CHRISTIAN SUHR | DOB: May 9, 1978 | CV and PUBLICATIONS Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University, Moesgaard, 8270 Hoejbjerg, Denmark Email: suhr@cas.au.dk, Tel: +45 31600031, http://pure.au.dk/portal/en/suhr@cas.au.dk APPOINTMENTS 2019– Associate Professor, Arts, Dept. of Anthropology, Aarhus University, Denmark. 2014–18 Assistant Professor and Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Anthropology, Aarhus University. 2013 Research Assistant, Arab and Islamic Studies Unit, Dept. of Religious Studies, Aarhus University. 2003–14 Exhibition designer of the ethnographic exhibition: Yumi Bildim Kanu, Moesgaard Museum. 2002– Co-founder and owner of the film production company Persona Film. EDUCATION 2013 PhD in Anthropology, Arts, Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University (Oct. 11, 2013). 2011–12 Visiting Student Scholar, Department of Anthropology, UC Berkeley, USA (6 months). 2010 Visiting Student Scholar, Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Australia (3 months). 2008 BA and MA in Anthropology, Arts, Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University, Denmark. CAREER BREAKS 28.05.14–28.11.2015 01.07–31.12.2006 01.05–31.07.2002 Extended parental leave due to premature birth, third son, born May 28, 2014, full time and part time (total leave: 7 months). Parental leave, second son, born March 13, 2006 (6 months). Parental leave, first son, born November 28, 2001 (3 months). HONORS AND AWARDS 2018–23 Elected member of the Young Academy under the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. 2017 Nominated for the Best Teacher Award at the Dept. of Anthropology, Aarhus University, for supervision, teaching, and coordination at the Eye & Mind MSc Track in Visual Anthropology. 2016 The Knowledge Communication Prize, Danish Association of Ethnographers for participation in public debates on Muslims in Europe. 2015 One of three nominees for the Knowledge Communication Prize, Danish Association of Ethnographers for participation in public debates on Muslims in Europe. 2015 Best Documentary Feature, Berlin Independent Film Festival for the film Descending with Angels. 2014 The Special Student Film Prize, Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival, for the ethnographic film Descending with Angels. 2011 The Intangible Culture Film Prize, RAI International Ethnographic Film Festival, Royal Anthropological Institute, for the ethnographic film Unity through Culture. 2011 The Richard Werbner Award for Visual Ethnography, RAI International Ethnographic Film Festival, Royal Anthropological Institute, for the ethnographic film Unity through Culture. 2011 Second Prize in ActionAid Denmark and Politiken’s annual video competition about youth culture in developing countries, for the film Queen Quest. 2008 Prix du Patrimoine Culturel Immatériel, Jean Rouch Int. Film Festival, for the film Ngat is Dead. LEADERSHIP AND GRANTS 2021–26 PI, ERC-Starting Grant: Heart Openings: The Cultivation and Experience of Love in Buddhism, Christianity and Islam: 2-3 postdocs. 2018 Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University: EDU-IT project: www.COMMUNITAS.dk. Community webpage for students and staff, Department of Anthropology, AU. 2015–18 Aarhus University Research Foundation: Three Visiting Researcher Grants: Prof. Andrew Irving, University of Manchester, Feb–June, 2016. DKK 189.250. Prof. Jennifer Deger, James Cook University, March–June, 2016. Senior lecturer Christopher Wright, Goldsmiths, Oct–Nov, 2018. All applications written by Christian Suhr and Ton Otto. As the senior scholar Otto was formal applicant. 2017 Aarhus University Research Foundation: Support for the Eye & Mind Lecture Series with Christian Vium. 2017 Interactive Minds Centre: “Ethnographic Film in Experiment,” Katrin Heimann and Christian Suhr, IMC seed funding for film production and expenditures for experiment in the Cobelab, Aarhus University. 