Staff profile

I received my BA in Human Sciences from Oxford University in 1980. In 1984 I completed a Masters degree in Biomedical Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania with a thesis about the controvery surrounding the use of Depo-Provera, an injectable contraceptive. After returning to the UK I moved to the Inner Hebrides where I worked as a senior desk officer for Project Trust, an educational charity sending school-leavers overseas to do voluntary work. I completed my DPhil at Oxford in 1992, based on fieldwork carried out in the hills of East Nepal amongst the Yakha, an ethnic group previously unstudied by anthropologists.

My current research primarily focuses on tobacco, its use and control. I am a founder member of the interdisciplinary Smoking Interest Group, a collaboration between the Medical Anthropology Research Group and the Centre for Medical Humanities. I work closely with colleagues in the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies and FUSE – the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, as well as FRESH, the northeast of England’s tobacco control office. My research spans the following topics:

• Phenomenology - understanding smoking as an embodied physical and emotional experience, taking seriously the aesthetic pleasure people who smoke derive from this activity.
• Identity - how those who smoke, both long-term and recent, can feel themselves constituted in some way by their smoking.
• Relationships - cigarettes as agents in multiplex relationships with the rest of the human and non-human world.
• Spatial aspects – where smoking takes place and its consequential effects on the use and designation of space.
• Temporal aspects - smoking punctuating time through significant daily, weekly and sometimes annual rituals and routines, decisions to start and to ‘quit’ through the life course, the notion of the ‘hardened smoker’, the experience and treatment of the acute and chronic illnesses that are associated with smoking.
• Historical aspects - the changing landscape of tobacco, and the potential to view cigarettes as a historical aberration of late 19^th and 20^th century industrial capitalism.
• Institutions - the institutional forms that arise from the production, distribution, use, attempts to control, and research tobacco.
• Policy relevance - what the social scientific and humanities-derived perspectives outlined above might contribute to policy and therapeutic interventions not only in tobacco but other areas of public health.

I am happy to supervise students working on any branch of public health anthropology, chronic illness and engaged anthropology topics.

In my spare time I like to organise travel on the internet for myself, friends and family. I also enjoy walking, reading the papers in bed on Saturday mornings, exploring the wonderful north-east region, and going to the gym.

Teaching Achievements

I gained an award from the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme in 2010. My textbook for medical students, 'The Social Basis of Medicine', won the British Medical Association's student textbook of the year award in 2009. I also have a Durham Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Doctoral Supervision.

• Medical anthropology
• Tobacco (its use and control)

Authored book

• Russell, A. (2019). Anthropology of Tobacco: Ethnographic Adventures in Non-human Worlds. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351050197
• Russell, A. (2009). The Social Basis of Medicine. Wiley

Book review

• Russell, A. (2011). Review of G. Mathews and C. Izquierdo (2009) (eds) ‘Pursuits of Happiness: Well-Being in Anthropological Perspective’. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 25(4), 543-545

