BRIGHID MCCARTHY
Role:
Anthropologist, Kijenge field site supervisor
Institution:
Rutgers University
Brighid McCarthy is a first year PhD student in evolutionary anthropology at Rutgers University, where she works with HGP co-director Lee Cronk. She studies the dynamics of cooperation in Kijenge, Tanzania, focusing on a system of generosity and mutual aid known as shiriki. Her dissertation research will combine theoretical perspectives from human behavioral ecology, experimental methods from economics, and qualitative ethnographic fieldwork involving both interviews and participant observation. To give back to the community she studies, Brighid has helped found Shule Yetu, a community-directed education center in Kijenge, and Sanaa na Wasanii, which partners with Tanzanian artists to connect them with international buyers and supports mentoring in the arts through Shule Yetu. Brighid holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston in psychology with minors in anthropology and cognitive science.