2013–18 Independent Research Fund Denmark: Camera as Cultural Critique, DFF-research project 2: the project was developed and coordinated by Christian Suhr who served as co-PI and prof. Ton Otto who was the formal applicant and PI: 3 postdocs (3 x two years), 1 PhD (three years), 1 guest professor. 2013 Independent Research Fund Denmark: 24 months postdoc for the project: Cures of the Muslim Heart: Contagion, Purification, and Protection in Egypt. 2013 Center for Cultural Epidemics, Aarhus University, 12 months postdoc. 2009 Aarhus University Research Foundation: Publication support for edited volume. 2008 Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Higher Education: PhD scholarship 2008 Knud Højgaards Fond: Funding of PhD scholarship. 1 CHRISTIAN SUHR | DOB: May 9, 1978 | CV and PUBLICATIONS TEACHING INNOVATION AND COORDINATION 2014–21 Founder and coordinator of the Eye & Mind MSc Track in Visual Anthropology, Aarhus University. 2018 Successful completion of the Aarhus University Teacher Training Programme. 2015 Co-design of new MSc Study Programme in Anthropology, Aarhus University. 2009–19 Design, teaching, and coordination of 9 new courses, workshops, and summerschools in visual anthropology, anthropological methods and analysis, anthropological research ethics, and the anthropology of Islam at BA, MSc, and PhD level: Aarhus University; ToRS, University of Copenhagen; Copenhagen DOX; and Etnofilm Festival, Rovinj, Croatia. ORGANISATION OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS 2013–19 Co-organizer of the “Eye & Mind Lecture Series” and the “Visual Wednesday Series” with Christian Vium and Karen Waltorp at Aarhus University and Moesgaard Museum: approximately 20 lectures, public debates, and film screenings with Danish and international scholars, filmmakers, and artists. 2019 Co-organizer with Karen Waltorp of panel debate and film screening of The Reformist with the Danish imam Sherin Khankan and filmmaker Marie Skovgaard, Moesgaard Museum. 2018 Convenor of “Grace: Unexpected Moments in Ethnographic Films,” Double panel at the EASA biennial meeting with Florian Walter, Freie Universität Berlin and Christian Vium, AU. 2017 Convenor of “Public Anthropology at the End of Journalism,” roundtable discussion, with Carolina Sanchez-Boe and Peter Hervik, Sandbjerg. 2017 Co-organizer of the research seminar “Who Radicalizes Whom? Native and Scholarly Uses and Abuses of Radicalization.” with Carolina Sanchez-Boe and Peter Hervik, Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University. 2016 Co-organizer of the conference “Camera as Cultural Critique: Juxtaposition, Intervention, and Co-Creation,” with Ton Otto and Christian Vium, Aarhus University, Moesgaard Museum. 2016 Organizer of and panelist in panel debate on the political consequences of controversial TV documentary "The Mosques Behind the Veil" with the national Danish Broadcast Channel TV2. 2014 Organizer of the conference “Images and Research.” The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Aarhus University, and Moesgaard Museum. 2012 Organizer of the seminar “New Eyes” with prof. George Marcus at Aarhus University. 2012 Organizer of the “Annual Meeting of the Association of Danish Ethnographers: Visual Anthropology and the Invisible” at Aarhus University. 2009 Organizer of the international conference “Transcultural Montage” with Rane Willerslev, Moesgaard Museum. 2008 Convenor of “Possibilities of montage in ethnographic filmmaking” with Rane Willerslev, EASA, Ljubljana. INTERNATIONAL SPEAKING EVENTS, REVIEWING ACTIVITIES, AND EDITORIAL WORK Invited as speaker at 47 conferences and public events, including five keynotes and seven masterclasses, since 2010. Served as co-editor of the Nordic Anthropological Film Association Network (NAFA-Network) since 2008; the main newsletter in the subdiscipline of visual anthropology, published four times annually, featuring articles, reviews, announcements of conferences, ethnographic film festivals, etc. Served as reviewer for: Current Anthropology; American Anthropologist; Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute