Jason Hirsch Instructor, Sociology and Anthropology

Bio

M.A. in Medical Anthropology, McGill University
M. Sc. in Ecology & Holistic Science, Schumacher College
B. A. in International Development Studies & Philosophy, McGill University

Areas of Expertise

Ecological anthropology, economic anthropology, climate justice and climate transition, social movements, anthropology of the self, medical anthropology, Western herbal medicine

Courses I Teach

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Anthropology of Medicine, the Body, and the Environment

From Professor Hirsch

My teaching focuses on building consciousness of the cultural narratives that direct life in late capitalism and the Anthropocene, and upon the histories that built those narratives. I use radical imagination and technologies of self-transformation as methods. I understand thinking as a people’s craft, to be done collectively rather than competitively, among communities seeking to understand their worlds in order to change them.

Prior to entering academia, I worked in public health policy, founded and ran an urban agriculture social enterprise, and consulted on strategy with activist capacity-building organizations, public health think tanks, and local economy projects.

Current Research

My current writing project is a book about Western herbal medicine as a tool for self-transformation, entitled Wildflower Counterpower: The Ecological Politics of Western Herbal Medicine. It will be published sometime soon by Triarchy Press.

Publications

Jason Hirsch & Robert Schwartz (2021) Structural Conditions as Cause: Explaining the Rapid Rise in Youth E-Cigarette Use by Re-thinking Models of Addiction, Substance Use & Misuse, 56:12, 1892-1899.