Afterlife Research Centre
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What happens when you die? The ways different cultures and individuals respond to this question determines not only the rise of different practices and institutions, both secular and religious, but crucially informs the way people conduct their lives. The Afterlife Research Centre (ARC) is a research network and virtual forum which aims to generate and disseminate cross-cultural ethnographic research into the meaning and relevance of afterlife beliefs in people’s lives. As ethnographers with a background in anthropology we are not seeking to prove a case, but wish to develop ethnographic methodologies to investigate, without explaining away, the effects of beliefs and practices relating to the afterlife, such as: the spirit world, mediumship, trance, possession, shamanism, healing and religious experience.

News

CfP RERC Conference 2019: The Future of the Study of Religious and Spiritual Experience. Religious Experience Research Centre, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter UK, 1-3 July 2019.
13/10/2018

Experiencing the Sacred between Religion and Spirituality. Panel at the Ethnography and Qualitative Research Conference. University of Bergamo (Italy), 6-9 June 2018. Programme.
06/06/2018

CfP IUAES 2018: Spirituality and Health: Epistemologies of Healing and the Ethnographic Encounter. 18th World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Brazil, 16-20 July 2018.
25/01/2018

Conference: Skill and Scale in Transnational Mediumship. University of Cologne, Germany. Programme.
24/09/2017

Documentary: Italo::Visions. A documentary on Shamanism in Japan by ARC member Marianna Zanetta and Edmondo Perrone.
19/02/2017

Conference Report: Spirit Influence on Mental Health. Report by Fiona Bowie.
​14/02/2017

Book Announcement: 'Damned Facts: Fortean Essays on Religion, Folklore and the Paranormal' Edited by Jack Hunter.
10/01/2017

JSRE Special Issue 'Fieldwork in Religion: Bodily Experience and Ethnographic Knowledge' Vol 2, Edited by Emily Pierini and Alberto Groisman. Open Access
09/01/2017

Book Announcement: 'Handbook of Contemporary Religions in Brazil' Edited by Bettina E. Schmidt and Steven Engler.
09/01/2017


​Book Announcement: 'The Study of Religious Experience: Approaches and Methodologies' Edited by ARC member Bettina E. Schmidt.
13/09/2016

Edie Turner's Obituary
20/06/2016

Book Announcement: 'Strange Dimensions: A Paranthropology Anthology' Edited by ARC member Jack Hunter.
06/02/2016

Book Announcement: 'Exploring New Monastic Communities: The (Re)invention of Tradition' by ARC member Stefania Palmisano.
28/12/2015

Journal for the Study of Religious Experience. Launch of the First Issue of JSRE, online open access peer-reviewed Journal promoted by the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre (RERC).
21/12/2015

CfP: Lived Religion an Ethnographical Insight. Panel at the Ethnography and Qualitative Research Conference. University of Bergamo, Italy, 8-11 June 2016.
19/11/2015

Conference: Bodily Dimension, Experience, and Ethnographic Research. Session at the ISSR 2015 Conference “Sensing Religion”. Programme.
09/11/2014   

Conference Report: The Study of Religious Experience in Lampeter: Report on a one-day conference organised by the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre.
02/09/2014

CfP: Body Knowledge in Religions: Panel at the IAHR 2015 World Congress. 
02/09/2014

Conference Announcement: ‘The Study of Religious Experience in Lampeter’ a one-day conference organised by the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David on Friday 4th July 2014.
05/06/2014

Fiona Bowie Lecture: Fiona Bowie will be giving a Lecture on 'Ethnographic Approaches to the Afterlife' on Saturday 7th June 2014 at Canterbury Christ Church University.
05/06/2014

BBC Beyond Belief on Religions in Brazil:  ARC member Bettina Schmidt, Andrew Dawson, and Daniel Clark discuss 'The Changing Face of Religion in Brazil' on BBC Radio 4's 'Beyond Belief'.
05/06/2014 

Book Announcement: We are pleased to announce the publication of 'Talking With the Spirits: Ethnographies From Between the Worlds,' edited by Jack Hunter and David Luke.
31/03/2014

Anthropology and the Paranormal: Report of a symposium hosted by the Centre for Theory and Research at the Esalen Institute, California, from 13-17 October 2013.
18/01/2014

MA in Myth, Cosmology, and the Sacred: A new interdisciplinary Masters programme offered by Canterbury Christ Church University.
13/06/2013

David Gordon Wilson Lecture Now Online: Dr. David Gordon Wilson talk on 'Why is Spiritualism a Shamanism, and what does Foucault have to do with it?' is now available to listen online.
04/06/2013

Nicholas Campion Lecture: Dr. Nicholas Campion's talk on 'Magic, Myth and the Space Race' is now available online.
06/05/2013.

