His research focuses on the political organizing of LGBT groups in Yunnan, China as they cooperate with the local government to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
His teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include Sociology of Gender; Medical Anthropology; China Studies; and NGO Studies.
Wortham has notable publications in the journals of Medical Anthropology, Journal of Contemporary China and Asian Studies Review. He is currently working on his book, Queer Collusion: HIV Quotas and LGBT Politics in Yunnan, China. He is also the Secretary of the Association of Queer Anthropology.
Wortham has a B.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Texas Austin (2012) and an M.A. (2018) and Ph.D. (2021) in Applied Anthropology from Columbia University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at New York University Shanghai (2022-2024) and the University of Nottingham Ningbo (2021) and taught at Kunming University of Science and Technology (2021-2022). Before beginning his Ph.D. he was a fellow with Teach for China (2013-2015).
