Name and surname: Jelena Seferović

Date of birth: June 12, 1982, Dubrovnik, Croatia

E-mail: jelena.seferovic@inantro.hr / jelena.seferovic@inz.si

  • Academic and scientific degrees:

2017 Ph.D. in Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia

2007 M.A. in Fine Arts, Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb, Croatia

2000 Painter-Designer, Luka Sorkočević School of Art, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

  • Work experience:

2024 –          Research Associate. Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2021 –          Research Associate. Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia

2018 – 2020 Researcher. ERC Advance Grant project EIRENE – Post-War Transitions in gendered Perspective: The Case of the North-Eastern Adriatic Region. Project funded by the European Research Council under the Horizon 2020 program. Project leader: Prof. Dr. Marta Verginella, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

2011 – 2017 Sales Representative. S-ECO Ltd. for trade and production of wooden products, Dubrovnik, Croatia

2008 – 2011 – Educator. Centre for Education and Rehabilitation Gornje Prekrižje (now Centre for Education and Rehabilitation Tuškanac – Prekrižje Branch), Zagreb, Croatia.

  • Scientific research projects:

2026– Project Leader, Socially Marginalized Bodies in Transition: Dying and Death Across Yugoslav Spaces, 19th to the 21st Century.
The project is funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency.

2025– Project Team Member, Medical Crises in Croatia in the First Half of the 20th Century. The project is funded by the Croatian Science Foundation.

2024 –        Member of the project team. Multilevel sustainability as a precondition for health and well-being (SUSTAINWELL). Project leader: Dr. Morana Jarec, Institute for Anthropological Reserach, Zagreb

2023–2025 Project Team Member, bilateral project The Impact of Global Uncertainties on the Strengthening of the Food Sovereignty Movement in Croatia and Slovenia (SLOHRanA). The project was funded by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia.

2023 –        Project leader. Care and Education Systems for Children with Sensory Disabilities in the First and Second Yugoslav State. Project funded by the Public Agency for Research Activities of the Republic of Slovenia.

2023 –        Secondary proposer, MC and member of the Healthcare Patients working group. COST Action National, International and Transnational Histories of Healthcare, 1850-2000. Project leader: Prof. Barry Doyle, University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom

2023 –        Member of the project team. Bilateral project The Impact of Global Insecurities on Strengthening Movements for Food Sovereignty in Croatia and Slovenia. Project funded by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia. Project leader: Dr. Olga Orlić, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia and Prof. Peter Simonič, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

2022 –         Assistant with a PhD. Sin, Shame, Symptom: Suicide and its Perceptions in Slovenia (1850-2000). Project funded by the Public Agency for Research Activities of the Republic of Slovenia. Project leader Dr. Meta Remec, Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2022 – 2024. MC and member of the Accessing Citizenship working group. COST Action History of Identity Documentation in European Nations: Citizenship, Nationality and Migration. PI: Dr. Jennifer Redmond, Maynooth University, Ireland

2021 – 2023. Member of the Marginalised People and the Mixed Economy of Welfare working group. COST Action Who cares in Europe? Project leader:Prof. Clarisse Berthenze, Paris Cite University, France

2020 – 2022. Member of the project team. Solidarity economy in Croatia: an anthropological perspective. Project funded by the Croatian Science Foundation. Project leader: Dr. Olga Orlić, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia

2018 – 2020. Member of the project team. Cultural history of psychiatry in Southeastern Europe. Project funded by the Bavarian Academic Center for Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe and the Bavarian Research Association. Project leader: Dr. Heike Karge, Institute of History, University of Regensburg, Germany.

Organizational skills and competencies:

2026 –  Member of the Organizing Committee, final workshop of the project Systems of Care and Education of Children with Sensory Disabilities in the First and Second Yugoslav State: History and the Present of Persons with Sensory Disabilities in the Territory of the Former Yugoslav States.
Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

2025 – Member of the Organizing Committee, international scientific conference Education and Employment of Individuals with Sensory Disabilities in the First and Second Yugoslav States (1919–1991).
Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

2025 – Member of the Organizing Committee, Fifteenth International Auksology Congress.
Šibenik, Croatia.

