The Berkeley Center for Social Medicine (BCSM) mourns the loss of Sam Dubal, MD, PhD, a medical anthropologist and an affiliate of BCSM for many years, first as a student, when he was a co-founder of the group that became the Structural Competency Working Group, and later as a postdoctoral scholar. He was a beloved member of the BCSM community.
In October of 2020, shortly after Sam began his new position as Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Washington, he died in a hiking accident in Mt. Rainier National Park at the age of 33.
As a medical anthropologist, he is well-known for his essay "Renouncing Paul Farmer: A Desperate Plea for Radical Political Medicine," and for his book Against Humanity: Lessons from the Lord’s Resistance Army. Below is a video of the talk that he gave at BCSM based on his book. He co-authored "Beyond border health: Infrastructural violence and the health of border abolition," an article in the journal Social Science & Medicine.
Sam was dedicated to his family and friends and passionate about soccer and gardening. His family has established a fellowship at UC Berkeley to honor Sam and to support the training of individuals and projects that advance a collective mission toward an ethical world. Donations may be made here
2019 talk by Sam Dubal on his book
