MAYS Announcements, Events

17th MAYS Meeting CfP Now Open!

17th MAYS Annual Meeting June 10th – June 12th 2026, Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Online (Hybrid)

Submit your abstract here!
Submission Deadline: March 13th, 2026

What does Medical Anthropology do? – Implications and Applications of  
Medical Anthropological Work Beyond Academia

The Medical Anthropology Young Scholars (MAYS) Network is pleased to announce its 17th Annual Meeting for 2026: ‘What does Medical Anthropology do? – Implications and Applications of Medical Anthropological Work Beyond Academia’. The annual meeting will take place at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from the 10th to 12th of June. We invite scholars, health practitioners, and researchers from diverse disciplinary and academic backgrounds to contribute to an engaging and thought-provoking dialogue. 

Research within the field of medical anthropology has long examined how experiences of health and care take shape within specific social and institutional settings, as well as how understandings of the body are produced through everyday practices and multiple forms of expertise. Although much of this work is developed or ‘done’ within academic contexts, it continues its development and ‘doing’ both beyond when it is written and published and beyond the confinement of academic spheres. 

If and when medical anthropological research moves beyond academia, it becomes part of broader interdisciplinary processes through which care is defined, organised, justified, and contested. Both in its processes and its outcomes – in these setting, research may inform practices and decisions, be reinterpreted in light of institutional constraints, or may remain only partially visible. 

Though increasing attention is being paid to applied research, as well as to the creation and measurement of the ‘impact’ of our work, beyond academic spheres – we invite you to further think on what medical anthropological work does by reflecting on how knowledge circulates, how it is taken up in practice, what intended or unintended consequences processes of research may have and how responsibility is negotiated when, if and how research engages with ground-work experience. With this, we invite you to not only consider this doing in a practical sense, but also in the sense of an overarching ethics of our research. 

We will be building on discussions and conversations of the past annual meetings on how we navigate plural perspectives, evolving practices, ethics, researcher responsibilities for equitable research and interdisciplinarity in their academic work. This time, we would like to invite young scholars from medical anthropology, as well as scholars, health practitioners, social workers, and researchers from diverse disciplinary and academic backgrounds, to contribute to an engaging and thought-provoking dialogue about the implications and application of medical anthropological work inside and outside of academic settings.  

We encourage reflexive, theoretical, ethnographical, critical or historical contributions that address questions such as, but not limited to: 

  • What does medical anthropological work do in spaces of care, health and well-being?  
  • How are claims of being “grounded” or “grassroots” articulated in practice, and under what conditions might they coexist with — or even reproduce — forms of epistemic dominance in settings shaped by global inequalities? 
  • What kind of ethical dilemmas or interdisciplinary conflicts may arise when medical anthropology engages with applied clinical or institutional settings? 
  • How do activists, grassroots, and community-based engagements shape medical anthropological research, ethics and methods?
  • What tensions emerge and which tensions are missing when medical anthropology moves across academics, policy, and practice-oriented domains? 
  • What is the place of medical anthropologists and medical anthropological work in interdisciplinary settings? 

Efforts to amplify marginalized voices and address inequities in research and practice (contributions that bridge academic inquiry with lived experiences, grassroots initiatives, and policy-making) are particularly encouraged. 

Application Process

We invite you to submit an abstract of no more than 350-500 words at the link below by March 13th. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by the end of March. 

Submission HERE

Deadline for Abstract Submission (350-500 words): March 13th, 2025
Notification of Acceptance: March 31st, 2025
Deadline for Paper Submission (3,000-5,000 words): May 10th, 2025

Format of the Meeting

At the meeting, sessions will be organized based on thematic overlap. Participants will be paired with a discussant for every session who will comment on their work after their presentation. The discussant’s role includes introducing the session, identifying the common thread linking all presentations, and facilitating reflections and questions. To ensure a well-prepared discussion, we ask each participant to submit a paper of 3,000-5,000 words by May 10th, allowing discussants to organize their time effectively.  

