Andrea Kitta is a folklorist with a specialty in medicine, belief, and the supernatural. She is also interested in Internet folklore, narrative, and contemporary (urban) legend. Her current research includes: vaccines, pandemic illness, stigmatized diseases, health information on the Internet, medical and nursing students' reactions to medical professionals on television and in the media, and doctor/patient communication.
Andrea is a Professional Associate in the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research on vaccines won the Bernard Duval Prize at the Canadian Immunization Conference and she received the Graduate Student Union's Award for Teaching Excellence for 2008.
Degrees
Ph.D. in Folklore, Memorial University of Newfoundland
MA in Folk Studies, Western Kentucky University
BA in History, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Primary Areas of Research/Teaching
Folklore--Medicine, Belief, and the Supernatural
Internet Folklore
Doctor/Patient Communication
Courses Taught
3570: American Folklore
1100: Composition I
Selected Publications and Presentations
2009 "Folk Medicine" for Women's Encyclopaedia, Locke, Liz, Theresa A. Vaughan, and Pauline Greenhill, eds. Encyclopedia of Women's Folklore and Folklife. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 220-222.
2009 "Vampire" for Women's Encyclopaedia, Locke, Liz, Theresa A. Vaughan, and Pauline Greenhill, eds. Encyclopedia of Women's Folklore and Folklife. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 673-675.
2009 "Bellydance" for Women's Encyclopaedia, Locke, Liz, Theresa A. Vaughan, and Pauline Greenhill, eds. Encyclopedia of Women's Folklore and Folklife. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 46-48.
2007 "This Won't Hurt a Bit: Disease, Vaccines, and Urban Legends", The Newfoundland Quarterly. Volume 100, Number 1: 2007. Issue 424. 16-19.
2007 "It's a Very Dynamic Moose': Narrative, Creativity, and Memory in a Traditional Art Form", Voices: A Publication of the New York Folklore Society, Fall/Winter 2007. Vol33:3-4. 43-48.
Selected Presentations:
2008 A Shot in the Dark: Lay Perception of Inoculations and Anti-Vaccination Discourse, November 30, 2008. Canadian Immunization Conference. Toronto, Ontario.
2007 The Anti-Vaccination Movement: Conspiracy, Legend, and Risk Perception, November 1, 2007. Pediatric Grand Rounds, Health Sciences Centre, St. John's, Newfoundland.
2007 "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly": The Stigmatization of Immunization Resistant Individuals, October 2007. Joint Meeting of the American Folklore Society and the Folklore Studies Association of Canada. Quebec City, Quebec.
2007 Vaccination and Risk Perception – Why You Should Listen to a Folklorist, January 17, 2007. Community Health Lecture Series, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland.
2006 Vaccine Reaction: An Analysis of the Content and Design of Anti-Vaccination Websites, October 2006. Annual Conference of the American Folklore Society. Milwaukee, Minnesota.
Website Links
American Folklore Society