2024 – Chairperson of the Gender Equality Commission, Institute for Anthropological Reseach, Zagreb

2014 – 2017 Project leader. Improving the quality of dental care at the Lobor – Grad Home for Mentally Ill Adults. The project was carried out with the support of the Ombudsman for Persons with Disabilities Office, Zagreb, Croatia

2015 Member of the Organizing Committee. Third scientific conference of postgraduate doctoral students in social and humanistic sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb

2020 Member of the Organizing Committee. Fifteenth International Auksology Congress, Šibenik

2020 Participation in the development of a survey questionnaire for the Slovenian-Croatian project “Developmental Programming of Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes” application to the Croatian Science Foundation (IPS-2020-01). Institute of Anthropology, Zagreb, Croatia

2020 Participation in the preparation of courses for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anthropology and Human Genetics at the University of Pula. Courses: Fundamentals of Sociocultural Anthropology, Field Research in Anthropology, and Sociocultural Anthropology in Health and Illness Research. Institute of Anthropology, Zagreb, Croatia

Research visits

2023 Research stay at the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

2023 Research stay at Panteion University – Department of Social Anthropology, Athens, Greece

2023 Research stay at the Institute of History, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

2022 Research stay at the Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana, Slovenia

  • Research interests: women’s history, history of medicine and healthcare, history of psychiatry and social welfare systems, history of daily life of individuals with mental disorders, history of disability, anthropology of sexuality, anthropology of dying and death.
  • Teaching experience:

2007 – 2010 External collaborator. Conducting art workshops within the course of Creative art therapy, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation, Department of Motor Disorders, Chronic Diseases and Art Therapy, University of Zagreb, Croatia

  • Languages:

English: active proficiency in spoken and written communication
French: active proficiency in spoken communication

