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Maryann McCabe

Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology

PhD

Office Location
440 Lattimore Hall
Telephone
(585) 275-8614

Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00PM - 3:00PM, Lattimore 444

Professor McCabe received her PhD and MA from New York University and her BA from The George Washington University. Before coming to the University of Rochester, she worked for the New York State Department of Social Services as Director of the Child Sexual Abuse Program. She has conducted fieldwork on child sexual abuse in New York City where her research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health. In partnership with Cornell University, she developed a multi-disciplinary training program for professionals who intervene in cases of child sexual abuse.

At the University of Rochester, Professor McCabe works with students as a member of the Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year (KEY) Review Board.

Research Overview

I am an applied anthropologist interested in consumer research, material culture, food, community revitalization, social justice, and sustainability.  Working at the juncture of anthropology and business as the founder and principal of a market research consultancy, I have been interested in how start-up and established enterprises bring products and services to the marketplace.  My interest is based on brands as cultural symbols, the social construction of brand meaning, and ethnographic research on consumption practices in everyday life.

Because I am concerned about community and social justice, I work with students in partnership with local organizations to help residents in the process of revitalizing their neighborhoods.  Most recently we engaged in research projects with the Rochester Public Market to enhance its positioning in the region and with Rochester Roots to launch a farmer’s market selling organic produce grown in one of the city’s poorer neighborhoods.  My interest in sustainability relates to both agriculture and transportation in terms of human decision-making and its impact on society and the environment.

For information about scholar-practitioners in anthropology, contact:

Selected Publications

  • 2016.  Collaborative Ethnography in Business Environments. London: Routledge.
  • 2016.  Women's Bodies, menstruation and marketing "protection": Interpreting a paradox of gendered discourses in consumer practices and advertising campaigns.  Consumption, Markets & Culture DOI 10.1080/10253866.2015.1095741.
  • 2014. Configuring family, kinship and natural cosmology: Branding pet food. In Handbook of Business Anthropology, R. Denny and P. Sunderland, eds. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
  • 2013. 360 on method. Journal of Business Anthropology 2(2): 155-161.
  • 2013. Creativity and Cooking: Motherhood, Agency and Social Change In Everyday Life. Journal of Consumer Culture 15(1):48-65.
  • 2012. Vitamin practices and ideologies of health and the body. (with Antonella Fabri). International Journal of Business Anthropology 3(1) 39-61.
  • 2011. "Postscript: Business anthropology, the future, and pursuit of theoretical directions" In Advanced Readings in Business Anthropology, R. Tian, D. Zhou and A. Marrewijk, eds.. Toronto:North American Business Press.
  • 2010. Brands, interactivity and contested fields: Exploring production and consumption in Cadillac and Infiniti automobile advertising campaigns. (with Timothy Malefyt). Human Organization 69(3): 353-262.
  • 2004. Strengthening pedagogy and praxis in cultural anthropology and service learning: Insights from postcolonialism. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning 10(3): 16-30.
  • 1988. Child Sexual Abuse Curriculum for Social Workers, Module II. Denver: American Humane Association.
  • 1987. Use of Anatomical Dolls to Interview Sexually Abused Children. (with Patrick Tooman). New York: Cornell University.
  • 1986. Child Neglect: A Research View. In Child Abuse and Neglect, M. McCabe et. al., eds.. New York: Goldner Press.
  • 1985. "Dynamics of child sexual abuse" and “Coordinated intervention in child sexual abuse cases.” In Sexual Abuse of Children, M. McCabe and R. Cohen, eds. New York: Goldner Press.
  • 1984. Sexual Abuse Trainer’s Manual (M. McCabe et. al.) New York: Cornell University.

Teaching

  • ANT 280K: Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Transportation
  • ANT 281K: Solving UR's Enviro-Footprint