Established in 1386, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest university, and the town is a classic "university town" dominated by students, with a very active nightlife and cultural scene. The major cities of Mannheim and Frankfurt are quite close (15 minutes and 45 minutes away, respectively). Visitors come from all over the world to see Heidelberg's castle and other medieval monuments, and there are a wide range of concerts, theatres, galleries, and sporting events. For more information, see the city of Heidelberg's website.
Heidelberg is a comprehensive university (Volluniversität) integrating the natural and social sciences with the humanities. It is one of Germany's top universities (Germany's leading university in QS World University Ranking 2019/20), and one of the oldest in Europe, with approximately 30,000 students from 130 countries. The South Asia Institute is Europe's leading centre for South Asian Studies, with departments of Economics, Geography, History, Politics, and classical and modern South Asian languages, in addition to Anthropology. Affiliated professors teach Art History, Buddhism, and Media Studies. The South Asia Institute regularly offers courses in eleven South Asian languages, and has one of the world's largest libraries in South Asian Studies, as well as branch offices in different South Asian countries.
We cooperate closely with other Departments in the South Asia Institute, which is the largest institute within CATS, the Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies, Europe’s largest centre for conducting research on East, Southeast, and South Asia.
Our Medical Anthropology Forum meets regularly for lectures and presentations of colleagues, guests, and students. Well-known experts have spoken here, but we also encourage younger scholars to present their work in progress, so as to foster a lively and stimulating learning environment.
The Cluster of Excellence Asia and Europe in a Global Context has supported a number of research projects related to health, and MAHASSA students have regularly benefited from the guest lectures and MA-level instruction offered there.
We regularly teach short courses in Medical Anthropology for Heidelberg University's Institute of Public Health. We also have strong links to Edinburgh University in Scotland, Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, and the CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) in France.