  • Published publications:
  1. SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena. “Children With Intellectual Disabilities in Croatia: From Psychiatry to Specialized Institutions (1897–1970s).” Acta Histriae, 34 (2026), 1, str. 95–116.
  2. SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena. „Prilog povijesti gluhih i nagluhih osoba u Bosni i Hercegovini tijekom 1950-ih.“ U: DOBAJA, Dunja (ur.). Izobraževanje in zaposlovanje oseb s senzornimi ovirami v prvi in drugi jugoslovanski državi (1919–1991). Ljubljana: Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino, 2026, str. 61–75.
  3. SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena; BULJEVAC, Marko. „Prva četiri desetljeća obrazovanja i skrbi za slijepe osobe u Hrvatskoj: Zavod za slijepu djecu u Zagrebu (1895.–1936.).“ U: Sistem skrbi in izobraževanja senzorno oviranih otrok od leta 1895 do šestdesetih let 20. stoletja: Ljubljana in Zagreb = Sustav skrbi i obrazovanja za gluhu i slijepu djecu od 1895. godine do šezdesetih godina 20. stoljeća. Ljubljana: Založba INZ, 2026. E-ISSN 3024-0867; ISSN 2350-5656.
  4. SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena. “How long should the Christmas tree be decorated? Autoethnographic study on growing up in mixed marriage along Croatia–Montenegro border.” U: Minorities, Identity and Intermarriage. Routledge, 2026, str. 280–293. DOI: 10.4324/9781003563228-20.
  5. LJUBOJEVIĆ, Ana; SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena. “Working Through Post (War) Trauma: The Perspective of Widows of Croatian Homeland War Veterans.” U: Women, Violence and Trauma in Wartime and Postwar Northeastern Adriatic. Central European University Press, 2026, str. 287–307.
  6. SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena. “Echoes of childhood: growing up between worlds of quiet and sound.” Antropologija: časopis Centra za etnološka i antropološka istraživanja (CEAI) Filozofskog fakulteta Univerziteta u Beogradu, 25 (2025), 1, str. 59–73. ISSN 1452-7243. DOI: 10.21301/ant2513.
  7. DOMITROVIĆ, Ivan; ABOU ALDAN, Damjan; SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena. “Nursing rituals for dying and deceased patients in hospitals of the Republic of Croatia: a qualitative study.” Croatian Nursing Journal, 9 (2025), 2, str. 197–207. ISSN 2584-6531. DOI: 10.24141/2/9/2/5.
  8. SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena; DUJMOVIĆ, Sonja. “Challenges and achievements in the care and education of children with sensory disabilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (from the late 19th Century to 1941).” Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino, 65 (2025), 1, str. 68–86. ISSN 0353-0329. DOI: 10.51663/pnz.65.1.04.
  9. BATINIĆ, Štefka; SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena; et al.; SOLTER, Ana (ur.). Historija zaborava: prve žene zagrebačkih muzeja. Zagreb: Arheološki muzej u Zagrebu; Hrvatski školski muzej; Etnografski muzej; Muzej za umjetnost i obrt, 2025. 175 str. ISBN 978-953-8143-75-5.
  10. SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena. “Voluntary aid to people with mental disorders in Croatia in the 1930s.” U: MIONI, Michele; PETRUNGARO, Stefano (ur.). Caring for the socially marginalised in interwar Europe, 1919–1939: the mixed economy of welfare. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024, str. 119– New Directions in Welfare History. ISBN 978-3-031-53344-0; ISBN 978-3-031-53345-7. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-53345-7_6.
  11. SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena. “Lujo Thaller o seksualnom zdravlju.” Godišnjak Njemačke zajednice, 31 (2024), str. 89–106. ISSN 1849-8159.
  12. SEFEROVIĆ, Jelena. “Perspectives on suicide: Bosnian and Herzegovinian and Croatian views from the 1880s to the 1930s.” Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino, 64 (2024), 2, str. 77–96. ISSN 0353-0329. DOI: 10.51663/pnz.64.2.04.
  13. Seferović, Jelena (2023): “Prilog istraživanju povijesti svakodnevice u Dječjem domu u Nazorovoj 49: review of the 1940s and 1950s”. Zbornik “Bioetička motrišta o mentalnom zdravlju”. Janeš, Luka i Kožić, Štefanija (ur.). Centar za bioetiku Fakulteta filozofije i religijskih znanosti Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, pp. 57-73
  14. Seferović, Jelena (2022): “Subjektivni doživljaj arhivskog istraživanja ratne siročadi iz Drugog svjetskog rata”, JAHR – European Journal of Bioethics. Katedra za društvene i humanističke znanosti u medicini Medicinskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Rijeci i Dokumentacijsko istraživački centar za europsku bioetiku “Fritz Jahr” Sveučilišta u Rijeci, 13(2), pp. 311-325
  15. Seferović, Jelena (2021): “Teaching the history of psychosocial consequences of sexual violence in the context of female psychiatric patients”. Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, Taylor & Francis Group, 43(2), pp. 119-141
  16. Seferović, Jelena (2021): “Analiza prezentacije i interpretacije prostitucije i prostituiranih žena u časopisu Ženski pokret”. Zbornik radova s konferencije “Časopis Ženski pokret”, p. 217-231
  17. Musić Milanović, Sanja; Lang Marović, Maja; Križan, Helena; Pezer, Martina; Seferović, Jelena; Missoni, Saša (2020): “Exploring the effect of socioeconomic development on child growth in posttransitional Croatia: a cross-sectional study”. International journal of public health, Springer, 65(4), pp. 1299-1307
  18. Seferović, Jelena (2020): “Reflection of the (In)power of Men in the Context of Post-War Everyday Life of Croatian War Veterans with Mental Disorders from World War I”. Synthesis philosophica, Hrvatsko filozofsko društvo, 35(1), pp. 25-44
  19. Seferović, Jelena (2019): “Prilog istraživanju kulture djevojaštva nakon Prvog svjetskog rata: primjer djevojaka sa psihičkim smetnjama iz ruralnih krajeva kontinentalne Hrvatske”. Prilozi, Institut za historiju u Sarajevu, 48, p.p. 177-210
  20. Seferović, Jelena (2019): “Povijesni razvoj institucionalizacije ranjivih skupina: primjer “Prihvatilišta odraslih Narodnog odbora grada Zagreba”. Filozofska istraživanja, Hrvatsko filozofsko društvo, 39(1), p.p. 159-170
  • Forthcoming peer-reviewed publication:
  1. Seferović, Jelena (2023): “Voluntary Aid to People with Mental Disorders in Croatia in the 1930s”. In: Caring for the Socially Marginalised in Interwar Europe, 1919-1939. The Mixed Economy of Welfare. Michele Mioni, Stefano Petrungaro (eds.). Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Forthcoming peer-revi
  1. Seferović, Jelena (2023): “Demystification of Women’s Humanitarian Work in Dalmatia in the Aftermath of the First World War”, Journal of Women’s History
  • Additonal education:

2012 – 2014  Clinical expressive arts therapy, Dugan LLC., Varaždin, Croatia