Lars Hedegaard Williams is an anthropologist and CPAID Visiting Fellow at the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa (FLCA) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). His primary research interests centre on medical anthropology, cultural psychiatry and the anthropology of religion. In particular, his research explores how cultural notions and practices shape experiences, symptoms and the course of treatment of mental illness. Additionally, his research examines the intersection between religious practices and psychiatric and psychological treatments for mental illness; he has explored both Evangelical Christian and Muslim religious practices in northern Uganda. 

Lars has a BA in Psychology, a Degree in Journalism, and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Anthropology, all from Aarhus University in Denmark. Before becoming a Visiting Fellow at LSE, he was a visiting graduate student at Harvard University in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. Lars has taught a variety of courses, including on cross-cultural psychiatry, East African regional studies, methodology and philosophy of science, for BA and MA students at Aarhus University and Gulu University in Uganda .

Besides anthropological research, Lars works in journalism and is currently a staff writer for Danish news media outlet Kristeligt Dagblad where he writes on subjects of culture, religion, psychiatry and psychology as well as regional issues in East Africa.