Trent Pomplun
Associate Professor
Primary Area: World Religions and World Church
Biography
Prof. Pomplun’s expertise extends from late medieval to modern thought, with special emphasis on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He has published on the history of scholastic theology, Catholic missions in Asia, and Indo-Tibetan religion and culture. He is chiefly absorbed in the study of Ippolito Desideri, a Jesuit who lived in Tibet during the early eighteenth century. When not squinting at Tibetan manuscripts, he studies both eastern and western traditions of scholasticism.
Research Interests
Scholasticism, Buddhist Studies, Indo-Tibetan Religion and Culture, History of Religions, Mission History
Selected Publications
“Like No Other in the World: Ippolito Desideri on Tibetan Religion,” Journal of Early Modern History 24 (2020): 537–57.
“The Alphabetum Tibetanum of Agostino Antonio Giorgi (1711–1797): Between Augustinianism and the History of Religions.”History of Religions 59 (2020): 193–221.
“John Duns Scotus in the History of Medieval Philosophy from the Sixteenth Century to Étienne Gilson (†1978).” Bulletin de philosophie médiévale 58 (2016): 355–445.
“The Theology of Gerard Manley Hopkins: From John Duns Scotus to the Baroque.” The Journal of Religion 95 (2015): 1–34.
Jesuit on the Roof of the World: Ippolito Desideri’s Mission to Tibet. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Education
- Ph.D., The University of Virginia