Rachel Newcomb, PhD
Professor of Anthropology, Faculty Director of Master of Public Health
My research focuses on the intersections of culture, social inequality, and health, with particular emphasis on immigrant healthcare access, pesticide exposure, and maternal and child well-being. I have collaborated with community organizations in the US, Spain, and Morocco, focusing on migration-related health issues as well as the cultural dimensions of food, nutrition, and obesity.
Most recently, I spent over a year working in the pharmaceutical marketing research industry, conducting qualitative research with patients and physicians to better understand experiences of illness, treatment decisions, and unmet healthcare needs.
Education
BA, Davidson College
MA, Johns Hopkins University
MA, Princeton University
DrPH, Princeton University
Courses Taught
Undergraduate
Anthropology and Global Problem Solving (ANT 317)
Anthropology of Mind, Body, Culture (RCC 100)
Anthropology of Reproduction (ANT 355)
Cultures of the Middle East (ANT 255)
Recent Publications
Books
Newcomb, R. (2017). Everyday Life in Global Morocco. Indiana University Press. Link: https://iupress.org/9780253031235/everyday-life-in-global-morocco/
Crawford, D., & Newcomb, R. (Eds.). (2013). Encountering Morocco: Fieldwork and Cultural Understanding. Indiana University Press. Link: https://iupress.org/9780253009197/encountering-morocco/
Newcomb, R. (2009). Women of Fes: Ambiguities of Urban Life in Morocco. University of Pennsylvania Press. Link: https://www.pennpress.org/9780812221312/women-of-fes/
Selected Health-Related Publications
Newcomb, R., & Renfroe, S. (2018). Reducing vulnerabilities among female migrants in the United States and Spain. In Porous Borders, Invisible Boundaries? Ethnographic Perspectives on the Vicissitudes of Contemporary Migration. Link: https://scholarship.rollins.edu/as_facpub/194/
Newcomb, R. (2014). [Review of the book Health and Ritual in Morocco: Conceptions of the Body and Healing Practices, by J. L. Mateo Dieste]. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 46(3), 615–616. Link: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743814000713
Kline, N., & Newcomb, R. (2013). The forgotten farmworkers of Apopka, Florida: Prospects for collaborative research and activism to assist African American former farmworkers. Anthropology and Humanism, 38(2), 160–176. Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/anhu.12016
Newcomb, R. (2013). Women and reproductive knowledge in the Mediterranean. In F. Sadiqi (Ed.), Women and Knowledge in the Mediterranean. Routledge. Link: https://www.routledge.com/Women-and-Knowledge-in-the-Mediterranean/Sadiqi/p/book/9781138108264
News & Features
March 31, 2025
Rollins Inducts 24 New Members of Phi Beta Kappa
A select group of Rollins students has joined the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, placing them among the top 1 percent of college scholars in the U.S.
March 21, 2025
Rollins Museum of Art Collaborates with Hume House Child Development Center
David Matteson, an associate curator of education for Rollins Museum of Art, and Alice Davidson, executive director of Rollins Child Development Center and a professor of Psychology, were interviewed on Central Florida Public Media's Engage about the Symbolic Languages Exhibit. (at 39:01)
October 11, 2024
Psychology Professor Provides Expertise on Children Developing a Love for Reading
Alice Davidson, a psychology professor and Director of the Hume House College Child Development and Student Research Center, provided expert commentary to Parents.com on teaching your child to develop a love for reading.
December 13, 2023
Psychology Professor Shares Research on Gentle Parenting in New York Magazine
Alice Davidson, a professor of psychology, shared her research on "gentle parenting" with New York Magazine's -The Cut.
May 11, 2022
A Professor of Psychology Addresses Social-Emotional Learning
Alice Davidson, a professor of psychology, discusses social-emotional learning and the Florida Department of Education’s review of math textbooks.
April 21, 2022
Psychology Professor Provides Commentary on Social Emotional Learning
Psychology professor Alice Davidson discusses Florida’s ban on math textbooks that promote social emotional learning.