Sonja Helena Graf (B815-FB72-0E31)

Curriculum Vitae

Sonja Graf is a social scientist with a background in anthropology and philosophy. She has lived in the United States, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Ireland, Greece, Spain and Portugal. Her research looks at intercultural social integration in urban contexts, focusing on social dances in their power to connect people from different backgrounds. She researches the many layers of social integration down to the neurochemical level, focusing on touch, synchrony and oxytocin.

Identification

Personal identification

Full name: Sonja Helena Graf

Citation names

Graf, Sonja

Author identifiers

Ciência ID: B815-FB72-0E31

Websites

https://dpratalab.wordpress.com/team/ (Scholar)

Knowledge fields

Social Sciences - Psychology
Social Sciences - Other Social Sciences - Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
Social Sciences - Sociology - Anthropology

Languages

Language	Speaking	Reading	Writing	Listening
English (Mother tongue)
German	Advanced (C1)	Upper intermediate (B2)	Intermediate (B1)	Proficiency (C2)
Portuguese	Upper intermediate (B2)	Advanced (C1)	Intermediate (B1)	Proficiency (C2)
Spanish; Castilian	Elementary (A2)	Elementary (A2)	Elementary (A2)	Upper intermediate (B2)

Education

	Degree	Classification
2021/10/19 - 2025/10/20 Ongoing	Psychology (Doutoramento) ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social, Portugal
2018/09/01 - 2020/01/22 Concluded	Master's in Ethnochoreology (Master) University of Limerick Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Ireland University of Limerick, Ireland "Embracing Community and Connection: An Ethnographic Account of Forró in Brussels " (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	First Class Honors
2014/09/01 - 2018/02/28 Concluded	Liberal Arts and Sciences (Bachelor) Major in Philosophy, Culture, Literature Amsterdam University College, Netherlands Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands Universiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands "The Utopia of Being: The Relevance of Huxley's Island Here and Now" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	Graduated with Distinction

Affiliation

Others

	Category Host institution	Employer
2021/10/22 - 2025/12/22	PhD student	Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica, Portugal
	Fundação da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
2021/10/01 - 2025/10/01	PhD student	ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social, Portugal

Projects

Grant

	Designation	Funders
2021/10/01 - 2025/10/01	Intergroup Bonding, Identification and Prosociality in Social Dance: An Interdisciplinary Study of Interpersonal and Neurochemical Processes n/a PhD Student Fellow ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social, Portugal	ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa Escola de Ciências Sociais e Humanas Ongoing

Outputs

Publications

Conference paper	Graf, Sonja; JERÓNIMO, Rita; Prata, Diana. "Dancing our way to a more Empathetic world: an Interdisciplinary Approach to the Power of Interpersonal Motor Coordination". Paper presented in Empathy Colloquium in Art-Science-Philosophy, Lisbon, 2022. Graf, Sonja. "Please Hug Each Other: Transmitting Values of Community and Connection through Touch in Forro´ Dance". Paper presented in International Council for Traditional Music, Ethnochoreology Symposium, Klaipeda, 2021. In press Graf, Sonja. "Illegal hugs: an (auto)ethnographic account of the lives of social dancers during COVID-19 social distancing". Paper presented in International Council for Traditional Music, 2020. Submitted
Conference poster	Graf, Sonja; JERÓNIMO, Rita; Prata, Diana. "In-group expansion: Prosocial effects of intergroup dancing and the mediating role of oxytocin". Paper presented in 3rd Symposium of ICTMD-SoMoS (Study Group on Sound, Movement, and the Sciences), 2022.
Working paper	Graf, Sonja; JERÓNIMO, Rita; Prata, Diana. 2022. "Social Bonding, Identification and Prosociality in Social Dance: An Interdisciplinary Study of Interpersonal and Neurochemical Processes".

Activities

Association member

	Society Organization name	Role
2020/11/11 - Current	The Social Dance Research Alliance	Founder
2019/02/01 - Current	International Council For Traditional Music	member
2016/08/01 - 2016/08/31	Care4Calais	Aid worker at (The Jungle refugee camp) Calais, France

Consulting

	Activity description	Institution / Organization
2017/12/01 - 2017/12/31	Carrying out needs-based interviews with Syrian refugees and participating in a dance a music project in Thessaloniki	the InterEuropean Human Aid Association, Greece

Interview (tv / radio show)

	Program	Topic
2021/03/22 - 2021/03/22	Interviewed for Fearless Females Voice podcast	Crossing barriers as a woman in academia
2019/04/05 - 2019/04/05	interviewed for ULtalks lecture video on Ethnochoreology	Studying Humanity through the Lens of Dance

Mentoring / Tutoring

	Topic	Student name
2017/09/01 - Current	English Teacher	Private students
2018/02 - 2018/04	Dance and music instructor for school children at Mudita Foundation, Myanmar	Novices at a monastic school

Distinctions

Award

2020	Graduated with First-Class Honours University of Limerick, Ireland

Other distinction

2017	Graduated with Distinction Universiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands