Sociocultural Anthropology Colloquium | “Hopesick: Care and Community in America's Opioid Crisis”

“For many Christians, the belief that God can and does act directly in the world can be a tremendous source of hope. Against seemingly insurmountable challenges, there is a sense that the miraculous may truly be possible. And yet, things don’t always work out. In this talk, I explore these dynamics of hope and disappointment through the life of a young woman living with opioid use disorder in Central Appalachia. Drawing on five years of collaborative ethnographic fieldwork in non-denominational churches and clinics providing Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD), this talk considers the theological and interpersonal stakes of hope and despair in Appalachian communities living through the on-going opioid crisis. In it, I explore the vernacular use of the term ‘hopesick’ as a possible alternative to concepts of co-dependent resentment, compassion fatigue, and abandonment. Moving beyond moments of hopesick rage and grief, the later sections of the talk explore what we might learn from recovering ‘hopefiends’ who have found less risky ways to engage with the euphoric highs of hope so that they may continue on with greater compassion for themselves and others.”

China Scherz is the Kristin Yudt Collegiate Professor of Global Affairs in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, Scherz was an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Virginia. She earned a Ph.D. in medical anthropology from the Universities of California at San Francisco and Berkeley and a B.A. in anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. Scherz’s work examines how health and well-being are fostered through care, connection, and community. Across a series of projects, she has also explored how people decide who they should care for and how they ought to care for them and the ways in which spiritual experiences intersect with processes of ethical transformation.