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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

Goldman Sachs Flags 3 Key Risks Ahead of Europe’s Earnings Season

Goldman Sachs has outlined three major themes investors should watch as Europes corporate earnings season approaches, warning that elevated market expectations could lead to stronger share-price swings if companies...

Goldman Sachs Raises USD/JPY Forecast, Sees Yen Weakness Persist Through 2027

Goldman Sachs has raised its USD/JPY exchange rate forecasts, predicting the Japanese yen will remain under pressure as elevated U.S. Treasury yields, limited recession risks in the United States, Japans fiscal concerns,...

JPMorgan Cuts Gold Price Forecast, Sees Bullion Reaching $4,500 by End of 2026

JPMorgan has sharply lowered its near-term gold price outlook, citing weaker-than-expected demand from major buying sectors and growing uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy. The bank now expects gold prices to average...

Oil Prices Steady as U.S.-Iran Peace Talks Ease Strait of Hormuz Supply Fears

Oil prices ended the week largely unchanged as investors weighed improving prospects for a lasting U.S.-Iran peace agreement against rising crude supply from the Middle East. Brent crude futures settled up 14 cents, or...

Asian Currencies Rise as Dollar Weakens; Yen Holds Steady Amid Japan Intervention Watch

Most Asian currencies edged higher on Friday after the U.S. dollar retreated from a 13-month high following weaker-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, raising fresh questions about the Federal Reserves interest rate...

Politics

Trump Marks America’s 250th Anniversary With National Mall Rally Amid Political Divide

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to headline a major rally at Washingtons National Mall on Saturday as part of Americas 250th anniversary celebrations, concluding weeks of events that have sparked debate over the growing...

Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of 702 Federal Regulations in Major Deregulation Push

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Iran Holds State Funeral for Ali Khamenei as Security Fears Shape Succession

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Trump Offers to Help Advance Ukraine Peace Talks in Call With Putin

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Kim Jong Un Oversees North Korea Destroyer Missile Tests, Orders Rapid Naval Deployment

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Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

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

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SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

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Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

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Technology

Anthropic Tightens AI Access Controls After Reports of China-Based Workarounds

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Kuaishou Stock Jumps as Kling AI Secures $2 Billion Funding Round

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Meta CEO Zuckerberg Says AI Agent Development Has Slowed Despite Massive AI Investment

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OpenAI Proposes 5% U.S. Government Stake Amid AI Policy Talks

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