Emanuele De Simone
Emanuele De Simone is a doctoral researcher and research associate at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cologne, and a fellow of the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne.
During his sociology studies at the University of Salerno, he joined the Annabella Rossi Anthropology Lab and collaborated with anthropologist Stefano De Matteis. This experience led to his bachelor’s thesis in Cultural Anthropology on the intergenerational memory of the Shoah, developed as part of a broader project in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Naples. He completed his master’s degree in Sociology with a thesis in Theories of Contemporary Society, exploring critical perspectives on myth-making processes.
Emanuele’s research focuses on the intersection of the anthropology of religion, sainthood, migration, and mobility. His work investigates the survival of Italian Catholic communities in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, particularly in Cologne, within a shifting religious landscape. He explores the role of religious knowledge, practices, and materiality in the lives of Italian Catholics as they navigate the complexities of transnational mobility, the broader decline of Catholicism, and individual existential crises. In particular, his work examines the role of saints in the migration experiences of Italian Catholic migrants between Cologne and Licata, on the southern coast of Sicily.
After working on the VOICE: Decentring Epistemologies for Global Well-Being project within and beyond the EUniWell network, he is now project coordinator of the Crisis and Conviviality in the Mediterranean (CCMed) initiative.
Contact: edesimone[at]uni-koeln.de