Paul Devereux Lecture: Paul Devereux's Lecture on 'Time, Mind and Place: The Archaeology of Consciousness' is now available to listen online.
03/04/2013. 

Bettina Schmidt Lecture Now Online: Dr. Bettina Schmidt's talk on 'Spirit Possession in Brazil' is now available to listen to online. 28/02/2013.

Bettina Schmidt Lecture: Dr. Bettina Schmidt will be giving a talk on 'Spirit Possession in Brazil'  on Wednesday 27th February 2013. 13/02/2013.

Book Announcement: 'Kuna Art and Shamanism: An Ethnographic Approach' by Paolo Fortis. 02/02/2013

David Luke Lecture: Dr. David Luke's will be giving a Lecture on "Anthropology, Parapsychology & Psychedelics" on February 13th 2013. 02/02/2013.

Book Announcement: 'Why People Believe in Spirits, Gods and Magic,' an ebook by ARC member Jack Hunter.

ARC Network Meeting 2012: The ARC Network Meeting on Wednesday 5th December was full of lively discussion. A selection of photos are now online. 07/12/2012

Fiona Bowie Lecture: Dr. Fiona Bowie's Lecture on "Sixth Sense, Psychometry and Spirits of Place" for the Anthropology, Consciousness and Culture Lecture Series. Audio-recording now available online.  29/11/2012

Gregory Shushan Lecture: Dr. Gregory Shushan will be giving a talk on the origins of afterlife beliefs on November 15th 2012. 1/11/2012

Paranthropology Vol. 3 No. 4: The October 2012 issue of Paranthropology is now available to download for free.

Ronald Hutton Lecture: The inaugural lecture of the Anthropology, Consciousness and Culture series will feature Ronald Hutton's talk on 'Modern Paganism and Witchcraft'. 07/10/2012

Lecture Series: Anthropology, Consciousness and Culture 13/09/2012

Award Announcement: Royal Anthropological Institute's Sutasoma Award 2012 awarded to ARC anthropologist Emily Pierini for research on spirit mediumship 05/09/2012

Book Announcement: Paranthropology: Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal - Second Anniversary Anthology 02/08/2012

CfP IUAES 2013: The Extended Self: Relations between Material and Immaterial Worlds 14/06/2012

New Titles available on the ARC Bookstore 14/06/2012


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Free access peer-reviewed Journal

RERC Conference 2019
The Future of the Study of Religious and Spiritual Experience

Religious Experience Research Centre 
University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter UK,
1-3 July 2019
Call for Papers

IUAES 2018: Spirituality and Health: Epistemologies of Healing and the Ethnographic Encounter

18th World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Brazil, 16-20 July 2018
​Call for Papers

Open-Access Special Issue

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New Books

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Documentary: Itako::Visions


Skill and Scale in Transnational Mediumship

Conference at the University of Cologne, Germany
25-26 September 2017. Organized by Marcello Múscari, Ehler Voss and Martin Zillinger
Programme


ARC Workshop 2016
Discernment:
​Recognizing the Presence of Spirits

Workshop at the Interdisciplinary Conference
Wild or Domesticated: Uncanny in Historical or Contemporary Perspectives to Mind. 
House of Science and Letters, Helsinki, Finland. 22 September 2016
Programme

The Ontological Turn: New Ethnographic Approaches, Theories and Analysis of Spirit Mediumship, Shamanism, Religious Ritual and Discarnate Phenomena.

Panel at the IUAES 2016 International Congress in Dubrovnik, Croatia, 4-9 May 2016. Panel 514. Organiser Fabian Graham
Call for Papers

Bodily Dimension, Experience, and Ethnographic Research

Panel at the 33rd ISSR Conference “Sensing Religion”
Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium),  2-5 July 2015
Programme

CfP: Body Knowledge in Religions

Panel at the International Association for the History of Religions 
XXI World Congress, Erfurt, Germany, 23-29 August 2015
Call for Papers

The Extended Self: Relations between Material and Immaterial Worlds

ARC Panel at the IUAES World Congress 2013  
Programme and audio-recordings

Anthropology, Consciousness and Culture Lecture Series

Schedule and Archive

ARC Research Seminar & Network Meeting 2012

University of Bristol, 5th December 2012
Seminar Outline 

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Schedule available click here 

ARC Workshop 2011

To listen to the workshop presentations online click here
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