Hannah Grace Howard

Matriculated September 2018

Research Interests

Greece & the Mediterranean, anthropology of religion, Orthodox Christianity, political anthropology, nationalism, belonging, care and compassion, political theology

About

While I have been interested in the anthropology of religion throughout my academic career, my more specific research interests developed during my time living in Athens from 2016-2018. Witnessing responses to the continued presence of refugees in the city, I was interested in the ways that care was organized and deployed by various groups. My dissertation research seeks to understand the ways in which the Orthodox Church of Greece fits itself into this humanitarian landscape. I am especially concerned with the ways that Orthodox actors describe their beliefs surrounding compassion, charity, and the work of the church in historical and political contexts. My research thus addresses the role of the church in public and political life, the ways in which charitable actions between Greeks and non-Greeks impact the ethnoreligious landscape of Greece, and whether an Orthodox model of care, especially given its theological inflections, might provide something distinct from the more typical approach in anthropology to humanitarianism and care.

Before beginning doctoral work at Boston University, I worked in a Greek research institute editing academic journal submissions and organizing international conferences. I received my MA in Southeast European Studies from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and my BA in Sociology & Anthropology from Washington and Lee University.

Awards & Grants

• Anthropology Summer Research Grant; Boston University. (2022).
• Long-Term Graduate Research Abroad Fellowship (GRAF); Boston University. (2021).
• Fulbright IIE US Student Program — Alternate. (2021).
• Anthropology Summer Research Grant; Boston University. (2020).
• Anthropology Summer Research Grant; Boston University. (2019).
• Dean’s Fellowship for Doctoral Studies; Boston University. (Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 22, Fall 22).

Publications

• Howard, Hannah. (2021). “Compassionate Transformation: Kenotic Possibility in Greek Orthodox Humanitarianism.” EASA Anthropology of Humanitarianism Network.
• Howard, Hannah. (2017). “Selling Flavor, Selling Fable: The Commodification of Traditional Identity on the Island of Gozo.” Omertaa, Journal of Applied Anthropology.
• Hume, Douglas et al. (2016). Report of the Ethnographic Field School in Belize (June 2015 Season). Highland Heights, KY: Center for Applied Anthropology.