Francesco Piraino

I am a sociologist specializing in religion and culture. I earned my PhD in Sociology in 2016 at the Scuola Normale Superiore (Florence) and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris). Since then, I have held research positions at KU Leuven, CNRS, University of Bologna, and Harvard Divinity School. Currently, I am tenure-track researcher at the University of Ca’ Foscari of Venice. Additionally, I serve as the director of the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilizations and Spiritualities at the Cini Foundation in Venice. My work focuses on spirituality, esotericism, mysticism, and the relationship between art and religion. I recently published Sufism in Europe: Islam, Esotericism, and the New Age (Edinburgh University Press, 2024) and co-edited Religious Dimensions of Conspiracy Theories: Comparing and Connecting Old and New Trends (with Marco Pasi and Egil Asprem, Routledge, 2022).