Valentina Sagaria Rossi
Senior Fellow 2025–2026

Valentina Samaria Rossi explores how texts in Arabic script shape—and are shaped by—the intellectual worlds that transmit them. Trained in Arabic philology, her research focuses on classical Arabic paremiology and textual transmission, especially in Yemen. She examines how knowledge is preserved and authorized through copying, commentary, and scholarly exchange.

Work with Arabic manuscripts in European and Middle Eastern collections has led me to study scribal practices, marginal notes, and the formation of textual corpora and literary canons. A key milestone in her career was directing a major manuscript digitization initiative at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, which strengthened her commitment to integrating close textual analysis with digital humanities.

Velentina's current research investigates how modern Western Orientalism has shaped the classification and interpretation of Arabic manuscript traditions, influencing cataloguing systems and disciplinary categories. By combining philology, manuscript studies, and digital methods, she adopts a transdisciplinary approach that links intellectual history with broader debates on knowledge production and cultural heritage.