HEARING VOICES

- A cross-disciplinary conversation with Tanya Luhrmann

Tanya Luhrmann is Albert Ray Lang Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University, an elected member of the American Philosophical Society, and winner of numerous awards for her books “Of Two Minds”, “When God Talks Back”, and “How God Becomes Real”. As a medical and psychological anthropologist, she has conducted ethnographic work with homeless and psychotic women, with people receiving psychiatric care, and with people who hear voices across a variety of cultural and religious contexts. Through this work she has developed an “anthropology of the mind” with a specific focus on the meaning and experience of hearing voices, making substantial contributions to knowledge on the boundaries between anthropology, psychology, and psychiatry.

Professor Luhrmann will be receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Copenhagen, which will be presented on 25 November 2022. To celebrate this event, and Professor Luhrmann’s inspiring body of work, the Departments of Anthropology and Psychology are hosting a roundtable discussion on the 24 November between Professor Luhrmann and local scholars working on similar themes: Associate Professor Mathew Carey (Anthropology), Associate Professor Louise Birkedal Glenthøj (Psychology), and Professor Ana Antic (English, Germanic and Romance Studies). Together, speakers will explore the meaning, experience, and interpretation of hearing voices across times, places, and therapeutic contexts. Their conversation will grapple with questions like: Where do the voices come from? Who do voices represent? How can individuals manage their relationship to voices? How should researchers and practitioners conceptualize and engage with voices in their scholarly and professional work?

All are welcome and drinks and refreshments will be served! To help with organization.

Program

Time and Venue: 24 November, 16:00 - 18:00, in The Ethnographic Exploratory, CSS. 4.1.12.