Gnoseologies
Gnoseologies: Transcendence and Transformation Today
A 2021–2025 Series
This series explored ways of knowing often labeled “non-rational.” Traditionally referred to as gnosis in Western philosophical and religious traditions—and frequently understood in contrast to scientific knowledge (episteme)—these ways of knowing have become increasingly influential in contemporary society, popular culture, and academic research.
What place do spirit possession, divination, and experiences perceived as “out of the ordinary” hold in our lives? How might we study and approach such phenomena? Moving beyond dichotomies such as body and mind, ordinary and extraordinary, reason and experience, and matter and spirit, the series brought together scholars from a range of disciplines and practitioners interested in exploring and expanding the boundaries of what counts as “knowledge” today.
Series Host
Giovanna Parmigiani — Research Associate, Transcendence and Transformation (2021–2027)
Gnoseologies Event Videos
Video: Esoteric identities: Helena P. Blavatsky as a woman philosopher? With Tim Rudbøg
What counts as philosophy—and who gets to be recognized as a philosopher? In conversation with Gnoseologies host Giovanna Parmigiani, Tim Rudbøg explores Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s engagement with major philosophical questions of being, consciousness...
Video: Postapocalyptic Futures: Visionary Landscapes in Northern Peru
In this conversation with Gnosologies host Giovanna Parmigiani, Ana Mariella Bacigalupo, Professor of Anthropology at the University at Buffalo, shared how sentient mountains and lakes (Apus), channeled by Northern Peruvian shamans, addressed the greatest...
Video: Embodied Ethnographies of Healing: Senses, Images, and Trance
With Anthropologist Emily Pierini
Video: The Spider Dance Tradition, Time, and Healing in Southern Italy
A book talk with Giovanna Parmigiani, on her new book The Spider Dance: Tradition, Time, and Healing in Southern Italy
Video: ReSpell: Religion, Spirituality, and Well-being
In this Gnoseologies event, Giovanna Parmigiani, CSWR Research Associate, spoke with Eugenia Roussou, PhD, sociocultural anthropologist, about her ethnographic research on contemporary religiosity and well-being in Southern Europe; the anthropological...
Video: Researching Alternative Rationalities
In this Gnoseologies event, Professor Giovanna Parmigiani speaks with Bernd Christian Otto (PD Dr. habil.) about alternative rationalities, esoteric practices, global comparison, practitioner-scholarship, and other ways of studying esotericism today. The...
Video: Magic in the United States. A conversation with Dr. Heather Freeman
Gnoseologies host Giovanna Parmigiani speaks with Heather Freeman about her podcast Magic in the United States and the personal and professional journey behind it. Magic in the United States is a podcast examining how magic, religion, spirituality, and...
Video: Wisdom from the Edge: A Conversation with Anthropologist Paul Stoller
In this conversation with Gnoseologies host Dr. Giovanna Parmigiani, Paul Stoller discusses his latest book, Wisdom From the Edge in which he describes what scholars can do to contribute to the social and cultural changes that shape a social future of...
Video: Catholicism as Movement: Affective Histories & Political Life Forms, Dr. Valentina Napolitano
Gnoseologies host, Dr. Giovanna Parmigiani engaged in conversation with Dr. Valentina Napolitano on themes of contemporary Catholicism, focusing on the "Atlantic Return", Pope Francis and migrants' (im)mobility highlighting the "heart" as political...
Video: We Cannot Imagine Otherwise: Capitalist Personalities, Plotlines, & Promises of Salvation, Dr. Andrea Jain
In conversation with Gnoseologies host, Dr. Giovanna Parmigiani, Dr. Andrea Jain, expands the boundaries of what currently counts as “knowledge” starting with diagnosing the social systemic dynamics that shape what we can and cannot imagine. In this talk...
Video: Angela’s Symposium: YouTube, Esotericism, and the Academia
Center for the Study of World Religions hosted our first Gnoseologies series webinar of the academic year on October 18, 2023. Dr. Giovanna Parmigiani engaged in conversation with Dr. Angela Puca. In this discussion, Dr. Puca describes how she pioneers an...