JRAI; HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory; Journal of Contemporary Islam; Journal of Visual Anthropology; AnthroVision; Critical Research on Religion; Jordens Folk; Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift; DJØF forlaget; National Science Centre Poland; Wenner Gren Foundation and the Danish Ministry of Integration. SCIENTIFIC FOCUS AREAS, PUBLIC DISSEMINATION, AND FIELDWORK Visual anthropology and ethnographic film. Key publications deal with the invisible in anthropology, ethnographic film montage, collaboration in ethnographic film, and the relationship between healing and film. Islamic studies and medical anthropology: PhD research on experiences of spirit possession and psychosis among Danish Muslims (2009-2013). Ongoing research and film project about experiences of light and religious transformations in postrevolutionary Egypt (2014–2021). Media Anthropology: Ongoing research on “media contagion” and extensive participation in public debates (TV and radio interviews, newspaper articles, panel debates, etc) about Islam and Muslims in Europe, extremism, and integration. These interventions inspired an initiative by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service PET, aiming to address the role of media in processes of radicalization and de-radicalization and to create a better dialogue between minority groups and the Danish media. Fieldwork in Egypt (23 months; 2003–2021, including language training), Papua New Guinea (4 months; 2009, 2011, 2016), and Denmark (18 months; 2009–2012, plus additional fieldwork from 2013-6 and 2020-21). SUPERVISION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS 2019– Main PhD-supervisor: Sebastian Lowe, Aarhus University and JCU and Kenni Hede, Aarhus University. Co-PhDsupervisor: Anne Sofie Møller Askholm. Member and chair of three PhD assessment committees at Aarhus University and University of Manchester, chair of two PhD defence proceedings, organizer and teacher of three PhD courses. 2014–21 Supervision of 26 MSc thesis projects and 27 fieldwork projects. 2 CHRISTIAN SUHR | DOB: May 9, 1978 | CV and PUBLICATIONS Single-authored book, peer-reviewed • Descending with Angels: Jinn Possession, Islamic Exorcism, and Psychiatry, a film monograph. Christian Suhr. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2019, 240 p. —a powerful contribution to anthropological understandings of spirit possession and Islamic exorcism and a groundbreaking work in the field of audiovisual anthropology. Exceptionally clear and well-written; a joy to read. In ethnographic approach as well as theoretical radicalism, this book sets new standards for contemporary visual anthropology. MICHAELA SCHÄUBLE, University of Bern. —a challenging, thought-provoking, and insightful piece of scholarship that reflects an unusually deep engagement with a difficult field of research. With a strong sense of purpose, and respect for his subject and collaborators, Suhr has produced an impressively rich ethnography, often of a highly intimate nature. LAURA U. MARKS, Simon Fraser University. —a huge contribution to medical anthropology and Islamic studies [and] to the development of film as a research method. ANDY LAWRENCE, University of Manchester. —this is a must-read (and must-see!) not only for students and scholars of Islam, and of psychiatry, but also for all who want to think seriously about how form can be put to work conceptually—how montage, for instance, can become a mode of analysis. AMIRA MITTERMAIER, University of Toronto. —a very timely contribution both to the practice and problems of contemporary cross-cultural mental health treatment, and to our understandings of Islamic possession and exorcism healing rituals – useful for medical and social anthropologists, psychologists and religious studies scholars interested in the variegated approaches to mental health issues in Western psychiatry and Islamic healing. IAIN EDGAR, Durham University. Edited volumes, peer-reviewed • Transcultural Montage. Christian Suhr and Rane Willerslev (Eds). New York: Berghahn Books, 2013, 17 chapters, 300 p. • “Camera as Cultural Critique.” Special issue of Journal of Visual Anthropology 31(4-5). Ton Otto, Peter Crawford, and Christian Suhr (Eds.). 