Aleksandra Bozena WENTA

Ruolo attuale:: Professore Associato
SSD:: ASIA-01/C - Indologia e tibetologia
Afferenza organizzativa:: Dipartimento di Formazione, Lingue, Intercultura, Letterature e Psicologia (FORLILPSI)

Recapiti

aleksandra.wenta(AT)unifi.it

Avvisi

Inizio corso: Lingua e Letteratura Sanscrita ( L-10, L-11)

Il corso di Lingua e Letteratura Sanscrita (Lettere Antiche/ Lingue, Letterature e Studi Interculturali) inizierà il 17 febbraio alle ore 13.00, via Laura 48, aula 201. Gli studenti interessati sono pregati a registrarsi al corso su moodle.

Inizio corso: Lingua e Letteratura Sanscrita e Tibetana 1/2 (Laurea Magistrale)

Il corso di Lingua e Letteratura Sanscrita e Tibetana 1/2 inizierà il 17 febbraio alle ore 11.00, via G. Capponi 9, aula 10. Gli studenti interessati sono pregati a registrarsi al corso su moodle.

Inizio corso: Elementi di Indologia e Tibetologia per Intercultura

Il corso di Elementi di Indologia e Tibetologia per Intercultura inizierà dal secondo sottosemestre (dal 22 aprile 2026) in via San Gallo 10, aula 201. Gli studenti interessati sono pregati a registrarsi al corso su moodle.

Aleksandra Bozena WENTA

Curriculum

Posizione Atuale

Dal Settembre 2023 al presente

Professore Associato, Indologia e Tibetologia presso il Dipartimento FORLILPSI, Universita di Firenze

Posizioni Precedenti

Dal settembre 2020 al agosto 2023

Ricercatore di Tipo B Indologia e Tibetologia presso il Dipartimento FORLILPSI, Universita di Firenze

Dal Agosto 2016 al Agosto 2020

Assistant Professor presso il Department of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy, and Comparative Religions, Nālandā University, India.

Dal Marzo 2012 al Marzo 2014

Borsista postdottorato, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (India).

Titoli di Studio

Dottorato di ricerca in Studi Orientali (Indologia e Tibetologia), Universitá di Oxford.

Laurea Magistrale in Studi Tibetani e Himalayani, Universitá di Oxford.

Dottorato di ricerca in Studi Tantrici, Benares Hindu University (India).

Laurea Magistrale in Studi Religiosi (religioni indiane), Jagiellonica Universitá (Polonia).

Borse di ricerca e premi

2019. The Robert H.N. Ho Foundation Dissertation Fellowship.

2018. The Oriental Institute, Universitá di Oxford.

2017. Warren Fund, The Queen's College.

2016. FIND Fondazione di India-Europa per Nuovi Dialoghi, Zagarolo.

2015. Lorne Thyssen Borsa di studio nel mondo antico, Wolfson College, Universitá di Oxford.

2015. The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies.

2015. Harish Patel Borsa di Studio, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.

2015. Borsa di studio linguistico, The Oriental Institute, Universitá di Oxford.

2006. Muktabodha Borsa di studio per ricerca indologica.

Progetti Attuali:

Prin 2022: The Wheel of Time: An Inquiry into New Sources of Late Indian Buddhism

https://www.forlilpsi.unifi.it/vp-696-the-wheel-of-time.html

Relazioni a Congressi/Seminari su Invito

20/09/2025-Comunicazione: "Between Wrath and Remedy: Vajrabhairava-Yamāntaka Against the Nāga Afflictions", Seminario Internazionale Nāgas and Territorial Deity Cosmologies in Monsoon Asia, ERC Mantratantram/ERC Mantrams, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, 19-20 settembre 2025.

12/08/2025-Comunicazione: "Vajrabhairava-Yamāntaka as Transregional Tantric Buddhist Deity", Wrathful Deities: Transcultural Vectors of Tantric Buddhism panel, 20th seminar of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Leipzig University, Lipsia, 10-15 agosto 2025.

29/06/2025-Comunicazione: "The Vajrabhairava Literature in Sanskrit", Tantric studies panel, 19th World Sanskrit Conference, Kathmandu, Nepal, 26-30 giugno 2025.

30/05/2025-Comunicazione: "Mapping the Transmission of the Raktayamāri Tradition in Tibet", Seminario Internazionale Tantric Borderlands: Survivals, Innovations, (A)symmetries & Connections from the Himalayas to the Southern Seas, ERC Mantratantram, EPHE, Parigi, Francia.

