A Place to Belong, a Place that Needs you, a Place you Can go Home to” : (Negative) Emotions and Belonging in Minority Buddhist Communities
How fear and negative emotions shape belonging, community, and change among marginalised Japanese Buddhist groups.
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Date: 19 OCTOBER 2026 from 17:30 to 19:00
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Event location: room not yet identified - In presence and online event
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Type: Lectures
Speaker
ISA Visiting Fellow - Baffelli Erica
Full Professor University of Manchester,GB
Professor Erica Baffelli is a leading expert on religion in contemporary Japan. Her research focuses on religion and media, religion and violence, Buddhism and emotions, and religious minorities. She has published extensively, including two monographs, two edited volumes, and numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. In 2022, her article on women and Aum after the 1995 sarin gas attack received the Thomas Robbins Award for Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements. She is currently Principal Investigator of the Leverhulme Research Project Fear and Belonging in Minority Buddhist Communities (2023–2027) and a founding member of the Fear Research Network (FeRN). Her work has been widely disseminated through international lectures, keynote addresses, and media appearances, including the BBC and Netflix, and she has held visiting positions at universities in Japan and Europe.