On March 20, 2026, Ferrara will host the international symposium “D.T. Suzuki: Beyond Culture”, the first Italian academic event entirely dedicated to Daisetz Teitarō Suzuki, a fundamental scholar and interpreter in the dissemination of Zen in the West.
The initiative is promoted by the Department of Humanities of the University of Ferrara, under the scientific direction of Federica Sgarbi and Matteo Vincenzo D’Alfonso, and is part of the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Suzuki’s death and the 160th anniversary of official relations between Italy and Japan.
The symposium aims to revisit Suzuki’s thought and work, highlighting above all his ability to open a philosophical, religious, and intercultural dialogue with some of the most significant voices of the twentieth century. The meeting will focus not only on Suzuki’s historical role in the reception of Zen, but also on his function as a cultural mediator between East and West, which remains decisive today for understanding the contemporary circulation of Buddhist ideas.
The scientific project is structured in two parts. The first will be the in-person session on March 20, 2026, hosted in the Sala dell’Arengo in Ferrara, with the participation of scholars from Italian and Japanese universities. The second will be an international online session, scheduled from April to December 2026, involving some of the leading international voices in Suzuki studies.
The programme will also be accompanied by the bibliographical exhibition “Zen and D.T. Suzuki: A Bridge between East and West”, conceived and scientifically curated by Federica Sgarbi. The exhibition, hosted at the Biblioteca Comunale Ariostea – Sala Ariosto, will be open from March 20 to April 18, 2026, and will offer a path dedicated to the translation, dissemination, and reception of Suzuki’s work. It will present the profile of an author who contributed decisively to transforming Zen into a heritage capable of crossing geographical and cultural boundaries.
The symposium is supported by the patronage of Italian and Japanese academic and institutional bodies, including The Eastern Buddhist Society, the Japan Foundation – Japanese Cultural Institute, the Consulate General of Japan in Milan, the UBI Research Center, and the Italian Philosophical Society.
For the Research Center, participation in this initiative represents a valuable opportunity to support and promote a high-level international exchange on a key figure in the history of contemporary Buddhist thought.
For further information, please consult the pages dedicated to the symposium and the exhibition on the websites of the University of Ferrara and the Biblioteca Ariostea.
