Andrea Acri has a Laurea degree (2005) from the University of Rome “Sapienza” and an MA (2006) and PhD (2011) from Leiden University, all with focus on South and Southeast Asian Studies and disciplinary specialization in Philology (Sanskrit, Old Javanese) and Religious Studies.
He has held research and teaching positions in India (Nalanda University), Singapore (Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre/ISEAS and Asia Research Institute/NUS), Australia (ANU), and the Netherlands (IIAS). Since late 2016, he is Maître de conférences (tenured Assistant Professor) in Tantric Studies at the Religious Studies Section of the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE, PSL University, Paris), and statutory member of the EA2120 “Groupe de Recherche en Etudes Indiennes” (GREI). Concomitantly, he has joined the EFEO in Paris as a part-time researcher to work in the framework of the ERC DHARMA project from 2021 to 2023.
His main research and teaching interests include the history and circulation of Śaiva and Buddhist tantric traditions in South and Southeast Asia; Yoga Studies; Indian Philosophy; the religious history of Java and Bali from the premodern to the modern period in the light of textual sources; and wider cultural and historical dynamics of intra-Asian maritime connectivity.
He is member of the Task-force D (Other Textual Sources) of the ERC DHARMA project, and will work on an edition and translation of the Sanskrit-Old Javanese Śaiva scripture Bhuvanakośa, as well as (in collaboration with Thomas Hunter) an edition and translation of the Old Javanese religious-themed kakavin Pārthayajña.
His hobbies are travelling, scuba diving, underwater photography, and oil painting.
Institutional personal webpage: https://prosopo.ephe.fr/andrea-acri
Selected Publications and PDFs at: https://ephe.academia.edu/AndreaAcri
