• Ph.D., Sociocultural Anthropology, Yale University
• M.A., East Asian Studies, Yale University
• B.A., English/East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University

Selected Publications

Forthcoming. Heinemann LL and EB Rubinstein. “We’re the Health Care in the Town, Pretty Much”: Rural Community Pharmacy and the Chronicity of Systemic Precarity. In Covid’s Chronicities, edited by L Manderson and N Burke.

2023. Rubinstein EB, H Rayel*, EC Crawford, and M Larson. Using a Rapid Ethnographic Assessment to Explore Vaccine Hesitancy on a Public University Campus in the Upper Midwest. Journal of American College Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2023.2225628

2023. Skoy E, EB Rubinstein, L Nagel, AH Preugschas*, and M Larson. Preparedness for a Pandemic: Independent Community Pharmacists’ Experiences Delivering COVID-19 Vaccines. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association 63:1049-1056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2023.03.008

(* indicates student/trainee)

Dr. Rubinstein is a cultural and medical anthropologist with ethnographic research experience in Japan and the U.S. She is classically trained in anthropological theory and methods, which she uses in her applied medical anthropology work on healthcare systems in local contexts ranging from urban Japan to the rural U.S. Midwest.

Working on interdisciplinary, cross-cultural teams with healthcare practitioners has enabled her to experiment with different research philosophies and methodologies, as well as to demonstrate the crucial role anthropology can play in solving real-world problems. She is currently involved in two major research projects. One project explores the implementation of clinical services in independent community pharmacies in North Dakota. The other project investigates patient and career experiences with psychiatry in Austria and Japan.

Dr. Rubinstein’s research interests span a broad array of medical and related topics, including: (bio)medicine, rural health, pharmacy, caregiving, mental health, psychiatry, diagnosis, disability, and family. She aims to prepare anthropology students to explain their skills to a wide audience, both to ensure anthropology contributes to broader social discussions and to enhance students’ ability to effect positive change in the world.

• Medical Anthropology
• Psychological Anthropology
• Anthropological Theory
• Ethnographic Research Methods