Vera Lazzaretti studied Philosophy and Cultural Anthropology in Italy and holds a Ph.D. in Indian and Tibetan Studies from the University of Turin (2013). Before joining CRIA, she worked at the University of Milan, the University of Oslo and the South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University. Vera’s main field site is urban north India, and her research interests include the anthropology of space and place; religion and politics; contested heritage; securitisation and policing; inter-religious violence; religious offence; pilgrimage; Hindu nationalism; and ethnography.