Video: Multiple Subjectivities and the Ethnographic Study of Lived Religion
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 - As part of the T&T Gnoseologies Series, CSWR Research Associate Giovanna Parmigiani engages in a fascinating conversation with Black Feminist ethnographer and African diaspora studies scholar, Assitant Professor N. Fadeke...
Video: Reiki, Energy Medicine, and Post-Materialism
Center for the Study of World Religions Research Associate Dr. Giovanna Parmigiani led a conversation with Dr. Natalie Dyer on April 5, 2023, titled "Reiki, Energy Medicine, and Post-Materialism." Dr. Dyer is a research scientist with Connor Whole Health...
Video: Music, Voice, & Healing: A Conversation with Grace Nono
On March 8, 2023, Research Associate Dr. Giovanna Parmigiani sat down with Dr. Grace Nono to discuss Dr. Nono’s work as an ethnographer and performer, shamanism in the Philippines, and some of the possible connections between sound and healing. This event...
Video: Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses
On February 22, 2023, Dr. Amy Hale and Dr. Christa Shusko present their book Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses, edited by Amy Hale. They discuss some of the latest and pressing topics in the study of (Western)...
Video: Affect Theater and Collaborative Meaning-Making
On November 2, 2022, Dr. Giovanna Parmigiani discussed affect theater with her guests Prof. Cristiana Giordano (UC Davis) and Prof. Greg Pierotti (University of Arizona), and how it can transform academic research. This discussion touched on the role of...
Video: Black Tarot: African American Women and Divine Processes of Resilience
On October 19, 2022, religious studies scholar and Black and biracial educator Marcelitte Failla (Emory University) discussed the practice of Tarot reading, Black witches, divination, resilience, and the meanings, limitations, and possibilities of being a...
Video: Ways of Knowing through the Changing Landscapes of Esoteric Art
In this illustrated talk and conversation, we will explore how our understanding of artists’ esoteric practice is shaping the conversation between art, artists and the audience. We will primarily be looking at the contributions of women artists, both...
Video: Paranthropology: The Anthropology of the Paranormal
What is the paranormal? How can we make sense of out-of-the ordinary experiences? How can we study the paranormal— anthropologically? Please join Dr.Giovanna Parmigiani in a conversation with Dr. Jack Hunter about the anthropology of the paranormal....
Video: Gut and Other Knowledges in Religions of the African Diaspora
Dr. Elizabeth Pérez discusses practices of embodied knowledge production and transmission in such Afro-Diasporic religions as Cuban Lucumí, Haitian Vodou, and Brazilian Candomblé. In conversation with CSWR Research Associate Dr. Giovanna Parmigiani, she...
Video: Negation, Not-knowing, and the Dark in Brazilian and Cuban Creole Forms of Religion
In this event, Diana Espírito Santo will examine the ambiguous, dark spaces of paradox from the point of view of two distinct ethnographic sites: Brazil and Cuba, with Umbanda and creole espiritismo respectively. In exploring the various vignettes—of a...
Video: The Truth Shall Set Whom Free? A Conversation on Esoteric Knowledge, Alternative Spirituality, and Conspiracy Theories
Esoteric spiritualities tend to encourage a personal search for spiritual truths, unburdened by concerns for dogma and authority. Such seekership has been cast as a particularly individualistic, liberal, and democratic way of doing religion, well-adapted...
Video: Cultural Appropriation in Neopagan and New Age Religions: A Conversation with Sabina Magliocco
Please join Giovanna Parmigiani (HDS) for a panel discussion on the phenomenon of cultural appropriation in modern Paganism and the New Age movement. Sabina Magliocco (University of British Columbia), along with HDS students, will explore this theme and...
Video: Black Magic Matters: Hoodoo as Ancestral Religion
Does Black Magic Matter? A brief discussion of the African American traditions known as Hoodoo, Conjure and Rootworking, and practices of divination, spiritual protection and healing. We will discuss the origins of magic in the specific context of slavery...
Video: Exploring Magical Consciousness as a Form of Knowledge
Welcome to the first event of Gnoseologies: Transcendence and Transformation Today in which we will discuss “magic” with Dr. Susan Greenwood. This series focuses on ways of knowing that are often labeled as “non-rational.” Traditionally referred to as...
