Ivan Souček is a Lecturer in Anthropology at the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Matej Bel University. His research interests lie in Medical Anthropology and the Anthropology of Religion, with a particular focus on cultural traditions in India and their perception in Europe. He has published extensively on topics such as religious healing, alternative medicine, rituals, health, and medicine.

Books

• Souček, I., & Hofreiter, R. (2022). Understanding Unconventional Medicine: Social Sciences on Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Therapies in Slovakia. Masaryk University Press. https://doi.org/10.5817/CZ.MUNI.M210-8643-2022

• Souček, I. (2017). Indické cesty do duchovného sveta. CAD Press.

• Souček, I. (2015). Komplementárna a alternatívna medicína v teórii a praxi. IRIS.

Selected Recent Articles (Peer-Reviewed)

Hofreiter, R., Souček, I. (2025). Influence of the Global Health Crisis on Health Behaviour and Adoption of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Sociológia 57(2), 103-123.

https://doi.org/10.31577/sociologia.2025.57.2.4

Souček, I., Hofreiter, R., & Koza Beňová, K. (2025). Understanding vaccine scepticism among complementary and alternative medicine users: A comprehensive mixed-methods investigation. Social Science & Medicine, 367, 117808. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117808

Souček, I. (2023). We are (not) different from the others: Religious responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia and India. Journal of Religion and Health.  62, 1449–1466.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-023-01777-9

Souček, I. (2022). Medical pluralism in East and West Europe: A comparison of people visiting healthcare practitioners specializing in complementary and alternative medicine. Complementary Medicine Research, 29(4), 297-308. 

https://doi.org/10.1159/000524330

Souček, I. (2022). Initiation and asceticism in India: Insight into the viewpoint of renouncers. Journal of Anthropological Research, 78(3), 338-358. 

https://doi.org/10.1086/720696

Souček, I. (2022). Complementary and alternative medicine use in Slovakia: Results of a national population survey. SAGE Open, 12(1). 

https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211068480

Souček, I. (2022). The wedding with a stolen goddess: The ethnography of a cult in rural Tamil Nadu. Journal of Religion and Health, 61(3), 2500-2513. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01010-x

Souček, I. (2021). Imagining ‘the Orient' on ‘the other' side of Europe: Perceptions of India in the Slovak tourism sector. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 18(5), 591-605. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/14766825.2019.1668399

Souček, I. (2020). Medical pluralism in Central European countries: From medical monopoly to free medical competition? Český lid, 107(1), 51-70. 

https://doi.org/10.21104/CL.2020.1.03

Souček, I. (2017). Complementary and alternative medicine in Slovakia from the social science perspective. Sociológia, 49(4), 427-450.

https://www.sav.sk/?lang=en&doc=journal-list&part=article_response_page&journal_article_no=13948

Souček, I. (2017). Obraz indickej medicíny: Od koloniálnej minulosti po súčasnosť. Cargo Journal, 15(1-2).

http://cargojournal.org/index.php/cargo/article/view/80

Selected Projects

2023-2025. Identity Dynamics in the Danube Region (based on the example of Vidin, Lom and Kozloduy) - APVV - Slovak Research and Development Agency DS-FR-22-0018 (Chief researcher)

2022–2024. Cultural and value context of contemporary use of complementary and alternative medicine. VEGA – National Research Agency (1/0381/22).

2021–2024. Alliance for Research on Cultural Heritage in Europe. Horizon-CSA.

2019–2021. Analysis of selected social contexts of using alternative forms of health care in Slovakia. VEGA – National Research Agency (1/0356/17). (Chief researcher)

2017–2020. Ruins Project. Interreg Central Europe.

2014–2016. Ritual Tradition and Dynamics in India – Diksha Initiation. VEGA – National Research Agency (1/0064/14). (Chief researcher)