16/07/2024-Comunicazione: "New Evidence of the giant Padang Roco Mahākāla", Seminario Internazionale From the Periphery to the Centre: Sanskritic and Pāli Buddhism Across the Maritime Asia, SOAS University of London, Siem Reap, Cambogia, 12-24 luglio 2024.

8/01/2024-Comunicazione: “The Yamarāja Mantra from India and Tibet to Java and Bali”, Seminario Internazionale At the ‘Margins' of the Indic World: Connections, Innovations, and Archaisms from Nepal to Bali (8-9 gennaio 2024), École Pratique des Hautes Études e Austrian Academy of Science, Parigi, Francia.

23/07/2023-Comunicazione: “The Buddhist-Śaiva Yamarāja Mantra from the Indo-Tibetan Sphere to Java and Bali”, Seminario Internazionale The Creative South: Buddhist and Hindu Art in Medieval Maritime Asia (20-27 luglio 2023), SOAS University of London e Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

14/06/2023-Comunicazione: “The Vajrabhairavatantra: Materia Magica and Circulation of Tantric Magical Recipes”, Seminario internazionle, Ritual and Materiality in Buddhism and Asian Religions, Princeton University, Stati Uniti.

24/05/2023-Tantra Workshop, Università di Roma ‘La Sapienza’.

14/04/2023- Comunicazione: “Demons, Wicked Ones, and Those who Violate the Samayas”, Italian Doctoral School of Religious Studies, DREST, Università di Napoli L’Orientale, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia.

9/01/2023 – Comunicazione: “Early Tantric Magic: Structure, Syntax, and Material Culture”, Tantric Studies panel, 18th World Sanskrit Conference (9–13 gennaio 2023), Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

21/11/2022 – Comunicazione: “Tantric Buddhists and Tantric Śaivas”, in Buddhist Critical-Constructive Reflection Unit: “Buddhism and Its Religious Others: Reflections on Historical Encounters and Representations”, Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Denver, Stati Uniti d’America (19–22 novembre 2022).

28/10/2022 – Comunicazione: “Between Magic Rituals and Liberation: The Case of the Vajrabhairavatantra”, nel Seminario internazionale “Tantric Text Practices as Intersection” (28–29 ottobre 2022), Università di Heidelberg, Germania.

07/07/2022 – Comunicazione: “Take a Black Mustard Seed and a Dust from the Target’s Footprint: Materia Magica in the Vajrabhairava (rdo rje ‘jigs byed) Corpus” nel Tibetan Magic panel, 16th Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies (3–9 luglio 2022), Charles University, Praga, Repubblica Ceca.

14/06/2022 – Comunicazione: “Early Tantric Magic: An Example of Śaiva(Hindu)- Buddhist Intertextuality in Premodern India”, nel seminario “Textual Cultures in Contact: Religion through Cultural Boundaries (Iran, India, China)”, Early Text Cultures, Università di Oxford, Regno Unito.

28/05/2022 – Comunicazione: “Tantric Ritual and Conflict Resolution in Tibetan Buddhist Society: The Cult of Yamāntaka”, nella Giornata di Studi: “Conflitto e Contrasto nelle lingue e nelle letterature” (27–28 maggio 2022), Università di Fi- renze.

25/09/2021 – Comunicazione: “Early Tantric Magic and Alain Danielou’s ‘Cattle of the Gods’”, nel seminario internazionale “Alain Danielou: Labirynthe Traces” (24– 25 settembre 2021), Fondazione Alain Daniélou: Fondazione India-Europa per Nuovi Dialoghi, Zagarolo, Italia.

08/10/2021 – Comunicazione: “Interactions Between Tantric Forms of Buddhism and Śaivism in the Development of the Cult of Vajrabhairava”, nel seminario inter- nazionale “Buddhism and Śaivism in premodern trans-Himalayan regions”, Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO), Parigi, Francia.

31/08/2021 – Comunicazione: “Skull-Magic, Exorcism of Demons, Jackal Howls and the Question of Non-Tantric Magical Substratum”, in Resilience of Tantric, Magic, and Shamanic Practices at the “Margins” of South and Southeast Asian Religions Panel, 18th Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religion (30 agosto–3 settembre 2021), Università di Pisa.

Prospettiva storica sulla cultura e la pratica del buddismo tantrico (Historical Perspectives on the Culture and Practice of Tantric Buddhism), Victoria and Albert Museum, Londra, Ottobre 2018.

17a conferenza mondiale in sanscrito, British Columbia Universitá, Vancouver, Lugio 2018.

Time, Region, and Female Agency in Hindu Texts and Practices, panel alla conferenza annuale dell'Asia meridionale, Wisconsin-Madison Universitá, Ottobre 2017.

