Alexander Sogo

Field: East Asian Religion
Advisor: Michael Como
Email: acs2299@columbia.edu

Alex is a PhD student in premodern Japanese religion. His studies focus on demonic spirits, possession, exorcism in Heian Japan. This work frequently overlaps with topics such as disease etiology and healing, as well as questions of the identity of “Shinto” in the premodern period. He is also interested in modern issues surrounding theories of religion and magic both in the West and in Japan.
Alex received a BA in Music and Religious Studies from Brown University (2015) and an MA in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley (2017).