Biography
Paola Colonello, PhD, is an anthropologist and ethnographer specialising in Islamic education. She is currently a member of the Muslim World Working Group at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. She has conducted ethnographic research in Islamic regions of Asia and Africa, including Unguja, Balūchistān, Iran, Indonesia, and Uzbekistan, focusing on Islamic education and culture.
Her work has explored in depth the sensitive concept of ğihād, illustrating its meanings and potential. Over the years, she has served as a member of scientific committees and academic examination boards in Italy and abroad, and has acted as a reviewer for works published in leading peer-reviewed journals (Q1).
She has presented at international conferences and delivered academic lectures and seminars at institutions such as the University of Milan-Bicocca (Milan), the European University Institute (Florence), the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan), Pascasarjana Ull Dalwa Doctoral School (Bangil, Indonesia), Ponpes Darullughah Wadda‘wah Putri (Bangil, Indonesia), Masjid Ulul ‘Azmi Universitas Airlangga (Surabaya, Indonesia), IAI Nahdlatul Ulama University (Pasuruan, Indonesia), O’zbekiston Milliy Universiteti, National University of Uzbekistan, Department of Anthropology and Ethnology (Tashkent, Uzbekistan), the National Research Center O’zR FA Milliy Arxeologiya Markazi (Tashkent, Uzbekistan), the Hadis Ilmi Maktabi (Samarkand, Uzbekistan), and Buxoro Muhandislik-Texnologiya University, Department of Social Sciences (Bukhara, Uzbekistan), in collaboration with Mir Arab Oliy Madrasasi.
As a lecturer, she has focused on ethnographic methodology, Sufism, Islamic education and religion, the relations between Islam and the West, and the management of the multiple risks researchers face while working in conflict areas. She also studies myths and the processuality and significance of the archetypal hero’s journey.