Samanta Viziale

Samanta Viziale serves as an External Ph.D. Student and Lecturer in the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. She completed a double Ph.D. in Humanities from the University of Copenhagen and University of Torino in June 2023.

Her educational qualifications include:

• Double Ph.D. in Humanities (University of Copenhagen and University of Torino, 2019-2023)
• Curso de especialização in Art, Anthropology and Ontology (Iscte - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, 2020)
• Multidisciplinary Summer Course (University of Amsterdam, 2020)
• Advanced Training Course in Philosophy for Children and Community (University of Florence, 2019)
• Master's degree in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology (University of Torino, 2016-2018)
• Bachelor’s degree in Painting (Academy of Fine Arts of Cuneo, 2013-2016)

Viziale's research centers on cultural anthropology of aesthetics and visual arts, specifically examining how spiritual and esoteric traditions shape cultural identities and ecological relationships. Her work bridges anthropology of religion, visual semiotics, and ecological art, with particular focus on Theosophy's influence on modern art (19th-early 20th century) and contemporary ecological movements. She investigates authorial concealment in transcultural art and the symbiotic relationship between sacred practices and aesthetic expression.

Her publications from 2019-2025 reveal consistent thematic progression: early work analyzed sacred-beauty dynamics in religious contexts, evolving into systematic studies of Theosophy's artistic manifestations, and culminating in ecological art frameworks. Key methodological threads include visual semiotics applied to esoteric symbolism and anthropological analysis of art-based environmental reimagining, demonstrating interdisciplinary integration of religious studies, art history, and ecological theory.

Viziale actively contributes to academic discourse through conference organization and presentations, including SNASWE1 (2024), ESSWE (2023), and workshops on Buddhist/ecological movements and arts-based research methodologies. Her teaching includes courses on European esoteric traditions and nature-humanity perspectives in modern spirituality.