Martina Palladino

My experience in the Low Countries began in Leiden in September 2022 as a Gonda Fellow at IIAS. I immediately met all the other fellows at IIAS and began exchanging with them about academic work, field research, travels, expertise, institutions, and everything that strongly influenced our lives. Most of them were researchers at an early stage, just like me, and so we quickly bonded over the plans and future perspectives—but also the anxieties—that this kind of professional path entails. Coming from different fields and working on a great variety of case studies, my colleagues introduced me to new topics and methodologies during the many events and informal meetings at the pub. 

I was primarily working on translations from Sanskrit, a language that all my colleagues at IIAS had heard of but that few had actually worked on. This, in fact, was not a problem, but rather a stimulus for conversation. I was deeply absorbed in Sanskrit texts, and the regular collaboration with expert scholars at Leiden University, along with the rich Indological resources at the University Library, supported me throughout my stay. The many activities organized at IIAS also proved to be fundamental, teaching me two essential lessons: first, how to make my specialized research accessible to scholars in other fields; and second, how transdisciplinarity is an extremely important element. I presented my work and my main areas of interest on two occasions: my 'lunch lecture', which focused on the topic I was working on, and an 'inspirational session' aimed at showing my colleagues how Sanskrit literature could be fun and interesting. On both occasions, I received very useful feedback and suggestions based on my colleagues’ diverse expertise and research backgrounds.

My experience at IIAS lasted six months and certainly paved the way for my current position at the Department of History at Ghent University in Belgium. For me, this position represents a shift in research focus and a new interdisciplinary challenge. The time I spent in Leiden definitely prepared me for the interview, which took place during my research stay at IIAS, and encouraged me to approach the new topic with an open, transdisciplinary mindset. Indeed, my Gonda Fellowship at IIAS not only greatly enhanced my work on my specific topic through collaborations and access to library resources, but also broadened my perspective on my research interests and fostered new professional relationships.

Martina Palladino is a postdoctoral researcher on the ERC-funded project PhiSci: Philology as Science in 19th-Century Europe, led by Prof. Dr. Paul M. Kurtz at Ghent University. Her subproject focuses on the history of media in nineteenth-century Indo-Iranian philology. She holds a PhD in History and Cultures from the University of Bologna and a PhD in Religions and Philosophies from SOAS University of London.