Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Honors Thesis (Open Access)

Department

Colby College. Anthropology Dept.

Advisor(s)

Chandra Bhimull

Second Advisor

Mary Beth Mills

Abstract

This honors thesis explores the fluctuating and dynamic nature of pediatric cancer care. I discuss the ways in which pediatric medical providers make meaningful interactions both for themselves and for their patients by enacting a caring liminality that allows them to fight disease while also creating a more personal, relational, and social moment of care. Providers care and work in shifting landscapes of care, what I call carescapes. The carescapes of the built environment, of value, and of physical movement all make the provider’s liminality visible. Ultimately, I argue that care is a way of being in the world, a way to make meaning in the midst of sickness and doubt.

Keywords

care, pediatrics, cancer, liminality, emotional labor, Minnesota

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