Rate My Professor Alfred Montaya

Alfred Montoya, Ph.D., serves as Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. A native San Antonian and Trinity alumnus (B.A. 2003), he obtained his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. Montoya's scholarship centers on the intersection of science, technology, and society, especially regarding the governance of epidemics in Southeast Asia, with particular emphasis on HIV/AIDS in Vietnam. His research extends to the effects of climate change on migration and health in the greater Mekong subregion, the drug trade in Southeast Asia, and how urban poverty impacts access to education, health services, and nutrition in San Antonio. Committed to community engagement, he fosters partnerships with local agencies to enable students to undertake community-based research projects via his fieldwork course.

Montoya has authored numerous publications advancing medical anthropology and science and technology studies. Notable works include "The Force of Absent Things: HIV/AIDS, PEPFAR Vietnam, and the Afterlife of Aid" (East Asian Science, Technology and Society, 2018), "Digital Relics of the Saints of Affliction: HIV/AIDS, Digital Images and the Neoliberalization of Health Humanitarianism in Contemporary Vietnam" (Mortality, 2015), "Introduction: Death, After-Death and the Human in the Internet Era" with Connor Graham (Mortality, 2015), "Sea Snake Harvest in the Gulf of Thailand" with Nguyen Van Cao et al. (Conservation Biology, 2014), "How To Argue With A Computer: HIV/AIDS, the Secret Life of Numbers, and The Form of the Future in Contemporary Vietnam" (East Asian Science, Technology and Society, 2013), and "From 'The People' to 'The Human': HIV/AIDS, Neoliberalism, and the Economy of Virtue in Contemporary Vietnam" (Positions, 2012). He teaches courses including Introduction to Anthropology, Health, Illness and Society, Research Methods: Fieldwork, Global Health, and HIV/AIDS: Nature, Power, Populations. Montoya contributes to public service as a member of the City of San Antonio Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Committee's Equity Technical Working Group; he previously served on the San Antonio Area HIV Health Services Planning Council, the San Antonio/Bexar County HIV/Syphilis Task Force, and the board of the San Antonio AIDS Foundation. In 2017, he was honored with Trinity University faculty awards for distinguished teaching, service, and scholarship. Promoted to full Professor, his work bridges academia and community impact.