TOPIC: TBC
BIO:
Jana Valtrová is an assistant professor at the Department for the Study of Religions at Masaryk University. She holds an M.A. in History and Religious Studies, and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies, both from Masaryk University. In her research she focuses on the history of the Euro-Asian encounters, and the process of development of Western perspectives on Asian cultures and religions. The central objects of her investigation are historical travel accounts as sources reflecting the erratic process of meeting, (mis)understanding, dealing with, and interpreting the Other. Inspired by the approaches of entangled histories, in her research she deals with both the conceptual as well as practical aspects of the Euro-Asian encounters.
She is the author of a monograph Středověká setkání s ‘jinými’. Modloslužebníci, židé, saracéni a heretici v misionářských zprávách o Asii, Praha: Argo 2011 [Medieval Encounters with the Other. Idolaters, Jews, Saracens and Heretics in Missionary Reports About Asia]. She has published in number of journals including Numen: International Review for the History of Religions, Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni, Religio: Revue pro religionistiku, Eurasian Studies or Journal of Religion in Europe. As a visiting scholar she delivered lectures or courses at universities in Bern, Lausanne, Leipzig, Kaunas, Krakow and Vienna.