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Since 2024, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with the Università degli Studi di Padova within the framework of the Master in Death Studies, a program directed by Professor Ines Testoni. This collaboration has opened a new and stimulating chapter in my academic work, allowing me to explore the intersections between Buddhist contemplative traditions and the transdisciplinary field of thanatology. Each lecture I have delivered for the program has offered an opportunity to reflect on how different cultures conceptualise death, how practices of awareness shape the experience of dying, and how anthropological and psychological approaches can illuminate the meaning of impermanence in human life.
My contribution to the Master began with a seminar dedicated to the theme of “Dying Mindfully,” in which I examined anthropological perspectives on death within the Buddhist tradition.
Drawing on classical sources as well as ethnographic studies, I explored how Buddhist cultures elaborate the experience of dying not only as an existential threshold, but as an integral moment of awareness that invites a profound rethinking of the self, the body, and the continuity of consciousness. This encounter with the students of the Master allowed us to discuss the philosophical richness and ritual complexity of Buddhist approaches to death, reflecting on how these perspectives might contribute to contemporary debates in psychology, end-of-life care, and the broader study of human vulnerability. I am deeply grateful to Professor Testoni and to the University of Padova for entrusting me with this role, and I hope that this first contribution will open a path toward many future exchanges and collaborations.
My work in these months has unfolded alongside a series of seminars held between December 4 and 11, 2024, when I was invited by the Faculty of Psychology at Sapienza University of Rome as part of Professor Marilena Fatigante’s seminar program. Those days were particularly meaningful for me, as they offered the opportunity to engage with postgraduate psychology students in an open and intellectually vibrant environment. I devoted the first seminar to the experience and practice of knowledge in meditation, focusing on the tools that Buddhist psychology offers for understanding the dynamics of attention, perception, and the formation of inner experience.
The second seminar explored qualitative approaches to the study of meditative experience through the lenses of psychology, phenomenology, and contemplative ethnography. These meetings allowed us to consider the methodological challenges of researching the ineffable and to reflect on how scientific, philosophical, and contemplative traditions can complement one another in the investigation of consciousness.
The depth of dialogue that emerged in both Rome and Padova confirmed for me how essential it is to create spaces where disciplines can meet without rigid boundaries. The field of Death Studies, in particular, represents a privileged terrain for this encounter, as it touches the core of human experience and invites an honest engagement with the fragility and beauty of existence. Working with scholars and students who share this sensitivity has been a source of genuine inspiration. I look forward to continuing this collaboration with the Master in Death Studies and to contributing further to a conversation that I believe will grow increasingly important in the coming years.
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