معرفی
Katherine Swancutt is Reader in Social Anthropology at King's College London, where she serves as Director of the Religious and Ethnic Diversity in China and Asia Research Unit (REDCARU) and Project Lead for the ERC Synergy Grant 'Cosmological Visionaries: Shamans, Scientists, and Climate Change at the Ethnic Borderlands of China and Russia' (2020-2026). She has conducted anthropological fieldwork for over two decades across Asia, focusing on Southwest China (among the Nuosu), Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Buryat regions of Russia.
Her research centers on the anthropology of religion, with particular emphasis on shamanism, animism, dreams, and the relationship between cosmology and the environment. Her fieldwork explores how religious innovations are used to manage conflict and shape everyday life among diverse ethnic communities. She has established herself as a leading scholar in indigenous knowledge systems and their relevance to contemporary environmental challenges.
Dr. Swancutt's extensive publication record reveals consistent thematic focus on ritual practices, divination systems, and cosmological frameworks, particularly among the Nuosu people of Southwest China. Her recent work examines how spiritual practices intersect with environmental change, social renewal, and cultural memory, bridging anthropology, religious studies, and environmental humanities to create innovative frameworks for understanding indigenous cosmologies in the context of climate change.
- ERC Synergy Grant 'Cosmological Visionaries' (£6m project connecting shamans, scientists, and rural communities)
- Author of four major publications including 'Fortune and the Cursed' (2012) and 'Crafting Chinese Memories' (2021)
- Founder of REDCARU, now an international network with branches in Chinese universities
- Recipient of significant research funding including ERC Synergy Grant
As an educator, Dr. Swancutt teaches anthropology of religion at all levels and supervises PhD students focusing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork among ethnic minorities in China, Mongolia, or Russia. She actively engages with public audiences through exhibitions like 'Vital Signs: Another World is Possible' at the Science Gallery London, which showcases indigenous visions of climate change.
