Anthropology, Psychiatry, and the Regulation of Afro-Brazilian and Spiritist cults

• Grant number: 24/08806-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: January 06, 2025
• End date: January 05, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Alberto Steil
• Grantee: Lucas Toledo Martins Baccetto
• Supervisor: Paul Christopher Johnson
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Michigan, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/02657-6 - Religion, Psychiatry, and Anthropology: a study on the Recife Mental Hygiene Service (1930-1937), BP.DR

Abstract

This project proposes a 12-month research internship (January/2025 to January/2026) at the Department of History, University of Michigan (United States). During this period, under the supervision of Professor Paul Christopher Johnson, I will develop activities related to my doctoral research on the work of the Mental Hygiene Service of Pernambuco during the 1930s. In particular, I will dedicate myself to advancing bibliographical and archival research. My stay at the University of Michigan and the supervision of Professor Johnson will be extremely valuable for my research, as he is an expert in the field of Afro-Brazilian religion studies, with works dedicated to the period covered by my research and to similar themes: the relationship between the Brazilian state, psychiatry, anthropology, and Afro-Brazilian religions and Spiritism. Through his supervision and participation in his research group, I will be able to get in touch with a network of researchers who have these themes in common. The proximity of the University of Michigan to Northwestern University will also make it possible to carry out archival research on the personal collection of anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits. In addition to being a key figure in the field of studies of black populations in the Americas, Herskovits established correspondence and guided research by intellectuals linked to the Mental Hygiene Service of Pernambuco. In this way, this research seeks to contribute to the field of historical relations between religions and the state in Brazil, and to the histories of anthropology and psychiatry.