Research Assistant, MRes in Social Anthropology
+386 1 4706 583
luka.benedicic@zrc-sazu.si
Luka Benedičič is a PhD student in Social Anthropology at the Postgraduate School ZRC SAZU. Since October 2024, he has been a Research Assistant at the Institute of Anthropological and Spatial Studies. His research engages with the anthropology of religion, the anthropology of mind, and the anthropology of ideas.
He completed his MRes at the University of St Andrews, which involved short-term fieldwork at Plum Village, a Buddhist monastery with ties to Vietnam, located in southwest France. His research focused on suffering as an ethnographic category, exploring how the monastic community and individual monks design healing practices to address the existential situations and psychological distress of the monks. Many of these practices articulate a qualitative difference between suffering “in here” and “outside [the monastery]”.
He is also interested in the place of theological knowledge in the lives of Catholic Christians in Ljubljana. He is particularly occupied with how to write anthropologically about intellectual self-cultivation, specifically regarding the impact that contemplating theological ideas has on the everyday, mental, and spiritual lives of individuals. More generally, he is intrigued by the ways in which theological knowledge can act as a register in anthropological thinking and writing.
Luka Benedičič’s PhD research explores values and self-cultivation in the lives of individuals and communities in northern Laos. The research emphasizes households whose lifeworlds have undergone changes in times of nationwide commitments such as to green infrastructure and sustainable tourism. A particular research focus is on the ongoing adaptations in Buddhist and animist cosmologies, as well as the evolving ideas at their intersection.
Luka Benedičič & Andraž Fink. 2023. “Drawing the Kindling of Spiritual Experiences on the Example of the Ignatian Retreat House and the Society for Krishna Consciousness in Ljubljana (In Slovenian).” 2023. Bulletin of the Slovene Ethnological Society 63(2): 33–45.
Luka Benedičič. 2022. “The Burning Monk: Review of a Buddhist’s Self-Immolation During the Vietnam War.” Poligrafi 27(1/2): 5–26.
Luka Benedičič. 2022. “Gestus and Taboo: A Study of Bertolt Brecht.” Amfiteater: Journal of Performing Arts Theory 10(1): 316–329.
Luka Benedičič graduated in Sociology of Culture (2022) from the University of Ljubljana and obtained his MRes in Social Anthropology (2023) from the University of St Andrews. In the academic year 2023/24, he was a Master’s student at the Institute of Anthropology at the University of Heidelberg. Through study exchanges and research scholarships, he received additional training at the University of Salamanca, Pompeu Fabra University-Barcelona, and CY Cergy Paris University. He is also active as a poet, literary critic, and editor of an online platform for poetry.