Stephan Palmié

Stephan Palmié is the Norman & Edna Freehling Professor of Anthropology and of Social Sciences in The College at the University of Chicago, where he maintains an office in Haskell 212. A preeminent scholar in sociocultural anthropology, Palmié is internationally recognized for his ethnographic and historical research on Afro-Caribbean cultures, particularly Afro-Cuban religious formations and their transnational connections across the Atlantic world. His work critically examines intersections of religion, history, and power while challenging conventional disciplinary boundaries.

His academic credentials include:

• D.Phil in Anthropology, University of Munich (1989)
• Habilitation in Social Sciences, University of Munich (1999)

Palmié's research spans Afro-Caribbean religions, historical anthropology, race and ethnicity, embodiment, food studies, and science and technology studies. He is renowned for deconstructing epistemological hierarchies between Western scientific practice and Afro-Cuban ritual knowledge, while analyzing constructions of race, systems of slavery, and moral personhood. His scholarship reveals how historical consciousness manifests in everyday practices, particularly through Cuban culinary traditions and religious syncretism.

Analysis of his recent publications demonstrates consistent engagement with epistemological questions at anthropology's intersection with history and philosophy. His work increasingly examines molecular biology and genomics through anthropological lenses while maintaining deep focus on Cuban historical particularities. A recurring theme involves using Afro-Cuban ritual as a critical prism to interrogate Western scientific rationality, revealing productive parallels between seemingly disparate knowledge systems.

His scientific recognition includes:

• Clifford Geertz Prize (2014) from the Society for the Anthropology of Religion for The Cooking of History: How Not to Study 'Afro'-'Cuban' 'Religion.'

Palmié has co-edited significant scholarly interventions including the 2021 HAU special issue on Fernando Ortiz and the 2019 volume The Varieties of Historical Experience. Information regarding graduate student advising, research grants, or laboratory teams was not documented in the source material.