Following the Workshop “Contested Millets in Africa and Asia” hosted at the Frobenius Institute in 2018, a second workshop took place in March of 2019 from the 28th-29th at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. The Workshop brought anthropologists, archaeologists, archaeobotanists, botanists and historical linguists together to discuss from their own disciplinary perspectives to examine millets as a crop that had experienced a recent revival in different parts of the world.
On Friday, May 18th and Saturday, May 19th, a workshop was hosted at the Frobenius Institue to discuss millets across Africa and India from an interdisciplinary perspective. Anthropologists, Archaeologists, and Ecologists gathered together to present project proposals. The aim was to define a collaborative project which would then be submitted for funding. This workshop served as the precursor to what would later become the Cereal Cultures project.
Utkal University organized a two-day seminar and screening of the documentary on “Crops of Life: Cereal Cultures in the Highlands of Odisha, India” on 6th and 7th February 2026 at G9, CII Building, Utkal University and Department of Anthropology, Utkal University.
The programme highlighted the intimate linkages between cereal cultivation, culture, and community life in the highland regions of Odisha, with a focus on issues of livelihood, indigenous knowledge, and sustainable food systems.
The seminar featured distinguished international Professors as key speakers. Prof. Roland Hardenberg from Goethe University, Germany, shared his reflections on ritual, economy, and cereal cultures in the highlands of Odisha, drawing on long-term anthropological engagement in the region. Prof. Peter Berger from Groningen University, Netherlands, spoke on the significance of highland cereal cultivation for community identity, religious practices, and resilience amid socio-economic change.
The Hon’ble Vice Chancellor of Utkal University has expressed his gratitude and proposed the key speakers to continue this collaboration with other departments of our university in future and also bring up with more research work for our faculty, students and scholars. Dr. Bijayini Mohanty (Anthropology Department at Utkal University), who has conducted research at the Frobenius Institute in the past, gave the “Vote of Thanks.”
Following the formal address and felicitation of the guest on the dais, the film “Crops of Life: Cereal Cultures in the Highlands of Odisha, India” was screened for faculty members, research scholars, and students. The film provided a nuanced visual narrative of how cereal crops in the highlands are embedded in everyday labour, ritual life, seasonal rhythms, and local ecological knowledge. Participants responded enthusiastically to the screening, noting its value for teaching, research, and policy discussions on food security and sustainable agriculture in Odisha.
Members associated with the project and the seminar are:
Prof. Jagneswar Dandpat, Vice-Chancellor of Utkal University, Guest of Honor
Prof. Mitali Chinara, Chairperson of the P.G. Council of Utkal University, Guest of Honor
Prof. Roland Hardenburg, Frobenius Institute, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
Prof. Peter Berger, University of Groningen, Netherlands
Dr. Suresh Chandra Murmu, Head, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University
Prof. Kanhu Charan Satatapathy, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University
Prof. Prasanna Kumar Patra, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University
Prof. Debendra Kumar Biswal, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University
Dr. Priyanka Khurana, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University
Mr. Subrat Kumar Naik, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University
Dr. Bijayini Mohanty, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University
Dr. Paramananda Naik, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University
Prof. Sanjay Sarangi, International Office, Utkal University
Following a successful meeting of the International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany (IWGP) in České Budějovice, the 20th Conference of the IWGP is set to take place from July 21st-25th 2025 at the University of Groningen. The event is organised through a collaborative effort between the Groningen Institute of Archaeology, the Centre for Landscape Studies (University of Groningen) and the Cultural Heritage Agency (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science).
Further information on the conference programme, the scientific sessions, and more can be found here.
At the annual Summer Symposium hosted by the Frobenius Institute, Frankfurt, budding young researchers are given the opportunity to showcase their projects via presentations and posters, followed by hearty discussions.
In 2025, the Summer Symposium took place at the 5th and 6th of June, and featured an extrodinary presentation: the first viewing of a documentary created by researchers of the Cereal Cultures project in a collaborative effort between production company Altair Films, Frobenius Institute and the University of Groningen.
