Stine Simonsen Puri

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Primary fields of research

I am an anthropologist, with expertise in India. I have a broad and indepth understanding of Indian culture, society, economy and religion, and how these are interconnected. This expertise I have worked towards through longterm fieldwork in both urban and rural areas of India, as well as through studies at an Indian university, a  large number of written and read articles and reocurring travels to visit friends, in-laws and "interlocuters" as we call the main source of informatin in anthropology.

As part fo my  research, I am interested in how we can use play and movement for developing insight into the world. As an anthropologist this involves a method that emphasizes participation in bodily activities during fieldwork as a key to knowledge combined with a use of language that integrates embodied experiences.

In my research I have focused on 1) Indian market mechanisms, especially the connection between legal and illegal economy, and the cultural and technological context for market transactions, through research in gambling and financial markets, 2) Indian water conditions, especially in realtion to the monsoon rain, and the creative ways of working with rain predictions within agriculture and finance, through fieldstudies on farmers, traders, meterologists, and rain gamblers, and 3) Indian gender realtions and sexuality, especially through studies of dance (for women) and games (for men). 

I have gotten alot of my insights by betting on horse race as an entry to the understanding of black money and power in Delhi, betting on rain fall in the desert of Rajasthan as a method to understand peoples engagement with climate uncertainties. Furthermore, I have learnt and Indian temple dance as an entry to an embodied understanding of gender relations and Hinduism as well as a dance developed by Rudolf Steiner called eurythmy, to investigate ways ways that Western modern dance has developed in conversation with Indian dance. what drives me is a deepfelt wish for bridgebuilding - between people and nations. I hope that my research and teaching opens to a broader understanding of the ways that people are shaped by their cultural contexts, in order to find inspiration for new ways of thinking and creating in cross-cutural cenvironments.

Teaching

I teach foundational anthropological theory and methods, economic anthropology (in Center for Comparative Cultural Studies for which I am co-director and in Cross-cultural Studies) and introduction courses to South Asian History, Culture and Society (In Modern india and South Asian Studies). In my teaching I am in particular interested in the development of multi modal teaching methods, where I work consciously both with textual. Auditive, visual and kinesthetic learning processes. In particular, I am interested in the development of teaching methods that engage the body as an instrument of knowledge.

Fields of interest

India and anthropology; Gambling, speculation, play and economy; Climate, agriculture and food; Hinduism, esotericism, gender, movement and dance. 

Selected publications

1. Published

   Escalations: Theorizing Sudden Accelerating Change

   Højer, Lars, Kublitz, A., Puri, Stine Simonsen & Bandak, Andreas, 2018, In: Anthropological Theory. 18, 1, p. 36-58 22 p., 2.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

2. Published

   Speculation: Futures and Capitalism in India

   Bear, L., Birla, R. & Puri, Stine Simonsen, 2015, In: Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 35, 3, p. 387-391 5 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

3. Published

   Relationships of chance: Friendships in a gambling setting of urban India

   Puri, Stine Simonsen, 2016, In: South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 39, 1, p. 109-125 18 p.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

4. Published

   Billeder på integration: Kulturmøder, samfundsforandringer og projektmetoder

   Petersen, A. M. & Puri, Stine Simonsen, 2014, Aarhus: Systime. (Systime iBog).

   Research output: Book/Report › Book › Education

Selected activities

1. Betting on the Monsoon in Rajasthans Desert

   Puri, Stine Simonsen (Other)

   21 Apr 2017

   Activity: Talk or presentation types › Lecture and oral contribution