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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

UK Hiring Slows as Iran War Fuels Economic Uncertainty in 2026

Britains labor market showed further signs of weakness in April 2026 as employers reduced hiring amid growing economic uncertainty linked to the Iran war and rising energy costs. Fresh data released Tuesday by the Office...

Asian Stocks Mixed as Tech Shares Slide Ahead of Nvidia Earnings

Asian stock markets traded mixed on Tuesday as technology shares followed overnight losses on Wall Street, while investors reacted to stronger-than-expected Japanese economic growth and ongoing geopolitical tensions in the...

US Stock Futures Steady as Nvidia Earnings and Iran Tensions Keep Investors on Edge

U.S. stock futures traded mostly unchanged late Monday as investors remained cautious following a technology-driven pullback on Wall Street. Market sentiment stayed fragile as traders closely watched escalating tensions...

Oil Prices Drop as Trump Delays Iran Strike, Russia Sanctions Waiver Eases Supply Concerns

Oil prices declined during early Asian trading on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a delay in a planned military strike against Iran, signaling that diplomatic negotiations were still underway. The...

Gold Prices Climb as Trump Delays Iran Strike, Boosting Safe-Haven Demand

Gold prices edged higher during Asian trading on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that a planned military strike against Iran had been postponed while diplomatic negotiations continued. The development...

Politics

Russia Downs Drones Near Moscow as Airstrikes Hit Ukraine’s Izmail Port

Russia and Ukraine exchanged fresh overnight drone attacks on Tuesday, escalating tensions as the war continues with no breakthrough in peace negotiations. Ukrainian officials said a Russian air assault damaged critical...

TrumpRx Expands Discount Drug Access With 600 Generic Medications

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that TrumpRx.gov will now offer more than 600 generic prescription drugs, significantly expanding the administrations effort to lower medication costs for Americans. The...

Minnesota ICE Agent Charged in Venezuelan Immigrant Shooting During Trump Immigration Crackdown

Minnesota prosecutors have charged a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in connection with the January shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis during President Donald Trumps intensified...

Pentagon Watchdog Probes U.S. Caribbean Boat Strikes Amid Legality Concerns

The Pentagons internal watchdog has launched an investigation into whether U.S. military boat strikes in the Caribbean complied with official targeting procedures during operations tied to anti-crime and security missions,...

Alex Saab Faces U.S. Money Laundering Charges Over Venezuela Oil and Food Deals

Alex Saab, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman closely linked to former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in a major money laundering case tied to Venezuelan government...

Science

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...

NASA Artemis II: First Crewed Moon Mission Since Apollo Takes Four Astronauts on 10-Day Lunar Journey

NASAs Artemis II mission launched Wednesday, marking humanitys return to crewed lunar exploration for the first time since the Apollo era. Carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, this historic 10-day mission...

NASA's Artemis II Mission: First Crewed Lunar Journey Since Apollo

NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission

The four astronauts chosen for NASAs Artemis II mission have touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the beginning of final launch preparations for the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years. NASA...

Technology

Mistral AI Acquires Emmi AI to Expand Industrial AI Solutions in Europe

French artificial intelligence company Mistral AI has acquired Austrian startup Emmi AI in a strategic move to strengthen its industrial AI capabilities across Europe. The deal, announced Tuesday, highlights the growing...

Tencent Shares Jump 4% as AI Models Move Toward Paid Commercial Services

Tencent Holdings (HK:0700) shares surged more than 4% on Tuesday after the Chinese tech giant announced plans to commercialize several of its artificial intelligence models, signaling a stronger push into monetizing AI...

Analog Devices Nears $1.5B Acquisition of AI Chip Firm Empower Semiconductor

U.S. semiconductor giant Analog Devices is reportedly in advanced discussions to acquire AI-focused chipmaker Empower Semiconductor in a deal valued at approximately $1.5 billion in cash, according to a Bloomberg News...

Google, Blackstone Launch $5B AI Cloud Venture to Challenge Nvidia and CoreWeave

Alphabets Google and Blackstone are reportedly joining forces to launch a new artificial intelligence cloud company powered by Googles proprietary AI chips, according to a Wall Street Journal report published Monday. The...

OpenAI Wins Elon Musk Lawsuit as Jury Rejects Claims Over AI Mission

A U.S. jury has ruled that OpenAI is not liable in a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk, marking a major legal victory for the artificial intelligence company. The verdict was delivered Monday in a federal court in Oakland,...