Religion and the Margins, FIND, Fondazione di India-Europa per Nuovi Dialoghi, Zagarolo, Ottobre 2017.

XVIII Congresso dell'associazione internazionale di studi buddisti, Universitá di Toronto, Agosto 2017.

Conferenza su invito, The Oriental Institute, Universitá di Oxford, Giugno 2017.

Conferenza su invito, The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Giugno 2017.

Conferenza su invito, Manoscritti e Primi Testi Cultura Pranzo Colloquio, The Queen's College,Oxford, Maggio 2017.

Conferenza su buddismo e legittimazione, Universitá di Ludwing-Maximillian, Monaco, Marzo 2017.

Conferezna su invito, Seminario Śākta, The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Febbraio 2016.

16a conferenza mondiale in sanscrito, Bangkok, Lugio 2015.

Didattica

Introduzione al tibetano classico (Anno academico 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020).

Leggere testi buddisti tibetani (Anno academico 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020).

Introduzione agli studi religiosi (Anno academico 2016-2017).

Metodologica di ricerca per lo studio della religione (Anno academico 2016-2017, 2017-2018).

Introduzione alle religioni e filosofie dell'India (Anno academico 2016-2017).

Comprensione dei testi buddisti (Anno academico 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019).

Tantra indú e buddista (Anno academico 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019).

Letture supervisionate (Anno academico 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019).

Tesi di laurea (Anno academico 2017-2018, 2018-2019).

Supervisione di studenti laureati

Ho supervisionato piú di una dozzina di tesi di laurea in indologia e tibetologia.

Aleksandra Bozena WENTA

Pubblicazioni

Legenda

Contributo su rivista |

Articolo su libro |

Libro |

Contributo in atti di convegno (proceeding) |

Brevetto |

Curatela | Altro

Altro |

Tesi di Dottorato

Aleksandra Wenta (2025). The Vajrabhairava Tantra: A Study and Annotated Translation. New York: Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Wisdom Publications, ISBN:9781614298472 Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Wenta, Amanda Brown (2025). Special Issue of Religions: Materiality and Private Rituals in Tibetan and Himalayan Cultures. di Aleksandra Wenta, Amanda Brown, Religions, MDPI. Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Wenta, Andrea Acri (2025). Buddhist Dharma Protectors. In: Courtney Bruntz. Buddhism in Oxford Bibliographies, pp. 1-7 Oxford University Press. DOI Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Wenta (2024). Alcune riflessioni sulla percezione occidentale del Tibet. In: Tina Maraucci, Ilaria Natali, Letizia Vezzosi. Ognuno porta dentro di sé un mondo intero: Saggi in onore di Ayse Saraçqil, pp. 327-333, Firenze: Firenze University Press., vol. 75:

Aleksandra Wenta (2024). The Vajrabhairavatantra: Materia Magica and Circulation of Tantric Magical Recipes. In: Aleksandra Wenta; Cameron Bailey. Tibetan Magic: Past and Present, pp. 61-84, London: Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN:9781350354944.

Aleksandra Wenta; Cameron Bailey (2024). Tibetan Magic: Introduction. In: Aleksandra Wenta; Cameron Bailey. Tibetan Magic: Past and Present, pp. 1-11, London: Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN:9781350354944.

Aleksandra Wenta; Cameron Bailey (2024). Tibetan Magic: Past and Present. di Aleksandra Wenta; Cameron Bailey, London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 1-254, 978-1-3503-5494-4.

Aleksandra Wenta (2023). Tantric Heroism. In: Scott T. Allison, James K. Beggan, George R. Goethals. Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies, pp. 1-6 springer, ISBN:978-3-031-48128-4. Accesso ONLINE all'editore

wenta (2023). The Siddha with a Thousand Faces: Non-tantric and Tantric Elements in the Construction of the Buddhist Siddha in *Jñānākara's Commentary to the Introduction to the [Path of] Mantra. RELIGIONS, vol. Special Issue: Tantric Studies for the Twenty-First Century, 14(6) 792, pp. 1-21, ISSN:2077-1444

Aleksandra Wenta (2022). Tantric Ritual and Conflict in Tibetan Buddhist Society: The Cult of Yamāntaka. LEA, vol. 11, pp. 333-353, ISSN:1824-484X Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Wenta (2022). Compte-rendu du Cuevas, J. Bryan. The Rwa Pod and Other 'Lost' Works of Rwa Lo tsā ba's Vajrabhairava Tradition. REVUE D'ÉTUDES TIBÉTAINES, vol. 65, pp. 187-193, ISSN:1768-2959 Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Wenta (2022). Demons, Wicked Ones and Those Who Violate the Samayas: Dharma Against the Enemy in Tantric Buddhism. In: C.V. Jones. Buddhism and Its Religious Others: Historical Encounters and Representations, pp. 133-154 Oxford University Press, ISBN:9780197266991.

