Professor James J. McKenna, Ph.D.
Edmund P. Joyce C.S.C. Chair in Anthropology
Director, Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Lab

View the Full Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Areas of Interest and Expertise:
Infant Sleep, Breast Feeding, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Evolution of Human Behavior (especially parenting and infant development)
Evolutionary Medicine
Primate Social Behavior
Human Evolution

Education:
1966-70 A.B., University of California, Berkeley (Anthropology)
1970-72 M.A., San Diego State University (Anthropology) Master's Thesis: "Primate Aggression: A Problem in Behavioral Systematics"
1972-75 Ph.D., Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon (Anthropology) Dissertation: "Social Roles and Behaviors of Seventeen Captive Indian Langur Monkeys (Presbytis entellus)"

Languages:
Reading fluency in German, French, and Italian

Additional Appointments:

  • Chair, Department of Anthropology (2001-August 2005)
    University of Notre Dame     

    Director, Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory
    University of Notre Dame

    (Ad Hoc) Expert Consultant. American Academy of Pediatrics. SIDS and Infant Sleep Position, Dr. John Kattwinkel, Chair. 2004.

    Member, Global Strategy SIDS Task Force (Education Committee)

    (Ad Hoc) Committee Indiana Perinatal Network (IPN) Safe Infant Sleep Brochure

    Health Advisory Board, La Leche League International

    Advisor: Pregnancy and Fitness Magazine

    Associate Editor Medical Anthropology Encyclopedia Yale University HARF

    Executive Committee Member
    Mendelson Center for the Study of Sport, Culture and Character
    University of Notre Dame 2000-2003
     
    Senior Researcher
    Department of Neurology
    University of California, Irvine
    School of medicine 1984-1997
    Scientific Advisory Committee Member
    Fourth International SIDS Meeting
    Washington D.C. 1994

    International Advisory Board Member
    Seventh Annual Meeting of the European Society for the Prevention of Infant Deaths
    Jerusalem, Israel   June 1999

Publications:

Books Accepted:

Safe Sleeping With Baby: A Parents Guide. James J. McKenna.
Platypus Pres., Washington DC

Evolutionary Medicine (Part Two) Editors, W.Trevathan, N.Smith, J.McKenna. Oxford University Press.

Articles in press:  

McKenna, James J. and L.Volpe " An Internet Based Study of Infant Sleeping Arrangements and Parental Perceptions." Infant and Child Development Infant Behavior and Child Development, special issue on cosleeping (Wendy Goldberg , Editor).  

McKenna, James J, Lane Volpe and Willow Wetheral
Longitudinal Study of beliefs, Sleeping Arrangements, Feeding Practices and Attachment of At Risk Teen Moms Compared with High and Low Risk Older Control Moms: Implications For SIDS.
Pediatrics and Infant Health

McKenna, James. Assessing trade-offs between potential benefits and risks of increased nighttime contact between mothers and infants. Pediatrics and Infant Health 

View the Full Publication List (PDF)

Invited Lectures:

2005          Saturday Scholar Series October 22, 2005. University of Notre Dame., College f Arts and Letters Presents. Caring For Parents, Caring For Infants (lecture online www.nd.edu/~alfac/mckenna

2005          Law and Anthropology: Mother-Infant Cosleeping With Breast Feeding As Adaptation or Prosecutable Offense? University of Notre Dame School of Law September 15, 2005.

2005          Hobart, Tasmania Sept 27-28. Australian Breast Feeding Association. (Keynote address).

2005          Rockford, Illinois July 2005..Illinois Breast Feeding Consortium. Breast Feeding and Cosleeping.

2005          Plattsburgh, New York June  2005 (Grand Rounds) Update on SIDS. 

2005          Penn State, Hershey Medical Center June 2005 Excellence in Clinical Approaches to Lactation. Milton Hershey Medical Center  June 6-7.Mother-Infant Co-sleeping As Adaptation.

View the Full Invited Lectures List (PDF)

 

Awards and Honors:

2004 Moira Whitehead Memorial Lecturer. Grand Rounds.
Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital. “SIDS, Breast Feeding and Co-sleeping”. October 20, 2004.

2004 Distinguished Lecturer, World Mental Health Association. University of Melbourne, Australia. January 14-18. Melbourne, Australia. Lecture: “Controlled crying: Social Ideology Masquerading As Science”

2004-06 Elected:  Executive Committee Member–At-Large: Biological    Anthropology Section, American Anthropological Association.

2003-2004 Kaneb Faculty Teaching Fellow Appointment, University of Notre Dame

2004 Distinguished Presenter Award. Washington D.C. Presented by District of Columbia Child Fatality Review Committee.

View the Full Awards and Honors List (PDF)


Recent Administrative Experience:

2001 -2005 Chair, Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame

2000-03 Executive Committee, Mendelson Center for the Study of Sport Culture and Character. University of Notre Dame
 
2001         -present Provost’s Advisory Committee, University of Notre Dame

* Full list available in Curriculum Vitae

Teaching Experience

1975-77 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley

2000 Assistant Professor of Anthropology Pomona College, Department of Anthropology 1981--Associate Professor, Pomona College

1990-1996 Professor of Anthropology, Pomona College

1996-1998 Hahn Chair of the Social Science (Endowed Chair) Pomona College

1997-present Professor of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame

* Full list available in Curriculum Vitae

 

Research Activities

1998-Present University of Notre Dame Mother-Baby Sleep Laboratory: ethnohistory of family attitudes toward childhood sleep, and sleep behavior during the night

1984-1997 Departments of Neurology, Child Psychiatry, and Human Behavior, University of California Irvine Medical Center, Sleep Disorders Laboratory. Project: Breathing and Sleep Patterns of Co-Sleeping Human Mother-Infant Pairs (co-researcher Dr. Sarah Mosko, Ph.D.)

1983 Human and Nonhuman Primate Development: The Effects of Supplemental and Surrogate Care (Haynes Foundation Grant and Project)

1981 “Sociobiology and Economics: Can We Predict the Fate of Genes and Dollars by Using the Same Models?” Summer research funded by the Irvine Foundation

1979-80 Infant development and adaptive significance of infant sharing among captive langurs, San Diego Wild Animal Park

1975-77 Research with P. Dolhinow on the effect of temporary mother-loss among langur monkeys (P. entellus) at the Primate Behavior Station, U.C. Berkeley

* Full list available in Curriculum Vitae