Generate a tailored SOP for Dr. Matei Candea. Improve your application with a focused, well-structured draft.
I am a social anthropologist interested in understanding ethics, epistemics, materiality, and politics, with a particular focus on conceptual social forms and formalisms. My research has examined place knowledge and belonging particularly in the context of the island of Corsica. I have worked on the ethical formation of behavioral scientists interacting with non-human animals, focusing on theoretical and practical heuristics within anthropological comparisons. I am currently the principal investigator of the ERC-funded Risking Speech project, which explores ethical imaginaries and political subjectivities in relation to material semiotics and debates around 'freedom of speech' across various European contexts. My doctoral research, completed at Cambridge in 2006, focused on identity and alterity in Corsica and culminated in my book, Corsican Fragments (2010). My subsequent work has led to key publications that examine classic methodological questions and the evolving understandings of 'the political' in anthropology. I have also engaged in inter-species research, studying humans and meerkats, exploring how understandings of similarity and difference arise from situated interactions. My role at Cambridge includes teaching and various academic responsibilities, as well as an ongoing interest in the works of historical social theorists such as Gabriel Tarde.
University of Cambridge • Cambridge, ENG
Professor of Social Anthropology, leading research and teaching in diverse anthropological fields.
University of Durham • Durham, ENG
Taught courses in social anthropology and supervised students.
University of Copenhagen • Copenhagen
Held position as Velux Visiting Professor during Summer-Autumn.
Standard postgraduate requirements for Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) and related humanities departments.