Department of Religions and Philosophies & School of History, Religions and Philosophies

D
r
S
t
e
f
a
n
i
a
T
r
a
v
a
g
n
i
n

K
e
y
i
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n

Roles
Department of Religions and Philosophies Reader in Chinese Buddhism Centre of Buddhist Studies Chair School of History, Religions and Philosophies Reader in Chinese Buddhism
Department
Department of Religions and Philosophies & School of History, Religions and Philosophies
Qualifications
Laurea MA (Ca’ Foscari University, Venice); PhD (SOAS)
Building
Russell Square: College Buildings
Office
305
Email address
st8@soas.ac.uk

B
i
o
g
r
a
p
h
y

Stefania Travagnin is Reader in Chinese Buddhism at SOAS University of London, where she is also Chair of the Centre of Buddhist Studies. 

She has a MA in Chinese Studies from Ca’Foscari University (Italy) and a PhD in the Study of Religion from SOAS, and has been visiting professor at several universities in Europe and Asia, including Sichuan University (China), Urbaniana Pontifical University (Vatican), Tung-hai University (Taiwan), University of Trento (Italy). 

Travagnin held research fellowships at institutions like the Centre of Chinese Studies at the National Central Library of Taipei, Academia Sinica, National Cheng Chi University (Taiwan), and has active collaborations with institutions like Sichuan University, Beijing University, and Georgetown University.

R
e
s
e
a
r
c
h
i
n
t
e
r
e
s
t
s

Stefania Travagnin's interdisciplinary research has explored Buddhism and Buddhists in modern China and Taiwan (from the late 19th century to today), combining analysis of traditional texts with ethnographic studies of living communities. 

She is co-director of the research project “Mapping Religious Diversity in Modern Sichuan,” initially supported by a Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Exchange Research Grant (2017-2023); within this project she is studying Buddhist communities in Sichuan, especially nuns and nunneries in the late Qing and Republican era, changes in monastic education, Sichuan travel monks, and the spatial ecology of religious sites. 

With Dr. Debora Tonelli (Georgetown University representative office in Rome), Stefania Travagnin is co-leading a multi-year project on Chinese perspectives on AI; this project runs under the auspices of Georgetown University. Travagnin's most recent research project on Tzu Chi humanitarianism outside Asia is supported by the British Academy (2024-2025). 

Travagnin has edited and co-edited several volumes, including Religion and Media in China: Insights and Case Studies from the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (Routledge 2016), the three-volume publication Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions (De Gruyter 2019-2020), and Buddhism and International Humanitarian Law (Routledge 2023); she is editor-in-chief of Review of Religion and Chinese Society.

P
h
D
S
u
p
e
r
v
i
s
i
o
n

Name Title
Zhang Yuting Representing China’s Southwestern Landscape: Power, Knowledge, and Art in Sichuan, 1700s-1850s.

P
e
r
s
o
n
a
l
l
i
n
k
s

P
u
b
l
i
c
a
t
i
o
n
s

C
o
n
t
a
c
t
S
t
e
f
a
n
i
a

Email
st8@soas.ac.uk

R
e
s
e
a
r
c
h

R
e
l
a
t
e
d
c
o
n
t
e
n
t

You are viewing: Key information