With the start of the new academic year, it is now also time for MAYS to find its new co-coordinator! After 2 fruitful years of helping the network grow, Simona Maisano is moving on and we are seeking someone who can take over her role as one of MAYS’ co-coordinators.
We are seeking candidates for the 2-year role of MAYS co-coordinator. As co-coordinator, you will be one of two people overseeing and managing the network. Generally, you will manage the network by keeping the email and website updated, sharing interesting opportunities with members and potentially organising other activities you find of interest for MAYS. Alongside this, your main responsibility as new co-coordinator will be to organise and host the next MAYS Annual Meeting!
The position requires roughly a minimum of a full day (or two) per month, on average. To apply you must be a doctoral student or an early-career academic (such as junior or postdoctoral researcher) in a European university (continental Europe).
The candidates will be voted for in general MAYS Coordinator Elections – the polls will open by the 5rd of October and stay open till the 15th of October.
To apply, please, fill up this form by October 4th, 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: October 4th, end of the day.
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 formby 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.
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 formby 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.
Please find below details onthe Fourth Online Workshop: “The Hospital in Transit”, This time, workshop will be dealing with: “Hospital Collaborations”.
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:
“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
“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
“Navigating in a Foreign Field: Obstacles in front of Hospital Access for Ethnographers in Turkey” Öykü İnal, Freie Universät Berlin
“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)
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
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.
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 GenevaGraduate 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.
As it is offcially the fall again, it’s time for Coordinator Elections in MAYS!! Do you want to take an active role in connecting students and early career scholars with an interest in Medical Anthropology? Would you like to organize the next MAYS conference? Do you have ideas about how to expand and deepen the MAYS network? Would you like to expand your skills and contacts and become an organizing member of EASA?
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 give to our quickly growing community. The co-coordinator post is a two-year post. A new coordinator will take place of Chandni Shyam, who needed to resign early from her post and work alongside Magdalena Góralska, who will stay as the second co-coordinator for another year.
If you would like to apply please sent us an emailto mays.easa@gmail.com with two attachments: (1) your academic CV, and (2) a Word document with short answers of not more than 200 words to each of those three following prompts:
A short synopsis of 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: 23 October 2022, till the end of the day.
Thank you in advance for your interest and application! If you have any questions regarding the application and/or MAYS coordination, please do not hesitate to contact us at mays.easa@gmail.com.
We’d like to welcome Chandni Shyam from the University of Utrecht, Netherlands to the post of MAYS Coordinator for the years 2021-2023.
Chandni will be taking over from Anthony Rizk and will be co-coordinating with Magdalena Góralska. We are very much looking forward to Chandni’s enthusiasm and contributions to the MAYS network and her ideas for its development!
In case you missed it, this was her application statement:
SHORT SYNOPSIS OF YOUR RESEARCH INTERESTS AND PROJECT
I have a long standing interest in medical anthropology, especially in narratives that are essential but overlooked. I have worked extensively on gender and mental healthcare as a Reserach Associate at IIT Madras. During this time, I also worked briefly on the unequal attention paid to affective labour of mental healthcare nurses in Indian hospitals. Right now, I am working on a second masters for which I have been doing fieldwork on Covid-19 vaccinations in Chennai and the ways in which information about the state and vaccines work towards compliance. I truly believe that healthcare has to be universally available and culturally sensitive. Furthermore, my own lived experience as a cancer survivor has helped expand my scopes of what medical anthropology can do.
EXPERIENCES THAT SPEAK TO YOUR ELIGIBILITY FOR THE ROLE
I have organised many events, both online and offline at numerous instances of my academic career. More importantly, I have always worked on creating and nurturing a community of learners. For example, I am a core team member of the Students for Cultural Anthropology Journal, which is a student initiative to foster peer review. My work with the journal stems from the belief that community is really important for thriving in academia. After all, whatever we write is on the back of many before us and for those with and after us. I also think that there is a lot of scope for collaborative and experimental learning in medical anthropology. My explorations in writing literary ethnography and quantitative ethnography have been fruitful in this regard but I really need a good community for learning and growing with.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR MAYS?
I would like to increase the social media presence of MAYS through reading groups and field discussions. It would also be interesting to have coffee talks online and offline that can give open up space for learning about new ethnographic explorations in medical anthropology.