View the full programme of the 2025 Summer Symposium below:
14-16 May 2025 / University College London & Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
This interdisciplinary workshop brought together scholars from archaeobotany, anthropology, ethnobotany, and archaeogenomics to examine the social, ecological, and historical dimensions of cereal crops—particularly millets, rice, wheat, and barley—across cultural landscapes in Asia and Africa. Convened to foster critical dialogue on cereal assemblages across time, the event opened with introductory presentations by researchers from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands) and the Frobenius Institute (Germany), who shared findings from long-term ethnographic and archaeobotanical fieldwork in Odisha, India. Their contributions offered grounded case studies that situated staple cereals within local ritual, economic, and gendered practices, highlighting the socio-cultural frameworks through which cultivation and crop selection are shaped.
The first two days included presentations by archaeobotanists from UCL and scholars from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, tracing the historical trajectories of cereal cultivation across Asia and Africa. Sessions focused on the development of cereal agriculture from the Iron Age to early historic periods in India, highlighting crop movements and culinary transitions across eastern and western regions. Comparative research from West and Northeast Africa illustrated transformations in cropping patterns and emphasized the roles of memory and heritage in maintaining cereal biodiversity.
On the final day at Kew, presentations demonstrated how herbarium specimens are valuable for tracing the evolution, environmental adaptation, and genetic diversity of rice. They also emphasized the essential role of linking archival, ethnographic, and laboratory research to conserve landraces and indigenous agricultural knowledge within an interdisciplinary framework.
The workshop concluded with a call to revisit herbarium and ethnographic collections—particularly the visual archives at the Frobenius Institute—as vital resources. Participants advocated for a multispecies perspective on cereal research that foregrounds so-called minor crops and their entanglements with soils, microbes, farm animals, termites, water bodies, and other life forms constituting broader agro-ecological systems. Emphasis was placed on participatory knowledge production, underscoring the importance of inclusive, accessible scholarship that bridges scientific inquiry with lived cultivation and consumption practices—through digital platforms and collaborations with governmental and civil society organisations working closely with cultivating communities.
From 16th to 22nd of June 2025, scholars, PhD students, master’s and bachelor’s students from India, Germany and the Netherlands gathered at the stunning mountain retreat of Goethe University’s ‘Guest House Bergkranz’ in Kleinwalstertal, Austria. This summer school, jointly organised by the Goethe University Frankfurt/Frobenius Institute (Germany), the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (India) and the University of Groningen (The Netherlands), consisted of interactive lectures on conversion, agriculture, education and extractivism in contemporary India. Although these subjects seem to be quite diverse, during the week it became clear that there is a common ground: the phenomenon of cultural change and the complexities and predicaments of contemporary lifeworlds of the Indigenous population (Adivasi) of Odisha, India.
The week opened with an introduction by the organisers, Prof Dr Roland Hardenberg (Goethe University Frankfurt) and Dr Peter Berger (University of Groningen), emphasizing the main goals of this summer school: to understand the entanglements between “Gods” (conversion), “Fields” (agriculture), “Minds” (education) and “Mines” (extractivism), build an academic network and discuss future research and study possibilities. The first two days were mainly dedicated to Indigenous agriculture when PhD students Ashutosh Kumar, Nidhi Trivedi, Suneet Kumar and Indhubala Kesevan presented their research on cereal cultures in Odisha, India, including the screening of the new documentary film “Crops of Life” (director Kunal Vohra/Altair Films), which is based on their research.
