Biosketch - Lise Bouchard, Ph.D.

BIOSKETCH

I am a linguist-anthropologist interested in language contact, minority languages, sociolinguistics, and medical and pharmaceutical anthropology. Currently, I am working in developing studies in medical linguistics by exploring the interplay between linguistics, medicine, psychiatry and anthropology.

My professional training includes a B.Sc. in Anthropology and Linguistics from the Université de Montréal, Canada, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics from the Université du Québec à Montréal. I am the co-founder and Director of Research of Runajambi - Institute for the Study of Quichua Culture and Health, in Otavalo, Ecuador.

My research have been done in Ecuador and California. In Ecuador, I examined the social and linguistic constraints governing the bilingual speech of the Quichua community of Peguche. I also studied the cultural beliefs system shared by the Quichua people regarding language acquisition and social use of the language. In California, I co-directed a study on Tongva (Amerindians of California) knowledge of medicinal plants. My experiences reflect my vivid interest in the language and culture of the Indigenous Peoples.

My publications are mainly in French and lately in English. One of my most important work is the co-edition of the book Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers: Unwitting Partners in Global Mental Health published in 2009 by Wiley-Blackwell, UK. This book is a collaborative work between Runajambi and the Transcultural Psychiatry Section of the World Psychiatric Association. I also published more than sixty articles on medical and pharmaceutical anthropology in L'omnipraticien, and L'actualité pharmaceutique, two continuing medical education magazines targeting GPs and pharmacists in Québec. Currently, I amd working on a multilingual medical lexicon (Quichua-Spanish-French-English).

I have taught French, Spanish and Quichua language, culture, and linguistics to learners from a wide array of backgrounds (immigrants, health practitioners, college students, children) in Québec and the US.