Given the nature of the meeting – intended as both a safe, judgement-free space and a possible springboard for other conferences – this year we welcome candidates who are curious about taking on the role of discussant. You can apply to be a discussant while submitting your abstract by selecting the relevant option in the submission form. We will discuss the details once the forms are filled in; marking yourself as interested in the first form does not imply any obligation at this early stage.  

More information on workshops, keynotes, and events will follow in due time.  

Beyond the meeting presentations, we will organize drinks in the city center of Rotterdam on the 12th of June at the end of the annual meeting. 

The meeting will have a hybrid format.

Participation fee

In order to cover basic expenses, we ask for a 30 EUR participation fee for in-person participants, to be paid in cash upon arrival (offline participation). 

Financial Support

A limited amount of funding is available for EASA members taking part in the Annual Meeting in person and who have financial need. Funding will be given in the form of a fixed stipend based upon the number of participants requesting funding (likely around 80 Euro). If you would like to request funding for this meeting, we ask that you indicate this on your registration form. For those that may be able to secure funds from elsewhere (i.e. departmental funding) this would help us to provide a greater amount of funds to those without any sources of funding. We are aware that the price of accommodation in Rotterdam can be prohibiting, and we will try to work with participants to find affordable options. Concrete details on accommodation will be forthcoming after abstract acceptances.  

We look forward to welcoming you in Rotterdam!

MAYS Coordinators (mays.easa@gmail.com)

Marie Voerman, Department of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Centre Rotterdam

Simona Maisano, Department of Humanities, University for foreigners of Siena

MAYS Announcements, Uncategorized

MAYS Coordinator Call 2025

MAYS is looking for a new co-coordinator!

Dear MAYS Members,

With the summer nearing an end, it’s time for MAYS to find its new co-coordinator! After 2 fruitful years of helping the network grow, Matteo Valoncini is moving on and we are seeking someone who can take over his role as one of MAYS co-coordinators. 

We are seeking candidates for the 2-year role of MAYS co-coordinator. The candidates will be voted for in general MAYS Coordinator Elections – the polls will open by 26th September and stay open till mid-October when the new co-coordinator is announced. 

To apply you must be a doctoral student or an early-career academic in a European university, and have about a full day or two per month minimum, on average, to take the coordinator responsibility.

To apply, please, fill up this form by September 24th, the end of the day. To apply you will need to submit your academic CV and provide:

  • A short synopsis of your research interests and projects.
  • Experiences that speak to your eligibility for the role.
  • What would be your plans for the next meeting and for MAYS in general?

Application deadline: 24 September 2025, till the end of the day.

MAYS Announcements, Events

16th MAYS Meeting CfP Now Open!

16th MAYS Annual Meeting 30th of June-2nd of July 2025, Tilburg, Netherlands and Online (Hybrid)

Submit your abstract here!
Submission Deadline: April 7th 2024

Plural perspectives and evolving practices in Medical Anthropology

The Medical Anthropology Young Scholar Network is pleased to announce its 16th Annual Meeting for 2025 Plural Perspectives and Evolving Practices in Medical Anthropology. We invite scholars, health practitioners, and researchers from diverse disciplinary and academic backgrounds to contribute to an engaging and thought-provoking dialogue. 

Health, illness and healing are deeply multifaceted concepts, shaped by diverse epistemologies, socio-cultural contexts, and power dynamics. Medical anthropology, as a field, offers a versatile lens of observation through which explore these complexities while critically reflecting on its own practices and methodologies. We aim to foster a global dialogue that transcends the epistemological limitations of traditional academic boundaries. Highlighting and interrogating gaps between academic inquiry and local knowledge systems, this meeting seeks to push disciplinary boundaries and explore pathways toward equity in our fields of study in order to explore new possibilities in evolving research approaches. By equity, we refer to the commitment to fair and just research practices that acknowledge historical and structural inequalities, ensuring that marginalized perspectives are meaningfully valued. This includes redistributing power in knowledge production, fostering reciprocal collaborations, and challenging dominant frameworks that perpetuate exclusion. By doing so, this meeting also aims to push the engagement with more decolonial perspectives on medical anthropology. Recognizing the enduring influence of colonial thought on global health approaches, research methodologies, and practices of care, we invite reflections that interrogate these legacies and propose transformative pathways toward equity and justice.

