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Staff and Students
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society
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Registered General Nursing, Sussex University UK
Diploma in Mental Health, London University UK
BSc Health Studies, University of Paisley UK
MA Medical Anthropology, SOAS UK
Mr Stephen Brooker - PhD student |
| Disciplinary expertise |
Nursing
Medical Anthropology
Rites of Passage
Epidemics
Sex & Sexuality
Shamanism
Symbolism
European History
Religion |
| Thesis title |
Chasing the Bug: the considered intent to contract HIV |
| Thesis description |
Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are some people (‘Bug Chasers’), more visible within the gay male community, who seek to become infected with HIV. This project seeks to explore the cultural meaning of a contagious epidemic for those that may embrace infectivity instead of reacting with aversion.
‘Bug Chasers’ have been depicted in discourse about HIV transmission as gay men who ‘deliberately’ set out to contract HIV. Their behaviours negate notions of sexual risk and the very idea of their existence has become controversial, shrouded in myth. There is little academic or clinical research that explores the meaning of ‘bug-chasing’ as the concept continues to generate controversy: do Bug Chasers exist, or are they figments of a discrepancy between reality, rumour and research?
If bug chasers do exist, can their behaviour be rationalised and classified within current biomedical frameworks? Or is this a new evolution within the history of epidemics that embodies a rite of passage commencing a journey of infectivity? |
| Publications |
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Publications include entitled ‘Opening Circles’, a Training Manual on HIV/AIDS Care & Support in India, published in collaboration with Action Aid and a ‘Training of Trainers Manual on Home Based Care for People living with HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea’. |
| Conferences |
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Society for Applied Anthropology - Vancouver - March 2006
Paper
‘The Boundless Divide: HIV in West Papua & Papua New Guinea’
Poster
‘The Cultural Life of Opium’
Nursing Leadership – Alice Springs – June 2004
Paper
‘The Link Project - Scaling up Palliative Care Provision in Nursing Homes & Hostels’ |
| Contact details |
Email:s2brooker@latrobe.edu.au
Phone: (02) 8382 9440 |
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