Sam Dubal’s Against Humanity: A Memorial Forum
From Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 22 January 2025
On October 9, 2020, the promising young anthropologist, activist, and medical doctor, Sam Dubal, set off to hike the Mother Mountain Loop at the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park, and never returned.
In the immediate wake of his disappearance, a handful of his many beloved friends and colleagues presented the following reflections for the American Anthropological Association’s “Raising Our Voices” (2020) virtual meeting, filling a slot which would have been taken by Sam to discuss his provocative Against Humanity: Lessons from the Lord’s Resistance Army (2018).
The entries that follow are some of those submissions, written in the immediate wake of Sam’s disappearance. They engage both his life and his book and some of the dimensions of our respective relationships with him that are difficult to disentangle from any sort of scholarly engagement. For those who knew Sam, we hope it is comforting. For those who did not, we hope it may serve as an invitation to the kind of kinship in discomfort that Sam believed was necessary as a condition for collective healing.
-Vincanne Adams, Michael D’Arcy, Jason J. Price, & Melina Salvador
(Memorial Forum Editors)
The Sam Dubal Fellowship in Critical Cultural and Medical Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley
The Sam Dubal Fellowship in Critical Cultural and Medical Anthropology honors the legacy of Sam Dubal, M.D., Ph.D. ’15, as an anthropologist, activist, medical doctor, professor, and ardent contributor to many vibrant intellectual communities. Dubal’s family generously established a fellowship following his tragic disappearance during a hike on Mt. Rainier in October 2020. The Dubal family’s gift, combined with support from friends, family, and community members, and matched with funds from an anonymous donor, will create a $1M endowment to provide full support for doctoral students in the Anthropology Department in the Social Science Division of UC Berkeley’s College of Letters & Science. To contribute to this endowment, visit this giving link: https://give.berkeley.edu/funddrive/253.
Sam Dubal Endowed Fellowship in Medical Anthropology at the University of Washington
The University of Washington has created the Sam Dubal Endowed Fellowship to honor Sam’s legacy; it was generously endowed by the Dubal family and over 400 donors mourning Sam’s loss after he disappeared while on a hike on Mt. Rainier in October 2020. More details are available at the University of Washington Anthropology Department announcement. People who want to honor the memory of Sam Dubal or further his mission are welcome to follow the University of Washington giving link: https://www.washington.edu/giving/make-a-gift/?source_typ=3&source=SDENFE.
The purpose of this fund is to provide support for medical anthropology graduate students in the UW's Department of Anthropology who are pursuing work related to racial justice in medicine, health, or social movements. It is the Donors' hope that this fund will inspire recipients to become activist scholars, directly addressing racism and other forms of inequities fueling health disparities.