On Wednesday, the participants took a short break from lectures to enjoy a hiking excursion in the nearby Gemsteltal valley led by Dr Stefan Jocham and Anna Frehse, two regional experts working for the Kleinwalsertal tourism agency. During the excursion, the participants gained important insights into the history of the valley, the ecological challenges it faces and how the local communities are trying to achieve harmonious coexistence between people, animals and plants in this beautiful but fragile environment. On Thursday, the programme continued with lectures and discussions on mass education in Odisha — a relevant topic for understanding the activities of national and international mining companies. Dr James Narendra Bondla (Frobenius Institute) introduced the topic of the so-called factory schools in his lecture ‘Resource extraction and schooling in India’. Malvika Gupta, DPhil (University of Oxford, UK), then reported on her research on Indigenous movements in India and Ecuador in her presentation ‘State policies, extractive industries and Indigenous education: new mode of assimilation?’. Finally, the Indian activist Sharanya Nayak shared her experiences and her film ‘The Laboratory Project’ about local education in the tribal areas of Odisha.
Friday was reserved for seminars and discussions on the topic of cultural change. It began with Dr Peter Berger, who provided the theoretical framework from Marshall Sahlins’ work on ‘Theory of the Event’. This framework provided orientation for the participants in the subsequent discussions and in understanding and analysing cultural change. Dr Baktygul Shabdan (Goethe University Frankfurt) contributed to this theme with her presentation on cultural and religious change in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, followed by Aswino Gomango (Assistant Professor at Maa Manikeshwari University, Odisha), who reported on his research concerning the ‘Christian conversion and changing identity of the Saora Adivasi in the Highlands of South Odisha, India’.
Saturday morning was reserved for individual activities, such as climbing to the top of a nearby mountain, visiting a waterfall, short hikes or some souvenir shopping in the village. In the afternoon, the programme continued with brainstorming sessions and discussions on future research, advocacy and activism in cultural anthropology, as well as career and study prospects and publication strategies.
Between seminars, spread throughout the week, participating students prepared presentations on their own topics of interest and preliminary empirical research, which made the programme even more interesting and diverse. After an intensive, educational and entertaining week of seminars, discussions, sharing meals, drinks and after-dinner walks, the group enjoyed a breakfast together on Sunday morning before all setting off to travel back to their own ever-changing cultural worlds.
Sandra van Meel, Roland Hardenberg and Peter Berger
Several members of the Cereal Cultures research team have co-authored a series of blog posts on “Millets: Ancient Grains, Global Policies, Local Lifeworlds”. These posts have been published in the blog The Religion Factor, hosted by the Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society of the University of Groningen.
The Frobenius Institute for Research in Cultural Anthropology, in collaboration with University of Groningen, has organized an interdisciplinary workshop from 22 May to 25 May 2024 on the theme of “Cereal Cultures in South and Central Asia” at the Taunus Tagungshotel both online and in presence.
The workshop was attended by Prof. Dr. Roland Hardenberg (Frobenius Institute), Dr. Peter Berger (University of Groningen), Prof. Dr. René Cappers (University of Groningen) and Dr. Sonja Filatova (University of Groningen). The workshop was also attended by doctoral researchers from collaborative projects on Cereal Cultures ( SFB-1070, DFG, NWO) Indhubala Kesavan, Suneet Kumar, Shilanjani Bhattacharyya, Bijayini Mohanty, Ashutosh Kumar and Nidhi Trivedi.
The workshop focused on the results and findings of the ongoing PhD studies dealing with the current state of Cereals in South and Central Asia from anthropological as well as archaeobotanical perspectives. Several aspects of cereals in relation to local people who cultivate it and the implication of state led agro-economic policies on the cereals were enumerated and discussed. Some of the questions that were foregrounded in the workshop were:
What does a staple crop like rice or millet mean to the local people? How does a staple crop like rice enable the communication of respect and in succession sustain social relationship between humans, and between human and gods? How do current agro-economic policies and (money) market economy implicate the values and choices of the local people with respect to cereal cultivation? How does archaeo-botanical perspective shed light on new dimensions of the cereals?
In addition, the discussions also brought focus on archaeobotanical sample collection and analysis, data management, the progress of ongoing documentary film on Cereal Cultures, planning of future publications, and conferences.
Cereal Cultures 