dog Fancy, Volume 28, Number 1, Mission Viejo, CA, January 1997.

Fox and Me, Anthropology and Humanism, Volume 20, Number 1, Arlington, VA, June 1995.

Winged Heart, Voices of Women, Baltimore, MD, June - July 1993.

Shriveled Leaves, Welter, Baltimore, MD, 1992.

The Wolf Is a Traveler, Arizona Literary Review, Volume 2, Number 3, Prescott, AZ, May/June 1992.

Man, Arizona Mandala Magazine, Volume 2, Number 1, Prescott, AZ, January 1992.

The Wolf Is a Traveler, Arizona Mandala Magazine, Volume 2, Number 1, Prescott, AZ, January 1992.

A Doe Comes to Water, Color Wheel, Number 3, Warner, NH, Winter Solstice 1991.

The Affair, Color Wheel, Number 3, Warner, NH, Winter Solstice 1991.

Cocaine Queen, the howling mantra, Winter Creek Press: La Cross, WI, September 1991.

Toro, Phoenix; Generations: Ancestral Images, Volume XII, Tahlequah, OK, May 1991.

Livid Face, Dusty Dog, Zuni, NM, April 1991.

The Affair, Orphic Lute, Los Alamos, NM, Spring 1991.

Red-Lit Cafe, Zeitgeist, Kalispell, MT, March 1991.

Tasha's Disappearance, Free Focus, Brooklyn, NY, March 1991.

A Secret, Free Focus, Brooklyn, NY, March 1991.

Adolescence, Context South, Volume 1, Number 1, State University, AR, 1989.

The Wolf Is A Traveler, Phoenix: Living with the Land, Volume X, Tahlequah, OK, 1989.

Circus Lady, Without Halos, Volume VI, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, 1989

Road Itch, Without Halos, Volume IV, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, 1987.

Nantucket, Phoenix, Volume VII, Number 1, Tahlequah, OK, 1986.

Adobe Bread, Buffalo Spree, Buffalo, NY, 1986.

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FELLOWSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS, AND PRIZES

Runner Up Award, Anthropology and Humanism Poetry Contest, New Age Shamans, June 2007.

Association for the Advancement of Science Engineering and Diplomacy Fellowship, awarded 1999-2000.

Short story, Wolf Rising, chosen for Hawaii Pacific Review: The Best of a Decade, 1986-1996, Spring 1997.

Co-winner Anthropology and Humanism Poetry Prize, The Mountaineer, November 1996.

Scholarship, The Union Institute, November 1995-March 1996.

Scholarship, Omega Institute, 1993.

Maryland State Arts Council Grant: Individual Artist Award in Fiction, April 1990.

The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Writing Fellowship, May-September 1990.

Centrum Foundation Writing Fellowship, March & April 1989.

La Fondation Karolyi Writing Fellowship, September-December 1988.

Ragdale Foundation Writing Fellowship, February 1987

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Tara W. Lumpkin, PhD • Medical and Environmental Anthropologist
PO Box 2160 • El Prado, New Mexico USA   TaraLumpkin@gmail.com  575-779-0856