Sean Prall
Sean Prall
Postdoc, Center for Behavior, Evolution, & Culture, UCLA, 2016-2019
PhD in Anthropology, Indiana University, 2014
BA in Anthropology, Boise State University, 2008
I am an Assistant Professor in Anthropology at the University of Missouri, with a focus on health and reproductive decision-making. I am the co-director of the Kunene Rural Health and Demography Project, based in rural Namibia, where I have worked since 2016. I am currently the PI of a project, jointly funded by NSF and the SSRC, to examine individual, economic, and cultural factors that mediate vaccination decisions in Namibia. My work employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including anthropometrics, demography, endocrinology, actigraphy, surveys and interviews, and dyadic peer ratings. In combining these methods, I aim to develop a more holistic picture of health behavior. In addition to my work in Namibia, I am a contributor to the NSF-funded ENDOW project on cross-cultural inequality, and a collaborator on the Shodagor Longitudinal Health and Demography Project in Bangladesh. I am also a board member of the One Pencil Project, a non-profit focused on health and education in the Kunene.
- Anthro 1000 - Introduction to anthropology: biology, prehistory, and culture
- Anthro 1560 - Outbreaks and the anthropology of emerging disease
- Anthro 2580 - Evolution of human sexuality
- Anthro 4300/7300 - Comparative social organization
- Anthro 4580/7580 - Evolutionary medicine
- Prall SP, Scelza BA. 2024. The causes and consequences of women’s status in Himba pastoralists. Evolution & Human Behavior 45(1): 111‐120.
- Prall SP, Scelza BA. 2022. The effect of mating market dynamics on partner preference and relationship quality among Himba pastoralists. Science Advances 8(18):eabm5629
- Prall SP, Scelza BA. 2020. Resource demands reduce partner discrimination in Himba women. Evolutionary Human Sciences 2:E45.
- Prall SP, Scelza BA. 2020. Why men invest in non-biological offspring: paternal care and paternity confidence among Himba pastoralists. Proceedings of the Royal Society B287:20192890.
See my personal website for a full list of publications