Magnus Course

Professor Magnus Course is the Head of Social Anthropology and a Professor of Creative Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh's School of Social and Political Science. He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics (2005) and has conducted extensive research on Mapuche kinship, personhood, and ritual in Chile, as well as Gaelic culture in Scotland and death rituals in Naples. His work bridges ethnography, film, and creative writing, emphasizing innovative methods to explore identity, language, and environment.

Research Interests:

• Creative ethnography and experimental anthropological outputs
• Indigenous ontologies (Mapuche, Native American)
• Death, religion, and ritual in comparative perspective
• Fishing cultures and Gaelic Scotland
• Linguistic relativity and cultural representation

Recent Research Projects:

• "Leaving Purgatory: the afterlives of an afterlife" (book in progress)
• Creative collaborations: films Muir ar n-Aithreachean and Santi Migranti

Grants & Collaborations:

• BBC/Creative Scotland-funded documentary Iorram
• Co-production of anthropological films with Capucine Tournilhac and Rishabh Raghavan

Awards:

• Acclaim for short film Muir ar n-Aithreachean