2018. • “The Politics and Poetics of the Unseen: Ethnographies of Invisibility in Islam.” Special issue of Contemporary Islam 13(1). Nils Bubandt, Mikkel Rytter, and Christian Suhr (Eds). 2019. • Debat: Antropologi og Medier [Debate: Anthropology and Media]. Special issue of Jordens Folk 54(1). Carolina Sanchez Boe and Christian Suhr (Eds). 2019. • Når medierne sætter dagsordenen [When the media set the agenda]. Vibeke Borberg, Christian Suhr, Niels Valdemar Vinding, Hjarn von Zernichow Borberg (Eds). Copenhagen: DJØF-forlaget, 2021, 15 chapters, 354 p. Journal articles and book chapters, peer-reviewed • “Can Film Show the Invisible? The Work of Montage in Ethnographic Filmmaking.” Christian Suhr and Rane Willerslev. Current Anthropology 53(3), 2012, p. 282–294. • “Reply to commentators.” Christian Suhr and Rane Willerslev. Current Anthropology 53(3), 2012, p. 298–301. • “Montage as an Amplifier of Invisibility,” “Montage as an Analytic,” “Montage in Writing,” “Montage in Film,” and “Montage in Museum Exhibitions.” Book chapters. Transcultural Montage. Christian Suhr and Rane Willerslev (Eds). New York: Berghahn Books, 2013, p. 1–15, 17–19, 97–99, 159–162, 241–242. • “Brainwashed at School: Deprogramming the Secular among Young Neo-Orthodox Muslims in Denmark.” Christian Suhr. In Making European Muslims: Religious Socialization Among Young Muslims in Scandinavia and Western Europe. Mark Sedgwick (Ed). New York: Routledge, 2014, p. 249–268. • “Our Favorite Film Shocks.” Rane Willerslev and Christian Suhr. In Experimental Film and Anthropology. Arnd Schneider and Caterina Pasqualino (Eds). London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014, p. 79–98. • “The Failed Image and the Possessed: Examples of Invisibility in Visual Anthropology and Islam.” Christian Suhr. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI), 21(1), 2015, p. 96–112. • “Camera as Cultural Critique: A Report from the Visual Anthropology Research Group at Aarhus University.” Christian Suhr. Anthropology News 56(10), 2015. • “Facts and fiction about Muslims in Danish Media [Fakta og fiktion om muslimer i danske medier].” Christian Suhr and Kirstine Sinclair. Tidskrift for Islamforskning (TIFO), 10(1), 2016, 134-148. 3 CHRISTIAN SUHR | DOB: May 9, 1978 | CV and PUBLICATIONS • “Witnessing and Creating the World Audio-Visually: Aesthetics, Politics, Anthropology.” Karen Waltorp, Christian Suhr, and Christian Vium. Visuel Arkivering 10, 2017, p. 60-65. • “Possession and Psychosis: Five Supplications that Guided the Production of the Ethnographic Documentary ‘Descending with Angels’ (DER 2013, 75 min).” Christian Suhr. Visuel Arkivering 10, 2017, p. 39-44. • “Is there a Place for Faith in Anthropology? Religion, Reason, and the Ethnographer’s Divine Revelation.” Rane Willerslev and Christian Suhr. HAU Journal of Ethnographic Theory 8(1-2), 2018, p. 65-78. • “Faith in Anthropology” Christian Suhr and Rane Willerslev. HAU Journal of Ethnographic Theory 8(1-2), 2018, p. 92-96. • “Montage.” Christian Suhr and Rane Willerslev. International Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Vol. 12: “Anthropology beyond Text.” Rupert Cox (Ed). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2018. • “Camera Monologue: Cultural Critique beyond Collaboration, Participation, and Dialogue.” Christian Suhr. Journal of Visual Anthropology 31(4-5), special issue entitled “Camera as Cultural Critique.” Crawford, Otto, and Suhr (Eds), 2018, p. 376-393. • “Camera, Intervention, and Cultural Critique: Introduction to Special Issue.” Ton Otto, Christian Suhr, Arine Kirstein Høgel, Karen Waltorp, and Christian Vium. Journal of Visual Anthropology 31(4-5), special issue entitled “Camera as Cultural Critique.” Crawford, Otto, and Suhr (Eds), 2018, p. 307-317. • “Islamic Exorcism and the Cinema Fist: Analyzing Exorcism Among Danish Muslims through the Prism of Film.” Christian Suhr. Contemporary Islam 13(1), special issue entitled “The Politics and Poetics of the Unseen: Ethnographies of Invisibility in Islam.” Nils Bubandt, Mikkel Rytter, and Christian Suhr (Eds). 