RHEAL - Religion and Healing: Collaborative and Participatory Methodologies

17/09/2026

We are excited to host an Ethnographic Writing Workshop as part of the activities of Project RHEAL, led by the renowned anthropologist and ethnographic storyteller Paul Stoller (University of Pennsylvania).

📖 Weaving the worlds: Storytelling for healing
📅 23–24 September 2026
📍 Sapienza University of Rome

Following the inaugural RHEAL seminars and their focus on pathways to healing collaborations between religion and biomedicine, this workshop extends the conversation towards questions of ethnographic representation, writing and storytelling.

How can ethnographers translate lived experiences into compelling stories? How can sensory experience, narrative and writing contribute to the representation of healing encounters and worlds?

The workshop is organised by the MSCA SE RHEAL project in collaboration with the PhD Programme in History, Anthropology and Religions – Anthropology curriculum at Sapienza University of Rome.
In-person participation by registration. Places are limited and reserved for RHEAL project members and PhD students in the Anthropology curriculum.

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17/09/2026

🌍 RHEAL Seminars at Sapienza University of Rome
21–24 September 2026

We are pleased to announce the RHEAL Seminars, marking the beginning of the project’s activities at Sapienza University of Rome:

"Pathways to healing collaborations between religion and biomedicine: case studies in Tanzania, Indonesia and Italy"

the programme brings together researchers and practitioners from Tanzania, Indonesia, Italy, Brazil and the UK to explore different forms of collaboration between religious and traditional healing practices, biomedical care and mental health.

📅 21–22 September
Roundtables on healing collaborations Tanzania, Indonesia and Italy.
The sessions are free and open to the public, with both in-person and online participation available.

👉 Registration for the 21–22 September seminars:
https://forms.gle/hdXpdkJuw9Fv3zwq5

Please share this announcement with colleagues, students and anyone who may be interested in joining us.

📅 23–24 September
Sensory ethnographic writing workshop with Paul Stoller (University of Pennsylvania)
Weaving the worlds: storytelling for healing
The workshop is reserved for RHEAL project members and PhD students in the Anthropology curriculum. Places are limited and participation is in person.

Funded by the European Union and organized under the Marie Skłodowska–Curie Staff Exchanges project “RHEAL–Religion and Healing: Collaborative and Participatory Methodologies” (grant agreement No 101236435)

23/08/2026

RHEAL seminar at the Universidade do Estado de Rio de Janeiro-UERJ, Brazil, 24-26 August 2026

Interdisciplinary Dialogues on Mental Health: Paths of Cooperation between Anthropology, Psychology, and Spirituality

Organization: Giovanna Capponi and Eleonora Di Renzo

In August, Afro-Brazilian religious traditions celebrate Omolu, the orixá (Afro-Brazilian deity) associated with healing, the earth, and profound transformation. It is in this spirit of transformation and care that we invite you to join us for a cycle of seminars dedicated to dialogue, knowledge exchange, and the creation of collaborative approaches to mental health.

Bringing together anthropologists, psychologists, historians, professionals working in contexts of social vulnerability and community projects, terreiro leaders, artists, spiritual mediums, and people with lived experiences of psychiatric and psychological distress, the cycle aims to foster dialogue across different fields and forms of expertise. We seek to build bridges between academia, biomedicine, art, spirituality, and popular and traditional practices of care.

Programme

24 August (Monday) | 2:00–4:00 PM
FFP/UERJ – Block C Auditorium
Caring for Oneself Means Caring for a Whole: Traditional Knowledge, the Environment, and Mental Health
With Giovanna Capponi (UERJ), Rodrigo Carneiro (ITS), Valrei Herson Hebster (UFRJ), and Valrei Lima (psychologist and Candomblé priest)

25 August (Tuesday) | 2:00–4:00 PM
FFP/UERJ – NUPEC Auditorium
Religiosity and Mental Health: Dialogues and perspectives
With Everton Maraldi (USP) and Marta Helena de Freitas (UCB)

26 August (Wednesday) | 2:00–4:00 PM
FFP/UERJ – NUPEC Auditorium
Sharing Circle: Art, Spirituality, and Mental Health
With Eleonora Di Renzo (Sapienza Università di Roma), Fabio Costa (Onikójá), Elisabeth Salles, Stephanie Lima Villar, Jéssica Cândido (CECCCOZ), and Uyara Soares

The seminars will be in Portuguese only, and online participation will be possible by registering at this link:
https://forms.gle/5JUhNrQpwjc5yWTv6

14/08/2026

RHEAL project partner in Brazil, Terreiro Sustentável, in collaboration with team members at Universidade do Estado de Rio de Janeiro and Sapienza University of Rome, are organizing a workshop on traditional knowledge and mental health in Afro-Brazilian religions.

On August 15 at 11:30 AM, the Centro Integrado ITS hosts the 1st Ori Rere Meeting – POTMA Health Workshops Circuit, a space for gathering, care, knowledge exchange, and the valorisation of the health practices of Afro-brazilian religious groups (Povos Tradicionais de Matriz Africana).

Throughout the day, we will have the Alimento de Axé Exhibition, a Solidarity Lunch, Artistic Ciganas Dances, a presentation of the Ori Rere Campaign, a Conversation Circle on POTMA Health, and, closing our programme, a procession to Yemanjá leading to the Terreiro de Obatalá – Ilê Omi Orun.