Chapter in book

• Russell, A. (2023). ‘The Crop that Ruled our Lives’ – Memories of Tobacco among Former Growers in Australasia. In L. Attala, & L. Steel (Eds.), Plants Matter: Exploring the Becomings of Plants and People (189-213). Cardiff: University of Wales Press
• Russell, A. (2021). Eloquence and Oracle’: Tobacco in Eighteenth-Century Life and Literature. In D. Fuller, C. Saunders, & J. Macnaughton (Eds.), The Life of Breath in Literature, Culture and Medicine: Classical to Contemporary (261-281). Palgrave Macmillan
• Russell, A. (2018). Tobacco. In H. Callan (Ed.), International encyclopedia of anthropology : anthropology beyond text. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea1661
• Russell, A. (2018). ‘“Imagine a World Without Tobacco”. Utopian visions and collaborative research in public health’. In R. Blanes, & M. Maskens (Eds.), Utopian encounters : anthropologies of empirical utopias (57-90). Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/b10556
• Russell, A. (2015). Women and smoking in the North East of England. In J. Bissell, C. Caiado, S. Curtis, M. Goldstein, & B. Straughan (Eds.), Tipping points : modelling social problems and health (32-48). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118992005.ch3
• Russell, A. (2011). Interprofessional Healthcare as Intercultural Experience - Early Years Training for Medical Students. In S. Kitto, J. Chesters, J. Thistlethwaite, & S. Reeves (Eds.), Sociology of Interprofessional Health Care Practice: Critical Reflections and Concrete Solutions (139-153). Nova Science Publishers
• Russell, A. (2010). Perceptions of forests among the Yakkha of East Nepal: exploring the social and cultural context. In A. Guneratne (Ed.), Culture and the environment in the Himalaya (61-78). Routledge
• Russell, A. (2008). Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom: the Politics of Culture in Contemporary Nepal. In D. Gellner, J. Pfaff-Czarnecka, & J. Whelpton (Eds.), Nationalism and Ethnicity in Nepal. (New ed.). Vajra Books
• Russell, A. (2004). Travelling Cultures: Study Tours in the Social Anthropological Curriculum and Beyond. In I. Edgar, & D. Drackle (Eds.), Current policies and practices in European social anthropology education (193-207). Berghahn Journals
• Russell, A. (2001). Teenage Pregnancy and the Moral Geography of Teesside, U.K. In S. Tremayne (Ed.), Managing reproductive life : cross-cultural themes in sexuality and fertility (221-234). Berghahn Journals
• Russell, A. (2000). Breaking Bones: Political Eruptions and Social Ruptures in Nepal, 1989-1990. In S. Basu, & S. Das (Eds.), Electoral Politics in South Asia. K.P. Bagchi
• Russell, A. (1999). Taking Care? The Depo-Provera Debate. In T. Kohn, & R. McKechnie (Eds.), Extending the Boundaries of Care: Medical Ethics and Caring Practices (65-88). Berg
• Russell, A. (1997). Identity Management and Cultural Change: Religion and Politics Amongst the Yakha. In D. Gellner, J. Pfaff-Czarnecka, & J. Whelpton (Eds.), Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom: the Politics of Culture in Contemporary Nepal (325-350). Reading: Harwood Publishers

Edited book

• Russell, A., & Rahman, E. (Eds.). (2015). The Master Plant: Tobacco in Lowland South America. Bloomsbury
• Russell, A., Sobo, E., & Thompson, M. (Eds.). (2000). Contraception Across Cultures: Technologies, Choices, Constraints. Berg
• Edgar, I., & Russell, A. (Eds.). (1998). Anthropology of Welfare. Routledge