Therefore, we encourage submissions that can be either reflexive, theoretical, ethnographical or historical and the participation of everyone – especially early career researchers from every field, but also practitioner and social workers – in their work, come across questions such as, but not limited to:

  • Decolonial critiques of health and healing practices: thinking and discussing decolonial approaches challenging the dominance of the Global North epistemologies and strive to decenter and critique Eurocentric frameworks in health research and practice. Reflecting also on structural inequities and the power imbalances that shape global health interventions. 
  • Ethnography and positioning in healthcare fields: within this framework it is necessary to reflect and reimagine research ethics and methodologies to be more inclusive and collaborative. By engaging with these critical issues, the meeting seeks to invite reflections on applied methodologies of research in the field of healthcare and healthcare humanities. 
  • Intersectional challenges and opportunities in global health research: by bridging gaps between academic inquiry and local knowledge systems, this meeting seeks to push disciplinary boundaries and explore pathways toward equity in our fields of study in order to explore new possibilities in evolving research approaches.
  • Efforts to amplify marginalized voices and address inequities in research and practice: contributions that bridge academic inquiry with lived experiences, grassroots initiatives, and policy-making are particularly encouraged. In this regard, we also welcome reflections on how activist and grassroots movements engagements shape medical anthropology, from influencing research ethics to driving structural change in health and healing practices.

Application Process

We invite you to submit an abstract of no more than 350-500 words at the link below by April 7th. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by the middle of April.

Submission HERE

Deadline for Abstract Submission (350-500 words): April 7th, 2025
Notification of Acceptance: April 16th, 2025
Deadline for Paper Submission (3,000-5,000 words): June 1st, 2025

Format of the Meeting

At the meeting, sessions will be organized based on thematic overlap. Participants will be paired with a discussant  for every session who will comment on their work after their presentation. The discussant’s role includes introducing the session, identifying the common thread linking all presentations, and facilitating reflections and questions. To ensure a well-prepared discussion, we ask each participant to submit a paper of 3,000-5,000 words by June 1st, allowing discussants to organize their time effectively. 

Given the nature of the meeting – intended as both a safe, judgement-free space and a possible springboard for other conferences – this year we welcome candidates who are curious about taking on the role of discussant. You can apply to be a discussant while submitting your abstract by selecting the relevant option in the submission form. We will discuss the details once the forms are filled in; marking yourself as interested in the first form does not imply any obligation at this early stage. 

More information on workshops, keynotes, and events will follow in due time. 

Beyond the meeting presentations, we will organize a social picnic by the forest near the campus on the 2nd of July.

The meeting will have a hybrid format.

Participation fee

In order to cover basic expenses, we ask for a 30 EUR participation fee for in-person participants, to be paid in cash upon arrival (offline participation). 

Financial Support

A small amount of funding is available for EASA members taking part in the Annual Meeting in person and who have financial need. Funding will be given in the form of a fixed stipend based upon the number of participants requesting funding (likely around 80 Euro). If you would like to request funding for this meeting, we ask that you indicate this on your registration form. For those that may be able to secure funds from elsewhere (i.e. departmental funding) this would help us to provide a greater amount of funds to those without any sources of funding. We are aware that the price of accommodation in Tilburg can be prohibiting, and we will try to work with participants to find affordable options. Concrete details on accommodation will be forthcoming after abstract acceptances. 

We look forward to welcoming you in Tilburg!

MAYS Coordinators (mays.easa@gmail.com)

Simona Maisano, Department of Humanities, University for foreigners of Siena

Matteo Valoncini, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna

MAYS Announcements, Uncategorized

MAYS Coordinator Call 2024

MAYS is looking for a new co-coordinator!

Dear MAYS Members,

With the summer nearing an end, it’s time for MAYS to find its new co-coordinator! After 3 fruitful years of helping the network grow, Robert Smith is moving and we are seeking someone who can take over his role as one of MAYS co-coordinators. 

