Claudia ZANCAN

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Sept.2022-Present: Ph.D. Fellow, 38th Cycle, Ca' Foscari University of Venice

Department of Asian and North Africa Studies, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (supervisor: prof. Silvia Vesco). Field of research: Japanese Art and Archaeology

2020-2022: Master of Arts Degree in Language and Civilisation of Asia and mediterranean Africa - Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy

Thesis: "Iconographic and iconological analysis of the subject of the boat in the sōshoku kofun of Northern Kyūshū"

110/110 cum laude

2011-2013: Master of Arts Degree in Archaeology - Leiden University, The Netherlands

Thesis: "Decorated Tombs in Southwest Japan - Behind the Identity and the Socio-Political Developments of the Late Kofun Society in Kyushu"

2007-2010: BA Degree in East Asian Studies: Japanese Language and Culture - University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy

Thesis: "The development of zenpōkōenfun (keyhole) burials in Kofun Period Japan"

110/110 cum laude

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES

October-November 2023: archaeological investigation into the decorated tombs of the Kumamoto area

Official investigation as scientific director to collect data on the decorated tombs in the area

March 2022-May 2022: Collaborator for the project "Jōmon Sea: Navigation in the Origins of Japan" for IRIAE (The International Research Institute for Archaeology and Ethnology)

Translation from Japanese into Italian of archaeological excavation reports from the project's area of investigation.

February 2011-April 2011: Intern at Centre for International Heritage Activities (CIE), Leiden

Organisation of international events in the field of Heritage Management; management of contact and communication with foreign organisations and agencies; cognitive acquisition of the key points in which an international Heritage Management organisation operates; dialogue between the various stakeholders on 'shared memory' in former colonial territories.

January 2013-June 2022: Japanese Language Teacher

PROJECTS

2023  - 2024 Scientific Director of the archaeological mission to Japan SŌSHOKU KOFUN TALE ・ 装飾古墳物語. Project submitted with IRIAE, approved and recognised by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and awarded Institutional Recognition.

CONFERENCES (peer-reviewed presented papers)

2024  [Accepted] "Regional Identity and Kofun Period Horse Culture", EAA (European Association of Archaeologists),Università di Roma La Spaienza, 26-31/08/2024: 

2024: "Living Images, Silent Identities: Exploring the Visual Strategies of Kyūshū's Decorated Tombs and Their Social Significance", 4th International Doctoral Symposium on Asian and African Studies (IDSAAS IV), Apr. 3-4 Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.

2023 "Navigating through Kofun Imagery: An Analysis of the Boat Depictions Found in Decorated Tombs in Northern Kyūshū", EAAA (European Association for Asian Art and Archaeology), University of Ljubljana, Sept 13-17

2022 "Towards New Horizons: Re-thinking the Northern Kyūshū Protohistoric Art and Society through its longlasting Interactions with Korea", KSYS (Korean Studies Young Scholars Workshop) Naples University L'Orientale, Nov. 28

2022 "Arte funeraria del Kyūshū protostorico: identità e simbologia nella rappresentazione dello yugi nei sōshoku kofun della prefettura di Fukuoka" (Funerary art of protohistoric Kyūshū: identity and symbolism in the representation of yugi in the sōshoku kofun of Fukuoka Prefecture), AISTUGIA (Associazione Italiana per gli Studi Giapponesi) annual conference, Bologna University, Sept. 15-17

2021 "Investigating the identity of the Late Kofun Period Ukiha-Kurume decorated tombs", SEAA (Society for East Asian Archaeology) online student conference, Kyungpook National University, June 26-28

2017 "Decorated Tombs in Southwest Japan. Behind the Identity and the Socio-Political Developments of the Late Kofun Society in Kyūshū", EAAA (European Association for Asian Art and Archaeology), Zurich University Aug. 24-27

OTHER LECTURES (invited as guest lecturer)

2024: "Depicting Identity: the Decorated Tombs of Kyūshū and the Socio-Political Changes of Late Kofun Period", Sept. 17, III SEMINARIO INTERNACIONAL «MUNDOS ANTIGUOS DIGITALES»: ASIA Y ÁFRICA, UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID

2024: "Flora and Fauna in the Afterlife: Japanese decorated tombs and their symbolism", Lecture for the Max Plank Insititue of GeoAnthropology, Jena, Apr. 10

2024: "A Study of Symbolism, Iconography, and Identity in Late Kofun Period Decorated Tombs", Lecture for the Master's degree course in 'Archaeology of Death', Feb. 9, University of Lisbon. 

CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION

2024: Co-organiser of the EAA (European Association of Archaeologists) day session 'Advances in Japanese Archaeology', 26-31 August, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy.

2024: Scientific Committee of the workshop "A digital turn in Humanities: Methodologies and issues", Mar. 12-13, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.

2024: Scientific Committee of the PhD Symposium “Metaphors: Conceptualising Horizons of Meaning”, Febr. 26-28, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.

2023: Organiser with Gesshin association of the conference series: "Unearthing Japanese Archaeology - Re-discovering ancient Japan through contemporary studies". Hybrid Format: Ca' Foscari University, Department of Asian and North African Studies - Zoom. Speakers: Dr. Daniele Petrella (IRIAE), prof. Ilona Bausch (Leiden University), prof. Mark Hudson (Max Planck Institute), prof. Maria Shinoto (Heidelberg University).

WORKSHOP

2023 “BeArcheo Summer School”, Turin University

2012 “The Gowland Collection and the Archaeology of the Later Kofun Period”, by prof. Simon Kaner and prof. Ichinose Kazuo, British Museum, London

MEMBERSHIP

AISTUGIA (Associazione Italiana per gli Studi Giapponesi)

IRIAE (International Research Institure for Archaeology and Ethnology)

EAAA (European Association for Asian Art and Archaeology)

SEAA (Society for East Asian Archaeology)

EAA (European Association of Archaeologists)

ISEAS (Italian School of East Asian Studies)

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Italian: native speaker

English: advanced

Japanese: advanced

French: intermediate

Spanish: intermediate

Chinese: elementary

Korean: elementary