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 Social and 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 at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

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 the migration process, the broader decline of Catholicism, and existential crisis. In particular, his research examines the re-enactment of the Crucifixion of Jesus known as “The Living Passion” in Cologne’s Kalk district by Southern Italians; the religious networks connecting Cologne and Licata on the southern coast of Sicily; and the transnational link between Cologne and Naples fostered by the Catholic Association “The Experience.”

After working on the VOICE: Decentring Epistemologies for Global Well-Being project within and beyond the EUniWell network, since 2024 Emanuele is project coordinator of the Crisis and Conviviality in the Mediterranean (CCMed) initiative.

Contact: esimone[at]uni-koeln.de