2019, p. 121-137. • “A Second Look at Invisibility: Al-Ghayb, Islam, Ethnography.” Nils Bubandt, Mikkel Rytter, and Christian Suhr. Contemporary Islam 13(1), special issue entitled “The Politics and Poetics of the Unseen: Ethnographies of Invisibility in Islam.” Nils Bubandt, Mikkel Rytter, and Christian Suhr (Eds). 2019, p. 1-16. • “Introduktion: Antropologi og Medier.” Carolina Sanchez Boe and Christian Suhr. Jordens Folk 54(1), special issue entitled “Debat: Antropologi og Medier.” Carolina Sanchez Boe and Christian Suhr (Eds). 2019, p. 1-3. • “Fra offentlige debatter om islam til religiøs erfaring og mikrofænomenologi [From public debates about Islam to religious experience and microphenomenology].” Christian Suhr. Jordens Folk 54(1), special issue entitled “Debat: Antropologi og Medier.” Carolina Sanchez Boe and Christian Suhr (Eds). 2019, p. 71-92. • “Tal aldrig med pressen: Interview med Nicholas De Genova [Never speak to the press: Interview with Nicholas De Genova]”. Carolina Sanchez Boe and Christian Suhr. Jordens Folk 54(1), special issue entitled “Debat: Antropologi og Medier.” Carolina Sanchez Boe and Christian Suhr (Eds). 2019, p. 4-12. • “Comment on Dada Docot's Taking the Long Route: Ethnographic Metacommentary as Method in the Anthropological Film Practice”. Christian Suhr. Current Anthropology 60(6), 2019, p. 791-2. • “The Light of the Prophet Muhammad: An Audiovisual and Microphenomenological Journey.” Christian Suhr. Material Religion 16(1), special issue entitled “Light mediations”. Birgit Meyer and Jeremy Stolow (Eds). 2020. • “Usædvanlig bred og uafviselig dokumentation: Undersøgende journalistik i danske moskeer [Investigative journalism in Danish Mosques].” Christian Suhr. In: Når medierne sætter dagsordenen. Vibeke Borberg, Christian Suhr, Niels Valdemar Vinding, Hjarn von Zernichow Borberg (Eds). Copenhagen: DJØF-forlaget. 2021. Ethnographic films • Light upon Light [Nurun ‘ala Nur]. Christian Suhr. Film in progress in collaboration with Muhammad Mustapha, Amira Mortada, and Hala Lotfy about religious experiences of light. Filmed in Egypt and Denmark. Preliminary materials from the film was discussed at Beyond the Occult (seminar at the University of Chicago, October 2021), the EASA conference (Stockholm, August 2018), and at the NAFA conference and film festival (Cluj, September 2018). Planned release: March 2022. Hassala Films. • On behalf of the living. Ton Otto, Christian Suhr, and Gary Kildea. Ethnographic film about the impact of the dead on the lives of the living, Baluan Island, Papua New Guinea. Planned release: March 2022. Moesgaard Film. • Epoche. 2020. Christian Suhr and Claire Petitmengin, 58 min. Ethnographic film about meditative experience and microphenomenology. Preliminary version presented at the Mind & Life Contemplative Science Symposium, November 2019. Mind & Life Europe and Persona Film. • Descending with Angels. 2013. Christian Suhr, 75 min. Award-winning ethnographic film screened at 25 international film festivals and conferences. Broadcast twice on the Austrian TV channel Okto. Special panel debates were held on the film at the American Academy of Religion (San Diego 2014), Psychology and the Other Conference (Cambridge, MA, 2015), Religions in Diaspora: Global Symposium (Los Angeles 2015), and Media and Ethics in Times of Crisis: International 4 CHRISTIAN SUHR | DOB: May 9, 1978 | CV and PUBLICATIONS Colloquium (Halle University 2015). Special screenings and debates at 16 universities in the United States and Europe. • Unity through Culture. 2011. Christian Suhr and Ton Otto, 59 min. Award-winning ethnographic film screened at 15 international film festivals and conferences. Broadcast twice on TITV, Taiwan. Watertown: Documentary Educational Resources; London: Royal Anthropological Institute. • Queen Quest. 