Aleksandra Wenta (2022). The Transmission Lineages of the Raktayamāri Tantric Cycles in the Sa skya Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism: The Gshin rje chos ’byung of A mes zhabs Ngag dbang kun dga’ bsod nams (1597-1659). REVUE D'ÉTUDES TIBÉTAINES, vol. 65, pp. 26-69, ISSN:1768-2959 Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Wenta; Andrea Acri (2022). Charnel Ground Items, Śmāśānikas, and the Question of the Magical Substratum of the Early Tantras. In: Andrea Acri, Paolo E. Rosati. Tantra, Magic, and Vernacular Religions in Monsoon Asia: Texts, Practices, and Practitioners from the Margins, pp. 40-59, London/New York/New Delhi: Routledge Studies in Tantric Traditions, Routledge, ISBN:9781032251370. Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Wenta; Andrea Acri (2022). A Buddhist Bhairava? Kṛtanagara's Tantric Buddhism in Transregional Perspective. ENTANGLED RELIGIONS, vol. 13 (7), pp. 1-46, ISSN:2363-6696 Accesso ONLINE all'editore

wenta (2021). Tāranātha on the Emergence of the Tantric Cycle of Vajrabhairava-Yamāntaka: Writing a Tibetan Buddhist Historiography in Seventeeth-Century Tibet. REVUE D'ÉTUDES TIBÉTAINES, vol. 61, pp. 5-52, ISSN:1768-2959

wenta (2021). From the Sequence of the Sun-Goddess (bhānavīkrama) to Time-Consumption (kālagrāsa): Some Notes on the Development of the Śākta Doctrine of the Twelve Kālīs. JOURNAL OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY, vol. 49, pp. 725-757, ISSN:0022-1791

Aleksandra Bozena Wenta (2019). Outer Places, Inner Spaces: Constructing the Gaze in Chola Chidambaram.. In: Shonaleeka Kaul. Eloquent Spaces: Meaning and Community in Early Indian Architecture., pp. 145-165, London/New York/New Delhi: Routledge, ISBN:9780367225964.

Aleksandra Bozena Wenta (2018). The Making of Tantric Orthodoxy in the Eleventh-Century Indo-Tibetan World: *Jñānākara's *Mantrāvatāra (Gsang sngags la 'jug pa). JOURNAL OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY, pp. 505-551, ISSN:0022-1791

Aleksandra Wenta (2018). Smell: The Sense-Perception of Recognition. In: Bettina Baumer, Hamsa Stainton. Tantrapuṣpāñjali: Tantric Traditions and Philosophy of Kashmir. Studies in Honour of Pandit H.N. Chakravarty., pp. 325-338 Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

Aleksandra Bozena Wenta (2018). Becoming the Dancer: Dissolving the Boundaries Between Ritual, Cognition, and Theatrical Performance in Non-dual Śaivism. CRACOW INDOLOGICAL STUDIES, pp. 259-295, ISSN:1732-0917 DOI

Aleksandra Wenta (2018). Dancing in the Sky of Consciousness: The Aesthetics of Power in Medieval Cidambaram. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, ISBN:9789382396567 Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Wenta (2016). From Spectator to Dancer: Performance metaphor and the quest for knowledge in India. CAHIERS DE LA FONDATION: INDIALOGUES, pp. 13-17

Aleksandra Wenta (2016). The Twelve Kālīs and Utpaladeva's Appraisal of the Sensory Experience.. In: Rafaelle Torella, Bettina Baumer. Utpaladeva: Philosopher of Recognition, pp. 352-370, Delhi: D.K. Printworld and Indian Institute of Advanced Study, ISBN:8124608431.

Aleksandra Wenta (2015). Between Fear and Heroism: The Tantric Path to Liberation. In: Purushottama Bilimoria, Aleksandra Wenta. Emotions in Indian Thought Systems, pp. 114-133, London/New York/New Delhi: Routledge, ISBN:9780815373254. DOI Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Wenta (2015). Emotions in Indian Thought Systems. London/New York/New Delhi: Routledge, pp. 1-300, 9780815373254. Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Wenta (2015). Emotions in Indian-Thought-Systems: An Introduction. In: Purushottama Bilimoria, Aleksandra Wenta. Emotions in Indian Thought Systems, pp. 1-54, London/New York/New Delhi: Routledge, ISBN:9780815373254. DOI Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Aleksandra Bozena Wenta (2013). The Great Ārdrā Darśanam Festival: Performing Śaiva Ritual Texts in Contemporary Chidambaram.. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HINDU STUDIES, pp. 371-398, ISSN:1574-9282 DOI

Aleksandra Bozena WENTA

Curriculum

Current Position

Associate Professor, Indology and Tibetology, Department of FORLILPSI, University of Florence.

