Andrea Judith Boscoboinik Bourquard
Docteur en Anthropologie sociale
andrea.boscoboinik@unifr.ch
+41 26 300 7845
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6513-972X
Mobilités, imaginaires, espace rural, montagnes, urbanisation
Maître·sse d'enseignement et de recherche
Département des sciences sociales
Bd de Pérolles 90
1700 Fribourg
Chargé·e de cours
Département de géosciences
Bd de Pérolles 90
1700 Fribourg
Biographie
I am a social anthropologist at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). I began my academic studies in anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires before continuing at the University of Fribourg, where I first studied and later joined as a research collaborator. My academic trajectory has been shaped by ethnographic fieldwork across diverse geographical contexts, including Eastern Europe, Central America, and Switzerland.
In 1995, my first research focused on social transformations in Bulgaria during the post-socialist transition. I subsequently conducted doctoral research in Honduras on social discourses and their consequences in the aftermath of a major disaster, with a particular focus on processes of vulnerability, meaning-making, and social reconstruction. As a PostDoc, I have developed an expertise in the study of ethnic minorities, particularly through research on Roma communities in Eastern Europe. My work in this field has examined identity strategies, mobility, and political participation.
Since 2009, my research has increasingly focused on transformations of rural spaces, particularly in relation to tourism development. This work has led me to study new forms of mobility and multi-local residence in mountain regions, with a specific focus on the Swiss Alps. My most recent SNSF-funded project (2017–2021), 'Becoming Local in Mountain Areas: Diversification, Gentrification, Cohabitation. A Comparison between the Swiss Alps and the Spanish Pyrenees', was conducted in collaboration with Prof. Viviane Cretton (HES-SO Valais-Wallis), Dr. Andrea Friedli (University of Fribourg), Prof. Montserrat Soronellas (Universitat Rovira i Virgili), and Dr. Maria Offenhenden (Universitat Rovira i Virgili).
I have presented my research at numerous international conferences, including meetings of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA), the Société Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore (SIEF), and the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES), as well as in invited lectures at universities including Lyon II, Rovira i Virgili, Messina, Timisoara, Trondheim, and Kaunas. I have authored and co-edited numerous publications on migration, mobility, rural transformations, mountains, social change, and minority studies. Most of them are freely available in Academia and Researchgate, and also some are directly Open Access.
In addition to my regular teachings at the University of Fribourg, I regularly organise international summer schools for students in anthropology, focusing on ethnographic methods and urban transformations. These summer schools bring together students and researchers from Romania, Norway, Italy and other countries, and contribute to training the next generation of anthropologists through intensive field-based and interdisciplinary learning.
Recherche et publications
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Liste de publications
38 publications
Mountainscapes: Pathways and Mobilities in the Alps and Beyond
(Berghahn, 2025), ISBN: 9781836951452 | Livre -
Projets de recherche
Becoming local in mountain areas : diversification, gentrification, cohabitation. A comparison between Swiss Alps and Spanish Pyrenees
Statut: Terminé