Dr. Marta Sanvido

Biography

Marta Sanvido is an Assistant Professor specializing in Japanese Buddhism, particularly during the medieval and early modern periods. Her research interests encompass Zen Buddhism, doctrinal exegesis, religious secrecy, hagiographical narratives, interpretations of the body, manuscript culture, and Buddhist materiality. Currently, she is finalizing her monograph entitled 'Everyday Secrecy: Narratives, Communities, Secret Manuscripts in Sōtō Zen Buddhism,' which is based on years of archival fieldwork in Japan. This study examines the relationship between secret knowledge and the everyday practices of local Buddhist communities, especially within the Sōtō Zen tradition, from the fifteenth to the late eighteenth century. Sanvido's research has received funding from the Japan Foundation and the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation. She has published articles in both Japanese and English in various journals and has chapters focusing on significant topics such as soteriological understandings of female corporeality, childbirth, and motherhood, as well as the historical evolution of kōan in Japan. Sanvido is also involved in ongoing projects, including co-editing a journal issue on secrecy in Japanese Buddhism and developing a book-length study on the conceptualization of marginal bodies and disability in premodern Japanese Buddhism. She earned her Ph.D. from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and has held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Hamburg before joining Yale University.

Research Interests