🗓️ August 15, 2026
⏰ Starting at 11:30 AM
📍 Centro Integrado ITS – Rua Elisa, 48 – Sepetiba, Rio de Janeiro/RJ

📲 Registrations are open! Check the QR Code on the card and come build with us this space of health, ancestry, territory, and collective care. Registration link: https://forms.gle/i8kWjpyRaxwkqxY59
Online streaming available on the ITS YouTube channel .sustentavel

This initiative is organized under the Marie Skłodowska–Curie Staff Exchanges project "RHEAL–Religion and Healing: Collaborative and Participatory Methodologies" (grant
agreement No 101236435). Funded by the European Union.

13/08/2026

Don’t miss our Project RHEAL events in Rio de Janeiro! Join us from August 24 to 26, 2026, for a cycle of three interdisciplinary seminars at the Faculdade de Formação de Professores (UERJ), São Gonçalo. The first seminar explores the intersections between mental and environmental health through the lens of the ecology of knowledge, examining how traditional healing practices - particularly the Afro-religious ones - are intrinsically linked to land and territory, and their contributions to understanding psychic suffering and collective well-being in the context of contemporary environmental crises. The second seminar addresses the challenges and potential of interdisciplinary research at the interface between mental health, religions, and spirituality, focusing on the complexity of “anomalous” or spiritual experiences and the conceptual and clinical challenges they pose for diagnosis and care. The third seminar further deepens these dialogues, fostering collaboration between anthropology, psychology, arts and spiritual traditions to develop culturally sensitive and integrative approaches to mental health. Together, these seminars reaffirm RHEAL's commitment to participatory methodologies, epistemic diversity, and the co-construction of knowledge across different therapeutic frameworks.

Register here for online attendance: https://forms.gle/hQrKnLi1KYr8kpT46

Funded by the European Union under the Marie Skłodowska–Curie Staff Exchanges "RHEAL–Religion and Healing: Collaborative and Participatory Methodologies" https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101236435.

13/07/2026

As part of Project RHEAL events in South Korea, project member Davide Torri (Sapienza University of Rome) will be giving a seminar, along with Landon Hancock (Kent State University), addressing trauma, rituals and storytelling.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84196147174?pwd=grqwXz3qcPDYVqrinpaCytnGcT21i8.1

20/04/2026

Project RHEAL Special Lecture by Erminia Colucci (Middlesex University London) on visual and participatory research methods and research ethics in the field of social science, to be held at Ajou University, South Korea on 06.05.2026, 12.00-1.30pm

20/03/2026

As part of the RHEAL Project activities at Ajou University in South Korea, seconded staff from Middlesex University are working in close collaboration with institutional partners to develop dedicated ethical guidance for the visual representation of vulnerable and victimized individuals. This workshop series is situated within the broader aims of the RHEAL Project to advance innovative visual and multi-modal methodologies that engage with and communicate the lived experiences of individuals in therapeutic contexts.

Lecture #1: Topics of ethical representation in the cases of Holocaust and Japanese military comfort women issues
Speaker: Han Sang Kim, Ajou University
Time: Saturday, March 21, 14:00 KST (6:00 AM UTC+1)

Lecture #2: Visual ethics: a psychological perspective
Speaker: Erminia Colucci, Middlesex University
Time: Saturday, March 21, 15:00 KST (7:00 AM UTC+1)

https://ajou-ac-kr.zoom.us/j/81976743193?pwd=rcSgB7edxdYB8GrUcbiBlbfVKpBBlJ.1

This initiative is organized under the Marie Skłodowska–Curie Staff Exchanges project "RHEAL – Religion and Healing: Collaborative and Participatory Methodologies" (grant agreement No 101236435). Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

26/01/2026

RHEAL brings together 13 organizations from around the world to explore innovative interdisciplinary and multimodal methodologies to foster collaboration among researchers, healthcare professionals, religious and traditional healers, people with lived experience of mental health conditions, and their carers. Drawing upon the interdisciplinary approaches of anthropology, creative arts, sociology, psychology, and psychiatry, RHEAL addresses pressing issues in mental health by investigating how different therapeutic approaches can better communicate to improve care and knowledge exchange. Focussing on mental health and practices of spiritual trance and possession, this project aims to bridge the epistemological divide between biomedical and religious/spiritual and traditional perspectives, identifying best practices for cooperation in healing.

RHEAL investigates innovative interdisciplinary methodologies for fostering collaboration between researchers, healthcare professionals, religious and traditional healers, people with lived experience of mental health conditions, and their carers. Drawing upon the...

26/01/2026

We are pleased to announce the seminar series “Healing Roundtable: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue”, which launches the Marie Skłodowska–Curie Staff Exchanges project “RHEAL – Religion and Healing: Collaborative and Participatory Methodologies” (Grant Agreement No. 101236435, PI: Emily Pierini).
The events are organized in collaboration with Sapienza University and hosted at the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) by Thomas Ndaluka, Elgidius Ichumbaki, Ignasia Mbatta, Magolanga Shagembe, Lorenzo D’Angelo, Altea Vatteroni, Elisa Foglio, and Anita Tozzi.
Events are open to the public, links via Google Meet are available on the respective flyers. The indicated local times correspond to 8:00–10:00 CET.
Project page: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101236435