Overview

🗣️Language: English

From ceremonial chants of Tibetan monks echoing across the Himalayan mountains to the rhythmic marching of uniformed militaries, hypnotic raves at Berlin's techno clubs, and the drilled morning exercises of the Japanese workforce, we keep coming up with ways to engage in rhythmic movement together.

Rhythmic collective rituals are carnivalesque sites of connection. They've been part of the human experience since the earliest tribes and have been found by anthropologists in every society they've studied. This talk explores their purpose as a powerful social glue — and how they allow the individual to lose themselves in the collective.

What we'll cover

• Evolutionary history of rhythm and ritual — how humans have engaged in collective movement since the earliest societies, and why
• The role of ritual in human connection — how rhythmic collective practices act as a powerful social glue
• How we study rituals inside and outside the lab — from virtual reality experiments to heart rate monitors at Berlin clubs
• How rituals impact identity, connection, and perception — what synchronous movement does to your sense of self and your relationship to others
• The need for collective rituals today — why these ancient practices matter more than ever in modern society

Speaker

Manisha Biswas

Postdoctoral Researcher in Social Neuroscience — Berlin School of Mind and Brain / Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Manisha Biswas is a postdoctoral researcher at the Social Intelligence Lab at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain. Her PhD research in experimental psychology and neuroscience used virtual reality and motion capture to study how collective rituals shape conformity, synchrony, and group identity. She was awarded the 2025 Dance Your PhD prize by Science Magazine and the AAAS, and her work has been covered by Tagesspiegel, Wired Italia, Ars Technica, and CBC Radio. She is a regular public speaker at Berlin Science Week and Science of Rave.