Past Positions

Researcher in Indology and Tibetology, Deparment of FORLILPSI, University of Florence: September 2020-August 2023.

Assistant Professor, Department of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy, and Comparative Religions, Nālandā University (India): August 2016-August 2020.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla: March 2014-March 2016.

Education

PhD in Oriental Studies (Indology and Tibetology), University of Oxford (England)

MPhil in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, University of Oxford (England)

PhD in Tantric Studies, Benares Hindu University (India)

MA in Religious Studies (Indian Religions), Jagiellonian University (Poland)

Current Projects

Prin 2022 The Wheel of Time: An Inquiry into New Sources of Late Indian Buddhism

Grants and Awards

2019. Robert H.N. Ho Dissertation Fellowship in Buddhist Studies

2018. The Oriental Institute, University of Oxford.

2017. Warren Fund, The Queen's College, Oxford.

2016. FIND, India-Europe Foundation for New Dialogues, Zagarolo.

2015. Lord Thyssen Ancient World Research Scholarship, Wolfson College, Oxford.

2015. The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies.

2015. Harish Patel Scholarship, The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.

2015. Wolfson College, Oxford.

2015. Language Study Grant, The Oriental Institute, University of Oxford.

2006. Muktabodha Indological Dissertation Scholarship.

Recent Conferences/ Paper Presentations

Organization of the webinar "Multilingualism/Vernacularism and Translation Practices", Early Text Cultures, University of Oxford, June 2023.

"Early Tantric Magic: Structure, Syntax, and Material Culture", 18th World Sanskrit Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, January 2023.

"Tantric Buddhists and Tantric Śaivas", conference of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), Denver, November 2022.

"Between Magic and Liberation: The Case of Vajrabhairava", Tantric Text Practices as Intersection, University of Heidelberg, October 2022.

"Take a Black Mustard Seed and a Dust from the Target's Footprint: Materia Magica in the Vajrabhairava Corpus", I6th International Association for Tibetan Studies, Charles University, Prague, July 2022.

"Early Tantric Magic: An Example of Hindu-Buddhist Intertextuality in Premodern India", Textual Cultures in Contact, Religion Through Cultural Boundaries, seminar at the Early Text Cultures, University of Oxford, June 2022.

"Interactions Between Tantric Forms of Buddhism and Śaivism in the Development of the Cult of Vajrabhairava", International Workshop Buddhism and Śaivism in Pre-modern Himalayan Regions, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales/Mie University, Paris, France, October 2021.

"Skull-Magic, Exorcism of Demons, Jackal Howls and the Question of Non-Tantric Magical Substratum of Early Tantras", Resilient Religion, European Association for the Study of Religion, University of Pisa, September 2021.

Historical Perspectives on the Culture and Practice of Tantric Buddhism, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, October 2018.

17th World Sanskrit Conference, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, July 2018.

Time, Region, and Female Agency in Hindu Texts and Practices, panel of the Annual South Asia Conference, University of Wisconsin-Madison, October 2018.

Religion and the Margins, workshop, FIND, Zagarolo, October 2017.

XVIII Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, University of Toronto, August 2017.

Invited Lecture, The Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, June 2017.

Invited Lecture, The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, June 2017.

Invited Lecture, Manuscripts and Early Texts Culture Lunch Colloquium, The Queen's College, University of Oxford, May 2017.

Workshop on Buddhism and Legitimization, Ludwig-Maximillian University, Munich, March 2017.

Invited Lecture, Śākta Seminar, The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, February 2016.

16th World Sanskrit Conference, Bangkok, July 2015.

Teaching

Introduction to Classical Tibetan (Academic Year 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020).

Reading Tibetan Buddhist Texts (Academic Year 2016-2017, 2018-2019, 2019-2020).

Introduction to Religious Studies (Academic Year 2016-2017).

Research Methodology for the Study of Religion (Academic Year 2016-2017, 2017-2018).

Introduction to Religions and Philosophies of India (Academic Year 2016-2017, 2017-2018).

Understanding Buddhist Texts (Academic Year 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020).

Hindu and Buddhist Tantra (Academic Year 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019).

Supervised Readings (Academic Year 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019).

MA Thesis Class (Academic Year 2017-2018, 2018-2019).

Graduate Student Supervision

I have supervised more than a dozen of MA thesis in the field of Indology and Tibetology.