Maria Krom

After completing my MA in Anthropology (1986), with minors in Philosophy, Art History and Theatre Anthropology, at the University of Amsterdam, I worked for 10 years as a corporate journalist and communications officer in various Dutch non-profit organizations (NGO's, Refugee Aid, etc.).

The move from Amsterdam to the south of Portugal, where I currently live and work, provided me with an opportunity to start afresh and get engaged once again with my 'first love', Anthropology.

Currently, I am a researcher at CRIA, the Center for the Research in Anthropology, and at IELT, the Institute for the Study of Traditional Literature, both affiliated to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal).

My primary research interests are performance practices in contemporary folk cultures, sensory ethnography, and visual anthropology. The main focus of my work is on performative and other expressive practices, such as (ritual) celebrations and festivals; space and place; individual and collective memory; and material culture. A second line of research interests is the Anthropology of Nature / Ecologic Anthropology, and more in particular the interaction between man and his environment (sustainable development and 'green' living), and between man and animal(s).

My Ph.D research, on identity (politics), community, and heritage in (folk) festivals in Portugal, Spain and Brasil, was funded by a scholarship from FCT, the Foundation for Science and Technology in Lisbon.

I combine my research with teaching part-time at a school for Dutch immigrant children in Portugal. I enjoy working with children and young people because of their curiosity and open attitude.

This year (2015) I will be embarking on a new adventure that I have been dreaming about for some time: I will start training to become a professional therapist in reflexology of the feet and hands.