Journal Article

• Russell, A. (2024). Greening an Anthropology Field Course Programme: Assessing the Comparative Importance of Net Zero Agendas and Covid-19. Teaching Anthropology, 13, DT1-7. https://doi.org/10.22582/ta.v13i1
• Russell, A., Chandra, P., Robson, M., Narayanan, P., Joseph, S., Mukherjee, P., …John, S. (2022). Implementing FCTC Article 17 through Participatory Research with Bidi Workers in Tamil Nadu, India. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 24(11), 1714-1719. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntac075
• Dobson, C., Russell, A., Brown, S., & Rubin, G. (2022). Risk and the importance of absent symptoms in constructions of the ‘cancer candidate’. Health, Risk and Society, 24(5-6), 225-240. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2022.2104222
• Dobson, C., Russell, A., Brown, S., & Rubin, G. (2022). Public & private accounts of help-seeking: The implications of research methods on the presentation of narratives. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 25(4), 483-493. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2021.1904116
• Russell, A., Johnson, L., Tupper, E., Keegan, A., Atkher, H., & Mullard, J. (2021). ‘Covid-19 and Me’. A Serendipitous Teaching and Learning Opportunity in a 1st Year Undergraduate Medical Anthropology Course. Teaching Anthropology, 10(3), Article 38-45. https://doi.org/10.22582/ta.v10i3.604
• Stubbersfield, J. M., Widger, T., Russell, A. J., & Tehrani, J. J. (2021). The HCT Index: a typology and index of health conspiracy theories with examples of use. Wellcome Open Research, 6, https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16790.1
• Harrison, S., Bierski, K., Burn, N., Mclusky, S., McFaull, V., Russell, A., …Macnaughton, J. (2020). Dance for people with chronic breathlessness: a transdisciplinary approach to intervention development. BMJ Open Respiratory Research, 7(1), Article e000696. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2020-000696
• Oxley, R., & Russell, A. (2020). Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Breath, Body and World. Body & Society, 26(2), 3-29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357034x20913103
• Russell, A. (2018). Can the plant speak? Giving tobacco the voice it deserves. Journal of Material Culture, 23(4), 472-487. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183518799516
• Russell, A., Wainwright, M., & Tilson, M. (2018). Means and ENDS – e-cigarettes, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and global health diplomacy in action. Global Public Health, 13(1), 83-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2016.1152284
• Russell, A. (2017). Smog in a time of tobacco control. Anthropology Today, 33(6), 27-29. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12395
• Norman, A., Russell, A., & Merli, C. (2016). The Quality and Outcomes Framework: Body commodification in UK General Practice. Social Science & Medicine, 170, 77-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.10.009
• Maatz, A., Wainwright, M., Russell, A., Macnaughton, J., & Yiannakou, Y. (2016). What’s ‘difficult’? A multi-stage qualitative analysis of secondary care specialists’ experiences with medically unexplained symptoms. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 90, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2016.09.005
• Russell, A., Wainwright, M., & Mamudu, H. (2015). A chilling example? Uruguay, Phillip Morris International, and WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 29(2), 256-277. https://doi.org/10.1111/maq.12141
• Russell, A., & Lewis, S. (2015). Documenting Impact: An Impact Case Study of Anthropological Collaboration in Tobacco Control. Anthropology in Action: Journal for Applied Anthropology in Policy and Practice, 22(2), 14-23. https://doi.org/10.3167/aia.2015.220203
• Lewis, S., & Russell, A. (2014). Protecting Children and Young People from Tobacco-Related Harm: A Review. Children & Society, 28(2), 140-151. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2012.00472.x
• Lewis, S., & Russell, A. (2013). Young smokers' narratives : public health, disadvantage and structural violence. Sociology of Health & Illness, 53(3), 746-760. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2012.01527.x
• Carro-Ripalda, S., Russell, A., Lewis, S., & Heckler, S. (2013). The making and changing of smoking persons in public health policy and practice: Ethnography of a world-first illicit tobacco program. Contemporary Drug Problems, 40(1), 21-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/009145091304000103
• Macnaughton, J., Carro-Ripalda, S., & Russell, A. (2012). ‘Risking enchantment’: how are we to view the smoking person?. Critical Public Health, 22(4), 455-469. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2012.706260
