• News: Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology

    The institute will remain closed on monday, November 24th, because of the inaugural lecture of Prof. Dr. Thomas Stodulka (see below)


    MA Visual Anthropology, Media and Documentary Practices invites you for two Graduation Film Screenings!!

    We have 3 shorter films on Monday 17 and a long film on Saturday 22:

    Monday, 17 November 6:00 pm at Studiobühne Münster 

    free entrance, come a bit earlier for a reception with sparkling wine and lemonade 
    We have three films: a film about rap & politics in Ghana (Elikem Ayeke), a yoga community in Berlin (Paulina Yerter), and fishing economy & human environment relationships in the North Sea (Joseph Puglisi). 

    Filmmakers will be present and and you'll have a 15 min. Q & A after each film.  

    Saturday, 22 November 09:30 pm in the Cinema & Kurbelkiste (Warendorfer Str. 45, 48145 Münster) 

    KANCHENJUNGA (Ghassan Saleh) 
    You may watch the trailer of the movie here: https://vimeo.com/983630013?fl=pl&fe=sh

    Moderation: Judith Albrecht


    Inaugural lecture of Prof. Dr. Thomas Stodulka

    University professor Dr. Thomas Jan Stodulka will give his inaugural lecture on Monday, November 24, 2025, at 12 pm in Lecture hall F 4, Fürstenberghaus, Domplatz 20–22, on the topic of “Affective Worlds: Emotions, Collaboration, and the Making of Anthropology.”

    You can find the announcement notice here


    Student IT consultation

    Do you need help with the university software or have technical problems and don't know where to turn?

    In the IT consultation at the Department of Social Anthropology, we are happy to help you with topics such as setting up the university VPN or your e-mail account and downloading the Microsoft Office programs or the network certificate.

    For all these areas and other questions we offer student advice every monday in person at our secretariat (Studtstraße 21) or per e-mail (ethnoedv@uni-muenster.de).

    We look forward to hearing from you!

International Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya: Law, education and interfaith relations in Kenya

poster for the conference
© Hekima University College

The workshop on “Law, Education, and Interfaith Relations in Kenya” concluded on Friday, September 19, 2025, at Hekima Jesuit University. Two days of intense discussions between researchers, religious leaders, and social actors led to the identification of ways to better articulate traditions, law, and religious pluralism in the service of peaceful coexistence. The second day focused on matrimonial law, divorce, and inheritance law. You can find the full article here

You can also find a program overview here

© sex on stage
ENPA 2025 conference poster
© Poster by Jan Goebel and Ildze Jakunova. Image by Pablo Dohms

ENPA conference 2025 in Münster!

Dear Colleagues, dear Students, and Friends,

We are delighted to announce that the ENPA Conference 2025 will be held from June 10 to June 13!

The event will kick off with a pre-conference workshop for PhD students on June 10, followed by the main conference over the next three days.
We look forward to welcoming you to our venue at the Schloss in Münster, nestled amidst expansive parks and beautiful botanical gardens. You might even want to take a dip in the canal that runs through the city, so don’t forget to pack your swimming gear!
Please find the program here 
We are excited to welcome you to ENPA 2025 in Münster!

© Julia Khan

New Podcast about Psychological Anthropology: 'Mind the Culture'

‘Mind the Culture’ is a series of four podcasts sponsored by the European Network for Psychological Anthropology (ENPA). In this series, ENPA members discuss how our cultural backgrounds shape the way we think, feel, and navigate the world. Ever wondered why people from different cultures handle emotions, relationships, or stresses in unique ways? Or why a set of self-help tips can work for some people but not for others? This podcast series dives deep into how our minds and cultures are intertwined, allowing us to better understand ourselves and others in a diverse and changing world.

© Dorothea Schulz

International Workshop: The Role of Social Identities in Inter-Religious Dialogue in Nigeria

The Africa Globally Connected research project is part of the Religion and Politics Cluster of Excellence Network at the University of Münster. It is a transcontinental and comparative research collaboration on the role of social identities in mediating Muslim-Christian-ATR relations in contemporary Africa and it is premised on the fact that religion is an engine of political and social change across the world. Drawing on this research partnership, the central question, which the workshop seeks to address, is: How do social identities inform the ways in which Christians, Muslims and practitioners of African Traditional Religion assert, bridge and accommodate religious differences in Nigeria's plural religious settings? You can find the book of abstracts of the workshop here.

Artwork by Agus Suwage and Titarubi
© Thomas Stodulka

Introducing Ethnography Met: Your Go-To Online Repository Learnweb for Ethnographic Methods!

We are thrilled to announce the launch of Ethnography Met, a comprehensive online repository designed specifically for students and faculty at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Ethnography Met offers a wealth of resources on ethnographic methods, providing invaluable support for research and academic endeavors.

Discover detailed guides, case studies, and multimedia resources that cover the full spectrum of ethnographic techniques. Whether you're just beginning your journey or looking to deepen your expertise, Ethnography Met is here to support your learning and teaching.
To access the platform, simply log in to your Learnweb account. Please note that enrollment in Learnweb is exclusively available to students and faculty at the University of Münster.
Visit us here!

In case of questions, please contact Beyza Rabia Asoglu (rb.asoglu@uni-muenster.de) 

Enjoy browsing,
Your Faculty

© Florin Cristea

Symbiosis of rituals and conventional medicine

2022-2024 | DFG with Florin Cristea, M.A. and Prof. Dr. Thomas Stodulka

This project contributes to current debates on illness experience, care and therapeutic landscapes in Bali and Java, Indonesia. The island has established itself as a hub for international cooperation on mental health and illness. Based on the collaboration with professional networks already initiated during previous fieldwork, this project is well connected to local and international institutions It investigates the illness experience associated with severe psychiatric disorders as intertwined moral, cognitive, and emotional processes. This analytic link has not been studied so far and promises to provide an in-depth description of how global knowledge flows influence personal and social illness trajectories and outcomes outside of the Global North, by methodologically particularlizing the diverse Balinese and Javanese therapeutic landscapes.
Cooperation partner: Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogykarta, Indonesia

  • Electoral results

    Current information will follow, when provided by the student council of the masters programme.

  • Information on the Emergency Fund costfree social counselling

    Due to the financial hardship of many students, the University of Muenster and the AStA offer costfree social counselling and the crisis fund. Further information can be found here.

  • Funding for student research projects

    The Rectorate of the WWU supports innovative and scientific projects initiated and carried out by students (including doctoral students) with up to 5,000.00 euros. It is important, among other things, that these projects are distinguished from degree qualifying measures and other academic achievements. The age limit is 27 years. Further information can be found on the SAFIR website, which will be happy to assist you with your application.