Solutions To Violence | Lisa Markowtz & Mike Perlin | Attacks on Higher Education | 5-20-25

Lisa Markowitz currently teaches Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, People and their Food, Anthropology of Latin America, Globalizing Inequalities, Food Justice, and Contemporary Issues in Anthropology, at the University of Louisville. Markowitz’s research has focused on inequities in regional and global agrifood systems and popular efforts to transform them. These linked themes have informed her writing and scholarly-civic engagement in Andean South America and the upper U.S. South. She has carried out ethnographic field research in Peru and Bolivia, exploring the situation of peasant farmers and ranchers and their use of communal or collective strategies to improve their production systems and economic bargaining power. This experience led to a long-term interest in Andean food and agriculture as well as an engagement with building equitable food systems in the United States Her work has also addressed the roles of Non-governmental organizations as change agents in South America and the United States. Her most recent project concerns the grocery industry. Michael Perlin: Dr. Michael Perlin teaches Biology 330 Genetics & Molecular Biology, Biol 410 Misuse of Biology in Film and Pop Culture, Biol 542/642 Gene Structure and Function, Biol 416 Biotechnology Methods, and Biol 575/675 Evolution of Genes and Genomes. As a biologist Dr. Michael Perlin investigates the evolution of host/pathogen interactions, primarily at the molecular genetics and biochemical levels. The research in Michael Perlin’s lab focuses on the evolution of interactions between pathogens and the hosts on which they cause disease. At present, this work has two main areas of emphasis: fungal/plant interactions and population dynamics of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.