• Raw, A., Lewis, S., Russell, A., & Macnaughton, J. (2012). A Hole in the Heart: confronting the drive for evidence-based impact research in arts in health. Arts and Health: An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice, 4(2), 97-108. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2011.619991
• Russell, A. (2012). Love, displacement, and ritual excision: a medical anthropologist gets appendicitis. Medische antropologie, 24(1), 195-206
• Wainwright, M., Russell, A., & Yiannakou, Y. (2011). Challenging the Biopsychosocial Model in a Chronic Constipation Clinic. Qualitative Health Research, 21(12), 1643-1657. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732311416824
• Lewis, S., & Russell, A. (2011). Being Embedded: A way forward for ethnographic research. Ethnography, 12(3), 398-416. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138110393786
• Naraghi, K., Booth, M., Russell, A., & van Laar, J. (2011). Determination of smoking status of rheumatoid arthritis patients by means of a self-reported questionnaire and serum cotinine assay: a cross-sectional study. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, https://doi.org/10.1136/ard.2011.151118
• Wainwright, M., & Russell, A. (2010). Using NVivo Audio-Coding: Practical, Sensorial and Epistemological Considerations. Social research update, 1-4
• Russell, A., Heckler, S., White, M., Sengupta, S., Chappel, D., Hunter, D., …Lewis, S. (2009). The evolution of a UK regional tobacco control office in its early years: social contexts and policy dynamics. Health Promotion International, 24(3), 262-268. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dap023
• Heckler, S., & Russell, A. (2008). Emotional Engagement in Strategic Partnerships: grassroots organising in a tobacco control partnership in the North East of England. Evidence and Policy, 4(4), 331-354. https://doi.org/10.1332/174426408x366658
• Russell, A. (2007). Writing Traveling Cultures – Travel and Ethnography amongst the Yakkha of East Nepal. Ethnos, 72(3), 361-382. https://doi.org/10.1080/00141840701576976
• Russell, A. (2007). Anthropology and Ecotourism in European Wetlands: Bubbles, Babies and Bathwater. Tourist Studies, 7(2), 225-244. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797607083504
• Russell, A., White, V., & Landes, D. (2006). Young Offenders’ Perceptions and Expectations of Dental Health Services in the North East of England: a Qualitative Study. International journal of prisoner health, 2(4), 281-289. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449200601069726
• Wallace, G., & Russell, A. (2004). Eco-Cultural Tourism: as a means for the sustainable development of culturally marginal and environmentally sensitive regions. Tourist Studies, 4(3), 235-254. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797604057326
• Russell, A. (2004). Traditions in transition: Sanskritization and Yakkhafication in East Nepal. History and Anthropology, 15(3), 251-261. https://doi.org/10.1080/0275720042000257458
• Russell, A., & Wallace, G. (2004). Irresponsible Ecotourism. Anthropology Today, 20(3), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0268-540x.2004.00265.x
• Russell, A., van Teijlingen, E., Lambert, H., & Stacy, R. (2004). Social and Behavioural Science Education in UK Medical Schools: Current Practice and Future Directions. Medical Education, 38(4), 409-417. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2004.01798.x
• Hungin, A., Chinn, D., Convery, B., Dean, C., Cornford, C., & Russell, A. (2003). The prescribing and follow-up of domiciliary oxygen whose responsibility? A survey of prescribing from primary care. British Journal of General Practice, 53(494), 714-715
• Montag, D., Panter-Brick, C., & Russell, A. (2002). Anthropology and the Health of Populations - global trends and local contexts. British Journal of General Practice, 52(481), 691-691
• Russell, A. (2000). The Missing and the Met: Routing Clifford amongst the Yakha in Nepal and NE India
• Russell, A., Dougall, A., Rubin, G., & Ling, J. (1999). Rethinking Patient Satisfaction: Patient Experiences of an Open Access Flexible Sigmoidoscopy Service. Social Science & Medicine, 50(1), 53-62

Other (Print)

• Russell, A., & Brierley-Jones, L. Supporting early years community based learning
• Brierley-Jones, L., & Russell, A. Supporting students' writing for community-based learning

Presentation

• Russell, A., van Teijlingen, E., Lambert, H., & Stacy, R. (2002, December). Social and Behavioural Sciences in Medical Education. Report on a Workshop held on 27-28 June 2002

Report

• White, V., Russell, A., & Landes, D. (2005). Dental Services in Deerbolt Young Offenders Institution: a report on the perceptions and expectations that Young Offenders have of the dental services provided in the community and in Deerbolt Young Offenders Institution. [No known commissioning body]
• Bell, S., & et al. (2005). Integrated Management of European Wetlands. [No known commissioning body]