We are seeking candidates for the 2-year role of MAYS co-coordinator. The candidates will be voted for in general MAYS Coordinator Elections – the polls will open by the end of August and stay open till mid-September when the new co-coordinator is announced. 

To apply you must be a doctoral student or an early-career academic in a European university, and have about a full day or two per month minimum, on average, to take the coordinator responsibility.

To apply, please, fill up this form by August 31st, the end of the day. To apply you will need to submit your academic CV and provide:

  • A short synopsis of your research interests and projects.
  • Experiences that speak to your eligibility for the role.
  • What would be your plans for the next meeting and for MAYS in general?

Application deadline: 31 August 2024, till the end of the day.

MAYS Announcements, Events

15th MAYS Meeting CfP Now Open!

15th MAYS Annual Meeting 18th-20th June 2024, Bologna, Italy and Online (Hybrid)

Submit your abstract here!
Submission Deadline: April 8th 2024

Critical Anthropology and Global Health: Challenges and Possibilities

Global Health perspectives have provided a more holistic approach to health, leading to the emergence of several programs, mostly in medical departments, around the 2000’s that comprehensively address health issues. Within the framework of Global Health, researchers are actively involved in addressing emerging issues related to health, illness, and the human body, contributing to the creation of a more integrated and comprehensive foundation for health-related investigations and implementations. However, critical medical anthropology has highlighted a rising ethical problem within this framework. Global Health – as an area of interests, research and practices – shaped a division between a healthy Global North and sick Global South. While epidemiological inquiries initiated this stereotype, one can see that such a division has gone beyond the presence or absence of diseases,  it is gradually rooted within cultural, economic, environmental, infrastructural, political, social, and technological processes, also contributing in reinforcing the epistemic centralities of  academia in the Global North. 

This year’s MAYS Annual Meeting critically focuses on the relationship between Global Health  and medical anthropology. Since the division between Global North and Global South now clearly goes beyond clinical or public health programs, critical global health studies have broadened, and the boundaries of disciplines have loosened. Understanding the processes that produce health means looking not only at the relationships between social actors, but also at the relationships between those actors and the environment, infrastructures, flora, fauna, or bacteria; anything that can be called non-human. As the division evolves within the intersection of Human and Non-Human elements, medical anthropology’s critical approach may require a reevaluation of its inquiry framework, aiming for transformative engagement with our ‘field’. In particular, we want to dwell on the role of ethnographic sensibilities that bring forward non-humans and their often-overlooked influence on the way humans experience, perceive, and construct health, illness, and the body. We welcome critical insights that explore such topics beyond disciplinary barriers. We invite medical anthropologist, social epidemiologist public health experts or geographers, among others, who in their work come across questions such as:

  • What does it mean to study “health” today, when it is defined so differently by various stakeholders across the globe?  
  • What does anthropological research do or could do within Global Health projects? 
  • What is the future of Global Health? 
  • How and when are ethnographic approaches used in Global Health studies?
  • What kind of knowledge do they produce and how? How do the different disciplines find or do not find a space of dialogue with each other? 

We invite papers that fall into one of the following categories:

  • Discussions on interdisciplinarity in the social studies of health – thinking and discussing research topics and fieldwork experiences that lie at the intersections of disciplines and epistemologies,  facing conceptual frictions between different definitions of health, disease, illness, and bodies. 
  • Mixing methods in Global Health research – experiences and questions on how to approach research topics creatively, mixing ethnography with action-research or quantitative approaches, both inside and outside of academia. 
  • Rethinking Global Health as a concept – bring a critical perspective on the current state of Global Health studies and its boundaries, aiming to answer a question of how to best mix academic curiosity with practicality of applied research approaches, including reflecting on the historical roots of the framework and its heritage. What are the different ideas of the role a researcher should play socially? Can we further debate on Global Health’s validity as an established research paradigm?

Application Process

We invite you to submit an abstract of no more than 350-500 words at the link below by April 8th, and notification of acceptances will be sent by the end of April.

