Lidia Julianna Guzy

Lidia Julianna Guzy is Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in South Asian and Indigenous Religions at University College Cork, National University of Ireland. She concurrently serves as Programme Director of the MA Anthropology, Director of the Marginalised and Endangered Worldviews Study Centre (MEWSC), and board member of the India Study Centre Cork (ISCC). She is also Privatdozent (honorary professor) at Freie Universität Berlin and Visiting Research Fellow at Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, India.

Education & International Training

• Ph.D. (Bi-national) – Freie Universität Berlin & EHESS Paris, awarded 2002
• Post-doctoral research – Freie Universität Berlin, 2002–2006
• Erasmus Plus trainings and exchanges in India, Bolivia, Colombia, Portugal, Greece, Estonia, Italy

Research Interests

Dr Guzy’s work centres on marginalised and endangered worldviews, integrating indigenous knowledge systems, eco-cosmologies and sustainability. She investigates ritual, music and performance as vehicles for indigenous epistemologies, focusing on Adivasi religions in India, shamanic traditions, and comparative studies across Brazil, South Asia and Latin America. Her interdisciplinary approach links anthropology, ethnomusicology, museum studies and environmental humanities.

Current projects include the EU-funded CLIMAR project on climate change and tourism in Latin America, and ongoing collaborations with tribal universities in India aimed at revaluing indigenous art and pedagogy within higher education.

Scientific Awards & Grants

• Multiple Erasmus Plus awards for staff exchange and training (2015–2023)
• AMIDILA Erasmus Mundus research fellowship, Brazil (2015)
• UCC Leadership Award (2018)
• Irish Research Council grants: €45,923 (2018–2019) & €46,600 (2013–2016)
• Volkswagen Foundation & German Research Foundation (DFG) project funding
• National University of Ireland Publication Award (2012)

Research Supervision & Grants

Dr Guzy has supervised:

• IRC Postgraduate Scholar Claire Scheid (PhD)
• EU Post-doctoral researcher Dr. Cecile Guillaume-Pey
• Doctoral exchange scholars from Estonia and the USA

Laboratories & Teams

She directs the Marginalised and Endangered Worldviews Study Centre (MEWSC), hosts the Adivasi Research Network, and coordinates the India Study Centre Cork (ISCC). MEWSC links scholars and NGOs worldwide, collaborating with UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the United Nations to support emancipatory research for threatened communities.