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Heidi Colleran

Lise Meitner Research Group Leader

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig  

E-mail: heidi_colleran@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de

Office: level 1, room b1.11

Research interests

I’m an anthropologist working at the intersection of socio-cultural anthropology, demography and cultural evolution. I have a background in philosophy and russian, and postgraduate training in psychology and evolutionary anthropology. My main area of interest is the relationship between reproductive behaviour, culture, and population dynamics. My work combines approaches from the humanities and social sciences and tries to bridge micro and macro levels of analysis.

I maintain two field-based research projects in rural Poland and Vanuatu.

I also collaborate with colleagues across the sciences and humanities. I have ongoing interests in population genetics, linguistics, political science, psychology and philosophy of science. Between 2016 and 2019 I managed the interdisciplinary Vanuatu Languages and Lifeways project at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena.

I currently lead the BirthRites Lise Meitner Research Group, which focuses on the coevolution of culture and demography.

I am co-Investigator on the ERC consolidator grant: Multilingual worlds – neglected histories. Uncovering their emergence, continuity and loss in past and present societies, led by PI Justyna Olko https://en.uw.edu.pl/second-erc-grant-awarded-to-professor-justyna-olko/). We focus on the contemporary and historical dynamics of multilingualism in four world regions, including Vanuatu. 

I am always interested in hearing from potential PhD or Postdoctoral candidates. If you would like to join my group or collaborate, please get in touch.

Publications

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