Explorations of a Mind-Traveling Sociologist

"Explorations of a Mind-Traveling Sociologist is a book of thematically interconnected ethnographic essays by the internationally esteemed sociologist Renee C. Fox, who employs a participant observer outlook to provide unique insight on such enduring - and pressing - issues as the lived experiences of physicians and patients. This includes patients who are physically challenged, elderly, mortally ill or beyond the reach of medical care; the origins and consequences of epidemic outbreaks of old and new plague-like infectious diseases that occur and recur, despite the impressive advances of medicine; the concomitants and challenges of aging; the wellsprings, dynamics and significance of medical humanitarian action; engagement with a 'beyond borders' world view; the occurrence of national and international events of major moral as well as political and legal import and repercussions; and the meaning and meaningfulness of teaching, exploring, questing and writing. Latently associated with these themes are the author's social values and social conscience. Composing these essays from a participant observer outlook heightens and enriches the author's observations over the course of her da