Call for Papers

Mind Embedded and Embodied – Futures of Psychological Anthropology
1–3 June 2021

Online (Organized by the University of Helsinki)


Conference Theme

As the global political economy becomes increasingly multipolar, the assumption that psychological and bio-psychiatric ‘insights,’ predominantly produced in the ‘West,’ may be imposed on other social groups, is increasingly open to question. Psychological anthropology is uniquely positioned to address the tensions between universalising and relativising understandings of the human condition.

As the first ENPA Biennial, this conference will be launched as an inclusive forum for scholars from a wide range of disciplinary and thematic orientations to discuss, theorise and reflect on historically and socio-culturally situated concepts of the mind, the body, and their entanglements in cultural, social, and/or political worlds. Critical perspectives on the concepts of mainstream psychology – that posit humans as subject to universal psychological patterns of feeling, thinking and interacting – are encouraged; productive engagements across the disciplinary boundaries of anthropology and cognitive science, psychiatry, philosophy, evolutionary biology, and others will also be welcome. Through a fruitful dialogue within and between disciplines, the European Network for Psychological Anthropology (ENPA) aims to foster new insights not only in research contexts, but also in policy-making, therapy, and healing.

Call for Panels and Papers

We warmly invite panel and paper submissions across the field of Psychological Anthropology. We encourage panel submissions, but will also accept a limited number of individual papers, which will be arranged into cohesive panels by the ENPA conference team.
Each session includes 5 x 20 minute presentation slots, and 20 minutes for open discussion. Possible formats are:

  • 5 papers + 20 min discussion
  • 4 papers, discussant + 20 min discussion

We also encourage submissions beyond conventional paper panels, e.g. flash presentation sessions or open mic sessions.
Please submit your panel/paper by 15 January, 2021 via email at submissions@enpanthro.net.
Panel submission should include:

  • general abstract, max 250 words
  • abstract for each of the 4-5 papers, max 250 words
  • name, institutional affiliation and email of all participants (chair/s, presenters, discussant)

Individual paper submissions should include:

  • abstract, max 250 words
  • name, affiliation and email

Further information can be found on our website: https://enpanthro.net/enpa-conference/.
If you have any further questions regarding the conference, please do not hesitate to contact us at conference@enpanthro.net.

This conference was due to take place in June 2020. It was postponed by one year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We have opted for an online conference in 2021 to ensure maximum safety and participation. All papers accepted last year will be accepted again, and we are open for new submissions as well.

In collaboration with EASA and University of Helsinki