Dr. Paola Juan

Paola Juan is a postdoctoral assistant at Johannes Quack's Chair. She will pursue postdoctoral research at ISEK on the transmission of intergenerational care practices, alternative psychiatric services, and religious traditions in Geel, Belgium. Geel is historically significant in terms of the links between the emergence of healthcare institutions, their models and philosophies of care, and religion. The city is renowned for its alternative approach to psychiatric care, which involves a family care system that has existed since medieval times. This care model originated in connection with the pilgrimage to the tomb of the Christian Saint Dympna, who is the patron saint of people suffering from mental illness. Her legend dates back to the 13th century, and pilgrimages began in the 15th century. Despite the unique psychiatric structures that make Geel a historically important place, little anthropological research has been published on the topic to date. For this project, the focus will be on the (non)transmission of intergenerational care practices, and on their reimplementation in contemporary Geel following the UNESCO recognition of this care model as intangible cultural heritage in 2023.

She is currently finishing a PhD co-supervised by Prof. Irene Becci (ISSR, University of Lausanne) and Dr. Aude Fauvel (MER, IHM, CHUV-University of Lausanne). It was also supervised by Prof. Tanya Luhrmann during her Mobi.Doc stay at Stanford, US.

Research interests

Medical anthropology, anthropology of the ‘psy’ sciences, health institutions Anthropology of christianity, catholicism, esoteric and spiritual movements, religious diversity in Western contexts
Sensory and exploratory ethnographic methods, graphic anthropology, affects & care

Research area

Switzerland, Belgium, Western Europe