Vincent Roy-Di Piazza

DPhil Student

vincent.roy-dipiazza@history.ox.ac.uk

Research Topic

The interaction between soul and body in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

My doctoral research focuses on the soul-mind-body theories of Swedish philosopher and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). Specifically, I explore the interplay between his lifelong interest for soul-body interaction and his later daily conversations with the spirits of the dead. My broader themes of research include Scandinavian science, the religious Enlightenment, and currents related to Swedenborg's posterity (spiritualism, Romantic literature, anti-slavery, mysticism). Within the context of Nordic, British and French studies, I have written on literary representations of the afterlife, history of anatomy, traveling literature, oneirology, abolitionism and discourses on the North / Borealism.

Supervisor: Professor Robert Iliffe

Current doctoral scholarships:

• Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC-DTP) | British Research Council

• Gilbert Ryle Scholar | Linacre College, University of Oxford

• Doctoral Scholar of the Swedenborg Society (First recipient) | The Swedenborg Society, UK

Education:

• BA, English Studies | Sorbonne Nouvelle

• BA, Nordic Studies | Sorbonne

• MA, Religious Studies | École Pratique des Hautes Études (First class honours)

• MA, History and Philosophy of Science | École Normale Supérieure de Paris (First class honours)

Latest publication:

'Ghosts from other planets': plurality of worlds, afterlife and satire in Emanuel Swedenborg's De Telluribus in mundo nostro solari (1758) | Journal article | Annals of Science, September 2020

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00033790.2020.1817557

Teaching:

• ‘History of physics'
• ‘History of madness and mental healing in a global context’
• ‘History of science’
• ‘The Scientific movement in the 17th century’

Personal page:

https://oxford.academia.edu/VincentRoyDiPiazza