Cook_J
Dr Joanna Claire COOK BA, MPhil, PhD (Cambridge)
Fellow since 2007
George Kingsley Roth Research Fellow in Southeast Asian Studies
Email: jcc41 "at" cam.ac.uk
Joanna Cook is the George Kingsley Roth Research Fellow. She has written and lectured on the Anthropology of Ethics, Asceticism, Religion, Buddhism, Fieldwork Methodology, the Gift and Gender.
Dr. Cook’s current research on the democratization of religious practice in Thailand explores the complex interplay between medical practice, internationalism and civil society.
Dr. Cook has a long-standing research involvement with Thailand. Her earlier research focused on meditation as a monastic activity. Her recent monograph, published by Cambridge University Press, explores the subjective signification of monastic duties and ascetic practices focusing particularly on the motivation and experience of renouncers, the effect meditative practices have on individuals and community organization, and gender hierarchy within the context of the monastery.
Research interests
Anthropology of religion; anthropology of ethics and personhood; medical anthropology; Buddhism; ascetic practice; detachment; cultures of mindfulness: meditation techniques in psychology and Buddhism; pilgrimage.