Submission HERE

Deadline for Abstract Submission (350-500 words): April 8th, 2024
Notification of Acceptance: April 29th, 2043
Deadline for Paper Submission (3,000-5,000 words): June 1st, 2024

Format of the Meeting

At the meeting, sessions will be organized based on the thematic overlap. Participants will be paired with a discussant that will comment on their work after their presentation. For this purpose, we ask you to submit a paper of 3,000-5,000 words by June 1st. More information on workshops, keynotes, and events will follow in due time. 

Beyond the meeting presentations, we will organize a social picnic by the hill accessible by a short hike on June 20th.  

The meeting will have a hybrid format.

Participation fee

In order to cover basic expenses, we ask for a 30 EUR participation fee for in-person participants, to be paid in cash upon arrival (offline participation). 

Financial Support

A small amount of funding is available for EASA members taking part in the Annual Meeting in person and who have financial need. Funding will be given in the form of a fixed stipend based upon the number of participants requesting funding (likely around 80 Euro). If you would like to request funding for this meeting, we ask that you indicate this on your registration form. For those that may be able to secure funds from elsewhere (i.e. departmental funding) this would help us to provide a greater amount of funds to those without any sources of funding. We are aware that the price of accommodation in Geneva can be prohibiting, and we will try to work with participants to find affordable options. Concrete details on accommodation will be forthcoming after abstract acceptances. 

We look forward to welcoming you to Bologna!

MAYS Coordinators (mays.easa@gmail.com)

Matteo Valoncini, Department of History and Cultures, University of Bologna

Robert D. Smith, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Geneva Graduate Institute

MAYS Uncategorized

[Workshop] The Hospital in Transit

Please find below details onthe Fourth Online Workshop: “The Hospital in Transit”, This time, workshop will be dealing with: “Hospital Collaborations”.

30th of November 2023, online at 4 pm to 6 pm CET

Zoom link for the event: https://uu-se.zoom.us/j/64049374488

We will explore questions like: What is the changing global role of hospitals? Do our research methods also have changed after COVID-19? Both penetrable and secluded social spaces, hospitals have a thick history with anthropology.

During the workshop we will discuss 4 thought-provoking ethnographic case presentations:

  1. “Healthcare providers and anthropologists in collaboration: A case study from a gynaecological and obstetric service of a hospital in Barcelona”, Mariana Campos Lichtsztejn and Anna Molas Phd candidate at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  2. “Hospital fieldwork as a social experimental setting: Insights from a paediatric and maternal hospital in Barcelona”, Paula Martone, MSc  – Phd Candidate AFIN Research Group, Departament d’Antropologia Social i Cultural, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  3. “Navigating in a Foreign Field: Obstacles in front of Hospital Access for Ethnographers in Turkey” Öykü İnal, Freie Universät Berlin
  4.  “Anthropology and Quality Improvement in UK NHS Mental Health Services”, Matthew Day, Anthropology PhD Research Student, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent

Chair: Mirko Pasquini PhD, Centre for Medical Humanities, Uppsala University (mirko.pasquini@antro.uu.se)

MAYS Uncategorized

Re-post: EASA Executive Statement on the situation in Gaza

As MAYS we share what EASA published with respect to the current situation in Gaza.

Residential buildings 150 m from the Palestinian Tower, which were destroyed during the first week of intensive bombing by Israeli aircraft.
Source: Al Araby, License

The executive committee of the European Association of Social Anthropologists extends its solidarity to those mourning the loss of their loved ones in both Palestine and Israel.

We strongly condemn the violence perpetrated by the Israeli state against the civilians of Gaza. This concerns all the forms of violence inflicted upon Palestinians: air strikes claiming indiscriminately the lives of a population half of which are children; the massive destruction of livelihoods and infrastructure – including hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, and the Islamic University of Gaza; the starving of the population by cutting its access to water, electricity, fuel, food, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid.

As anthropologists with expertise on state violence, human rights, peace, conflict and security, we warn against decontextualised narratives of conflict and ‘terrorism’. The genocidal framing of Palestinians as culprits, as ‘human animals’, and as deserving of collective punishment has already incited murderous hatred against Muslims and Arabs in other parts of the world, and is likely to further subject Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank to settler violence, adding to the state violence they are already victims of.

