Sam Nelson is a Doctoral Candidate in Anthropology and Sociology, and an Affiliate Researcher at the Global Health Centre, at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. As a recipient of the Swiss National Science Foundation Doc.CH grant, he is also the Principal Investigator on the project An Empirical Science of the Spirit: (Near-) Death and Postmaterialist Science in Japan, Switzerland and North-America.
His current research explores the competing scientific narratives emerging from contemporary research on near-death experience (NDE). Working with the anthropologies of death and consciousness, and Science and Technology Studies, this research investigates novel claims about consciousness and death to highlight how these concepts are made malleable through technical knowledge-making processes, collective attributions of significance, and individual subjective experience. The study is comparative and will take place in Canada, the USA, and Japan.
Prior to joining the Global Health Centre, Sam worked in diverse fields and locations, including: as a Research Assistant at the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding, in Geneva; as a cultural ambassador and language teacher for the JET Programme, in Japan; and as a visual artist, in Australia and Brazil. He received a Bachelor in Anthropology from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Master in Anthropology and Sociology from the Graduate Institute.