2011. Christian Suhr and Steffen Dalsgaard, 5 min. Moesgaard Film. Short film awarded Second Prize in ActionAid Denmark and Politiken’s annual video competition on the theme of youth culture in developing countries (Copenhagen, 2011). • Ngat is Dead. 2009. Christian Suhr and Ton Otto, 58 min. Award-winning ethnographic film screened at 22 international film festivals and conferences. Broadcast many times on the national TV channel EMTV, Papua New Guinea. Watertown: Documentary Educational Resources; London: Royal Anthropological Institute. • Want a Camel, Yes? 2004. Christian Suhr and Mette Bahnsen, 36 min. Aarhus: Persona Film. Exhibitions • 35 films and multimedia content for ethnographic and archeological exhibitions including Nilen: Ægyptens Gave (2003), Yumi bildim kanu (2004), Vikingernes Aros (2005), Illerup Ådal (2005), Én Verden: Tusind Historier (2007), Pileflet (2007), Polarrejsen (2009), and Social Smitte (2017) at Moesgaard Museum. Recording/editing/postproduction. 2003– 2017. • Coordinator of student exhibitions as part of the BA course in “Anthropological Communication.” 2008 and 2009. Additional work with the students exhibitions in the visual anthropology workshop. 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2016. Moesgaard Museum. • Yumi Bildim Kanu: En Sejlkano fra Papua Ny Guinea [A Sailing Canoe from Papua New Guinea]. 2004. Museum exhibition, co-organizer and exhibition designer. Moesgaard Museum. • Taisuru. 2000-2002. Photo exhibition about the Muslim village Taisuru in the Indian Himalayas, exhibited at galleries in Aarhus and Holstebro. • Metro. 1999-2000. Photo exhibition with photographs from Prague, exhibited at galleries in Aarhus and Holstebro. Major opinion articles in Danish newspapers • "Lad ph.d.-studerende færdiggøre deres uddannelse før de kritiseres i offentligheden" [Allow students to complete their education before they are publicly critizised]. Christian Suhr. June 14, 2021. Kronik, Berlingske [opinion article in national Danish newspaper about severe criticisms of PhD-students by members of parliament and the minister of research]. • "Stop udvisning af syge mennesker [Stop the deportation of people suffering from illness]. Christian Suhr. April 2, 2021. POV. [Opinion article about the deportation of severely ill psychiatric patient]. • "Jeg kender den mand, som truede Rasmus Paludan med kniv – og selvom islam spillede en rolle, er det ikke så enkelt, som politikerne tror". Christian Suhr. June 28, 2020. Kronik. Berlingske [opinion article in national Danish newspaper]. • "TV2 skylder stadig tv-seerne svar om Cavling-nomineret dokumentar" [TV2 still needs to answer for Cavling-nominated documentary].” Christian Suhr, Hjarn von Zernichow Borberg, Kirstine Sinclair, Niels Valdemar Vinding. January 7, 2017, Politiken [opinion article in national Danish newspaper]. • "Cavling-nomineret tv-dokumentar er unuanceret og meningsforvridende" [Cavling-nominated tv-documentary is onesided and misleading].” Christian Suhr, Hjarn von Zernichow Borberg, Kirstine Sinclair, Niels Valdemar Vinding. January 5, 2017, kronik, Politiken [opinion article in national Danish newspaper]. • "Kriminalisering af sharia løser ingenting [Criminalizing sharia doesn’t help]." Christian Suhr. May 21, 2016, kronik, Berlingske [opinion article in national Danish newspaper]. • "Dialog er det stærkeste våben mod voldelige ekstremisme" [Dialog is the strongest weapon against violent extremism].” Christian Suhr. March 24, 2016, Politiken [opinion article in national Danish newspaper]. • "Livet i moskeerne er langt mere, end hvad vi ser i TV" [Life in the mosques is more than we see on TV].” Christian Suhr. March 10, 2016, kronik, Politiken [opinion article in national Danish newspaper]. • "Hjernevask og Radikalisering i Grimhøjmoskeen" [Brainwashing and radicalization in the Grimhøj-Mosque].” Christian Suhr. January 16, 2015, kronik, Politiken [opinion article in national Danish newspaper]. 5