As anthropologists based in Europe, we also strongly condemn the support of the EU and of European governments to acts amounting to war crimes under international law. We urge governments to respect international law provisions that protect civilians and to understand that their actions and words bear heavy consequences likely to spill over in generalised violence against Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians, and those who support their plight – including the many dissenting voices in Israel and elsewhere.

We are deeply concerned about the repressive measures taken in some universities, in Europe and elsewhere, against those who expressed their solidarity with Palestinians and were suspended or harassed. This totalitarian silencing of dissent in the face of violence and war is unacceptable and in full dissonance with the goal of higher education to foster critical thinking among students and the public. We also condemn the violent repression of peaceful protests in Europe and elsewhere.

We heed the call of our colleagues from Birzeit University to speak up against genocidal violence, occupation, and the flagrant violation of human rights in Gaza and the Palestinian Occupied Territories, and call for the academic community to fulfil its mission of critique towards oppressive structures, of warning against the rippling effects of violence and occupation, and of speaking truth to power.

We call for an immediate ceasefire and immediate humanitarian relief for the people of Gaza, and a commitment from Israel and all governments to a peace process that deals with the historic inequalities, injustice and structural violence in the region.

Ana Ivasiuc, President EASA
On behalf of EASA’s Executive Committee

MAYS Announcements, Uncategorized

MAYS 2023 Co-Coordinator Elections Results

As Magdalena Góralska  has stepped down as MAYS co-coordinator, after being on the post for three year, it has been time to elect the next MAYS co-coordinator.

This year, there was one candidacy of  Matteo Valoncini, of the University of Bologna. His candidature received unanimous support from the MAYS community, with all votes cast in favor of Matteos candidacy. Matteo will remain MAYS co-coordinator for the next two academic years. Robert Dean Smith will remain as a co-coordinator for an additional year, serving the community for a total of two years.

Matteo Valoncini

Matteo Valoncini is a Ph.D. student at the Department of History and Cultures at the University of Bologna, where he also completed his Master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology. His primary field of study is medical anthropology, in particular, the topic of digital technologies in healthcare – he is currently working on an ethnography of the digitization of primary healthcare in Italy by cross-referencing ANT with medical anthropology. As he is trying to understand how digitalized medical records affect the conception of body, health and disease, Matteo enjoys practising yoga, playing board games, and hiking in the Alps.

He first learned about the network at the EASA’s 2022 Biennial Conference in Belfast, and after participating in the MAYS’s Annual Meeting in 2023, decided to apply for the coordinatorship. To Matteo being part of the network is an incredibly enriching opportunity, and he hopes to support its stability, ensure its strength and further its growth. You can reach Matteo through e-mail: matteo.valoncini2[at]unibo.it.

You can read more of Matteo’s work here, and reach Matteo by e-mail at: matteo.valoncini2@unibo.it.

MAYS Announcements, Uncategorized

MAYS 2022 Co-Coordinator Elections Results

As Chandni Shyam has stepped down as MAYS co-coordinator at the end of October, after being on the post for a year, it has been time to elect the next MAYS co-coordinator.

This year, there was one candidacy of Robert Dean Smith, of the Geneva Graduate Institute. His candidature received unanimous support from the MAYS community, with all votes cast in favor of Robert’s candidacy. Robert will remain MAYS co-coordinator for the next two academic years. Magdalena Góralska will remain as a co-coordinator for an additional year, serving the community for a total of three years.

Robert Dean Smith

PhD Student, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, the Geneva Graduate Institute

Robert completed his bachelor’s degree in Global Health and Social Medicine at King’s College London, before completing his MA in Anthropology and Sociology at the Geneva Graduate Institute. He previously conducted research on how cancer came to be seen as a health priority in colonial India, which led him to his current research interests in the relationships between politics and health; both as the politics of health seen within health austerity, and the ways that health becomes a form of politics within electoral competitions in India. Robert has also worked in professional roles that have aimed to bring social science perspectives to public health discussions, including ‘digital health’ and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Beyond the academic world, Robert enjoys cooking creative food. You can read more of Robert’s work here, and reach Robert by e-mail at: robert.smith@graduateinstitute.ch.