معرفی
Steven Van Wolputte is a Professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven. He actively leads multiple research projects through 2025 and teaches graduate courses including Power, Politics and Cultures of Late Capitalism in Anthropological Perspectives and Ethnographic Design. His innovative work bridges traditional anthropological approaches with visual methodologies, pioneering what he terms 'graphic anthropology'.
His research interests encompass several interconnected domains:
- Visual and graphic anthropology as both methodological and representational approaches
- African studies, with particular focus on Namibia and continental futures
- Power, politics and cultures of late capitalism
- Culture, intimacy and relatedness
- More-than-human kinship and human-animal relations
- Emergent forms of life in contexts of precarity and futuring
Van Wolputte's scholarly output reveals a distinctive trajectory toward integrating visual methods with anthropological inquiry. His recent work increasingly focuses on graphic anthropology - using drawing not merely as presentation tools but as integral components of the research process itself. This approach appears across diverse geographical contexts, with significant attention to Namibia, Ethiopia, and broader African futures. His publications demonstrate consistent engagement with questions of futuring, precarity, and how people navigate uncertainty through emergent social forms.
As a research leader, Van Wolputte serves as Promotor for numerous FWO-funded projects examining emergent forms of life, indigenous land activism in Argentina, post-pandemic mutual aid, and climate change responses in Malawi. His teaching portfolio reflects his research interests, emphasizing innovative methodological approaches and critical engagement with contemporary theoretical debates.
Within KU Leuven's institutional structure, Van Wolputte is actively involved beyond his departmental affiliation. He is a member of the Leuven One Health Institute and the KU Leuven Urban Studies Institute (LUSI), demonstrating the interdisciplinary reach of his work. He also serves on the Social and Societal Ethics Committee, the Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and various program committees.