Sinah Theres Kloß

Dr. Sinah Theres Kloß is a social and cultural anthropologist and research group leader at the University of Bonn, Germany. She currently serves as a Visiting Professor of Anthropology of the Americas at the University of Bonn (Oct 2024 - Mar 2025). Her research bridges interdisciplinary themes such as medical anthropology, anthropology of religion, transnational migration, and material culture, with regional expertise in the Caribbean (Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad).

• Affiliation: Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS), Global South Studies Center (GSSC), Center for Religion, Economy and Politics (ZRWP)
• Editorial Role: Book Series Editor for The Early Americas: History and Culture at Brill

Her research explores:

• Embodiment and Reproduction through projects like Pregnant Bodies – Embodied Pregnancy and Sensitive Bodies, analyzing bodily boundaries during pregnancy and birth.
• Religious Materiality in works like Tattoos and Sonic Imitation and Transforming Spirit Bodies, connecting Hindu rituals, tattoos, and materialist theory.
• Caribbean Cultural Dynamics via publications on transnational Hindu communities, indentured labor legacies, and reproductive justice.

Her publications span edited volumes (e.g., Transforming Spirit Bodies, 2025), journal articles in Material Religion and Body & Society, and book chapters on topics like fabrics of Indianness and sexual(ized) harassment in fieldwork. She actively presents at conferences, including talks on tattoos as female emancipation and heat politics in neonatal care.

• Methodological Innovations: Integrates New Materialism, postcolonial theory, and sensory anthropology to study dependencies and agency.
• Collaborative Networks: Works with the BCDSS, GSSC, and ifeas.