Dina Asfaha

Mellon Assistant Professor in Anthropology

Dina Michael Asfaha is a Mellon Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University. In her work, she draws on ethnographic and archival research to examine the historical and political-economic forces that inform how people shape medical infrastructure and clinical practice, conducting research in Eritrea and the United States. Asfaha’s book project, The Medical Underground, examines the vernacular medical infrastructure Eritreans forged during their armed struggle for independence against imperial Ethiopia (1961-1991)—the longest war in modern African history—and its legacy on political belonging among Eritrean nationals. Asfaha has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Pennsylvania, NYU's Stern School of Business, and NYU-Abu Dhabi campus. Her research has been supported through generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, the American Anthropological Association, and the Marcus Garvey Memorial Foundation.