Education
- Ph.D. in Philosophy, University of Vienna, Austria, 2016
Dissertation: Saturn and Talisman: The Heterogeneous Concepts of Magic as Presented in Marsilio Ficino’s De Vita Libri Tres (written in German) - Mag. phil. in Philosophy, University of Vienna, Austria, 2009
Biography
Dr. Susanne Kathrin Beiweis is an expert in the history of philosophy and the history of ideas with a special focus on Renaissance and Early Modern Philosophy. She specializes in Renaissance Platonism, Ficino, and Renaissance Magic, and is particularly interested in the relations between learned magic, the arts, and natural philosophy in the Renaissance. Her work examines how the tradition of learned magic in the Renaissance contributed to the emergence of modern science in the seventeenth century.
Dr. Beiweis has held academic appointments in Canada and Asia, including as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Mount Allison University and as a Research Associate at Sun Yat-sen University in China. Her academic journey has also included research fellowships in Finland, Austria, and Germany, and she has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes.
Areas of Specialization
- History of Philosophy
- Renaissance and Early Modern Philosophy (esp. Platonism, Ficino, and Renaissance Magic)
Areas of Competence
- Ancient Greek Philosophy (esp. Platonism and Neo-Platonism)
- Medieval Philosophy
- Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
Professional Appointments
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Mount Allison University (2024–2025)
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Mount Allison University (2023–2024)
- Research Associate, Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai Campus), Sun Yat-sen University, China (2017–2023)
- Visiting Fellow, Department of Music, Art, and Cultural Studies, Jyväskylä University, Finland (2023)
Selected Publications
- Cross-Cultural Approaches to Consciousness: Mind, Nature, and Ultimate Reality, London: Bloomsbury Academics, 2022 (co-edited with I. Shani)
- “The Rationality of Erotic Desire: Sappho, Aristophanes, Diotima, and Héloïse on the Nature of Romantic Love,” International Journal of Psychotherapy, 28.2 (2024): 95–114 (with A. Procyshyn)
- “On Seeing the Same Image Differently,” The Philosophers’ Magazine (2024), with H. Briel – Read Online
- “Aged Scholars, Screech-Owls, Sagae and (the Power of) Human Blood in Ficino’s De Vita Longa,” Rinascimento, 63 (2023), with L. Ockenström
- “Fear of the Other: The Ottoman Turk in Machiavelli’s La Mandragola,” Clio: A Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of History, 49.1 (2021)
- “Memory, Mercury, and Magic in Marsilio Ficino’s De Vita,” Rinascimento, LIX (2019): 271–296, with L. Ockenström
- “‘Naturam ars imitatur’: Magical Images within Marsilio Ficino’s De Vita Libri Tres,” Verbum – Analecta Neolatina, 1–2 (2018): 155–180
Awards and Grants
- Teaching Excellence Award, Sun Yat-sen University (2021)
- Career Development Grant, Sun Yat-sen University, China (2017–2020)
Languages
- German (Native)
- English (Advanced)
- Italian (Beginner)
- Latin (Intermediate reading and translating)
- Ancient Greek (Beginner reading)
Selected Conference Activity
- “Stoic Materialism & The Concept of Pneuma in Marsilio Ficino,” OSZW Workshop on Ancient and Early (Meta-)Physics, University of Utrecht, Netherlands (2019)
- “Mercurial Talismans: Magic & Memory in Marsilio Ficino’s De Vita,” International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, UK (2018)
- “Antipodes: Ficino’s Magus & Machiavelli’s New Prince,” 24th World Congress of Philosophy, Beijing, China (2018)
- “On the Bonding of Spirits: Magic Within Giordano Bruno,” Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, New Orleans, USA (2018)
Service to Profession
- Article Reviewer, Intellectual History Review (2023)
- Vice Chief Editor, Ficino’s Collected Works (Chinese translation project), Sichuan University, China (2017–present)
Professional Associations
- Digital Medievalist (DM), Member since 2016
- Renaissance Society of America, Member since 2013
- Wiener Gesellschaft für interkulturelle Philosophie (WiGiP), Member since 2012
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