Damaris Lüthi did her postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics and at the University of Berne, Switzerland, from where she has a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, focusing on South Asia. Her thesis with the title "Washing off Sin. Cleanliness in Kottar, South India" focuses on the relationship between everyday hygiene and so-called ritual concepts of im/purity and their relevance for the Indian caste system. It was based on fieldwork in a South Indian Tamil town neighbourhood for 16 months in 1995-96. From 2001-03 she conducted research on social change among Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Switzerland, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. In 2018, initiated by the National Forum for Old Age and Migration (NFAM) and directed by the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) she conducted research among elderly Tamils in Switzerland and examined their situation, needs and the question of remigration.
Themenschwerpunkte:
Kastenkonzepte und -prozesse im Tamilengebiet Südasiens; Bedeutung von Reinheits- und Hygienevorstellungen; Ethnographischer Film.
