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Alessandro Poletto

Lecturer in East Asian Religions, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
Alessandro Poletto (he/they) specializes in the social and religious history of premodern Japan, with an emphasis on Buddhism in the early medieval period (tenth to the thirteenth century). He earned his PhD from Columbia University in 2020 with a dissertation entitled “The Culture of Healing in Early Medieval Japan: A Study in Premodern Epistemology,” in which he examined discourses and practices concerning healing and disease, with particular attention to the relationship between Buddhist healers and other technicians involved in the treatment of illness, namely court physicians and onmyōji. His other research and teaching interests include the understanding and ritual resolution of natural disasters in premodern East Asia, the history of the cultural exchanges between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, and Buddhist material culture and archeology in East Asia.

His current research focuses on the material and textual dimensions of various types of deposits — within statues or under the ground — in order to get a grasp of Buddhism as practiced by lay Buddhists in early medieval Japan. Dedicatory or votive materials discovered inside Buddhist statues or in underground deposits (commonly known as kyōzuka) illustrate the motivations behind the undertaking of a certain burial of sutras, or the production of a copy of a specific sutra, allowing us to see the hopes, aspirations and anxieties of the people engaging in such practices, but also the ways in which they attempted to shape their destinies, and those of deceased dear ones, through their dedicatory good acts.

Before joining Washington University, Alessandro was a JSPS postdoctoral fellow at Kyoto University. He holds a B.A. from the University of Naples “L’Orientale,” and an M.A. from Osaka University.

Economy

Mexico Pushes for US Trade Deal Before Midterms

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that her government is working to secure a trade agreement with the United States as quickly as possible, following what she described as a productive conversation with U.S....

Bolivia Approves $1.9 Billion IMF Financing Deal

Bolivian lawmakers have approved a $1.9 billion financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), advancing President Rodrigo Pazs efforts to stabilize the countrys economy amid foreign currency shortages,...

Wall Street Mixed as Treasury Yields Rise After Fed Hike

Wall Street traded mixed on Friday as investors paused after the strongest session in more than a month, while rising U.S. Treasury yields and quadruple witching kept market volatility in focus. Quadruple witching marks...

Bessent Presses Japan on Fiscal Policy as Yen Struggles

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has pushed Japan to tighten fiscal policy and support higher interest rates as Washington and Tokyo work to stabilize the yen and limit risks in global bond markets. Japanese Finance...

Yen Slides After BOJ Rate Hike as Dollar Holds Near Seven-Week High

Asian currencies traded mixed on Friday, with the Japanese yen weakening despite a Bank of Japan interest rate hike, while a hawkish Federal Reserve outlook kept the U.S. dollar supported near a seven-week high. The U.S....

Politics

Russian Attack on Balakliia Kills Two, Injures Two

Russian forces struck the northeastern Ukrainian city of Balakliia on Friday, killing two people and injuring two others as the war continues to affect communities across the Kharkiv region. Vitali Karabanov, head of the...

NATO Commander Joins US Review of Troop Deployments in Europe

NATOs top military commander, U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, participated in a virtual briefing Friday as the Pentagon weighs possible changes to the deployment of U.S. troops across Europe. The briefing was...

Appeals Court Rejects Trump Third-Country Deportation Policy

A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday rejected a Trump administration policy that allowed immigration authorities to rapidly deport migrants to countries other than their nations of origin without giving them an adequate...

Trump Bans CNN, MS NOW and Politico From White House

President Donald Trump said Friday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be banned from the White House, escalating his administrations long-running dispute with major news organizations over their coverage. Trump announced...

Venezuela Nears Deal to Move $4 Billion in Gold to New York Fed

Venezuelas government and opposition are nearing an agreement to transfer roughly $4 billion worth of the countrys gold reserves from the Bank of England to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, potentially ending a...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Westinghouse Targets $50 Billion Valuation in U.S. IPO

Westinghouse Electric Co. is seeking a valuation of more than $50 billion for its planned U.S. initial public offering, as the nuclear technology company moves closer to a public market debut amid growing interest in...

NASA, Boeing Discuss Expanding Starliner Missions

NASA is holding discussions with Boeing about expanding the use of its Starliner spacecraft for future missions, potentially giving the troubled vehicle a larger role in U.S. human spaceflight plans. The space agency and...

Apple Pay Set for India Launch With Axis Bank

Apple is preparing to launch Apple Pay in India next month, initially partnering with Axis Bank to support the lenders credit cards, according to three people familiar with the plans. The rollout would bring Apples digital...

Hyundai CEO Warns Chinese Automakers Could Disrupt US Market

Hyundai Motor CEO Jose Munoz warned that Chinese automakers could eventually reshape the US auto market as they have in Europe unless Washington maintains tariffs and other market-access protections. Speaking in San Jose,...

US Federal Register Drops Alibaba Qwen AI Search Tool

A U.S. government website used an artificial intelligence model developed by Chinas Alibaba to help users search federal regulatory information, despite recent U.S. concerns about Chinese AI companies and their use of...