Official CULTMIND launch 12 September

On behalf of the University of Copenhagen, Rector Henrik Wegener thanked the Danish National Research Foundation for its generous and important support of basic research:

“I am particularly proud because the opening of a Centre of Excellence like CULTMIND is not just a once-in-a-year-opportunity at UCPH. It is a testament to the quality of our research and our ability to attract the best – across disciplines and across institutions.”

CULTMIND’s aim is to explore whether the human psyche is the same across cultures, and whether people experience mental disorders in the same way no matter what language they speak.

“In order to tackle these questions, CULTMIND brings together anthropologists, historians, psychiatrists, psychologists, literary scholars and artists. In this experimental institutional and organizational setup, we aim to pioneer a concrete model of collaboration between clinical and humanities research agendas, asking whether the humanities can provide insights that would help resolve clinical concerns and dilemmas in cross-cultural ‘psy’ sciences,” Professor and centre director Ana Antic said.

Several of CULTMIND’s projects will thus be carried out in close collaboration with the Competence Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry (CTP) in the Capital Region of Denmark, which research associate professor and co-PI Jessica Carlsson heads:

"At CTP, we offer treatment to both traumatised refugees, often with post-traumatic stress disorder, and partly to other refugees and immigrants with mental disorders, where the cultural background plays a particularly important role in relation to how the disorder is expressed", Jessica Carlsson said and concluded:

“So when Ana approached me about CULTMIND, I was very enthusiastic. I also underlined that it was crucial for me that the results of this research collaboration would feed into the clinic and give something back to the patients, which is where my heart is.”