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ISHB EVENTS

Info on lectures, conferences, and other happenings at ISHB.

Upcoming Events

No upcoming events at the moment

Past Events

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VIDEOS for some of the talks below are available at the UWest Religious Studies YouTube channel HERE.

  • Shou-Jen Kuo, PhD - 美國西來大學宗教學研究導論 Introduction of Religious Studies, University of the West
    Shou-Jen Kuo, PhD - 美國西來大學宗教學研究導論 Introduction of Religious Studies, University of the West
    Fri, Sep 30
    Via Zoom
    Sep 30, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    Via Zoom
    Details
  • Justin R. Ritzinger, PhD. Food, Family, and Philanthropy: Humanistic Buddhism in a Working-Class Taiwanese Community
    Justin R. Ritzinger, PhD. Food, Family, and Philanthropy: Humanistic Buddhism in a Working-Class Taiwanese Community
    Wed, Sep 28
    Via Zoom
    Sep 28, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
    Via Zoom
    This talk will focus on a case study of a small, working-class lay group, where food plays an especially central role, to look beyond mere abstention from meat to address larger themes in Taiwanese Buddhism as a lived religion.
    Details
  • Dr. Melody Tzu-Lung Chiu - An Overview of Death Rituals in Chinese Buddhist Monasteries of Present-Day Myanmar
    Dr. Melody Tzu-Lung Chiu - An Overview of Death Rituals in Chinese Buddhist Monasteries of Present-Day Myanmar
    Tue, May 10
    Zoom
    May 10, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
    Zoom
    Death rituals and Buddhism are mutually interdependent, and this is especially the case in Chinese contexts. In fact, numerous studies have explored Buddhist funeral or Chinese death rituals; however, present-day Chinese Burmese’s Buddhist death rituals have come under much less scrutiny.
    Details
  • Dr. Elsa Ngar-sze Lau - Pilgrimage, Traveling Gurus and Transnational Networks: Lay Meditation Movement in China
    Dr. Elsa Ngar-sze Lau - Pilgrimage, Traveling Gurus and Transnational Networks: Lay Meditation Movement in China
    Tue, Apr 26
    Zoom
    Apr 26, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
    Zoom
    Drawing from ethnographic study of the lay meditation movement, this lecture discusses a new trend of global religious network developed through pilgrimage and travelling gurus.
    Details
  • Dr. Wei-Yi Cheng - Migration, Mahayana, and Buddhist Mobility: Vietnamese Buddhism in Taiwan
    Dr. Wei-Yi Cheng - Migration, Mahayana, and Buddhist Mobility: Vietnamese Buddhism in Taiwan
    Thu, Apr 07
    Zoom
    Apr 07, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT
    Zoom
    Dr. Cheng introduces the recent development of Vietnamese migration and Buddhist transmission to Taiwan. Utilizing recent fieldwork data, she considers the example of the Yu Lan festival to discuss different renderings and functions of the ritual within the Vietnamese Buddhist community in Taiwan.
    Details
  • Ven. Miao Guang - Re-Orienting the Conversation on Western Buddhism
    Ven. Miao Guang - Re-Orienting the Conversation on Western Buddhism
    Tue, Apr 05
    Zoom
    Apr 05, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
    Zoom
    Ven. Miao Guang is Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s personal English interpreter. She is deputy chancellor at the Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism and adjunct associate professor at the Department of Religious Studies, Nanhua University.
    Details
  • Drs. Amy Paris Langenberg & Ann Gleig: Grassroots Responses to Sexual Violation in American Buddhist Communities
    Drs. Amy Paris Langenberg & Ann Gleig: Grassroots Responses to Sexual Violation in American Buddhist Communities
    Mon, Mar 07
    UWest Campus (AD 208) and on Zoom
    Mar 07, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    UWest Campus (AD 208) and on Zoom
    Drs. Gleig and Langenberg are collaborators on a study of sexual abuse in American Buddhism, titled Abuse, Sex, and the Sangha, which will be published with Yale University Press.
    Details
  • Dr. Yu-Chen Li - Journeys to the South: Chan Buddhist Records from the Chinese Diaspora
    Dr. Yu-Chen Li - Journeys to the South: Chan Buddhist Records from the Chinese Diaspora
    Mon, Feb 28
    Zoom
    Feb 28, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM PST
    Zoom
    Dr. Li discusses the movements of Chinese Buddhism in and from Malaysia and the ways in which monks and nuns understand the localization and globalization of Malaysian Chinese Buddhism.
    Details
  • Dr. Funie Hsu: Re-Orienting the Conversation on Western Buddhism Series
    Dr. Funie Hsu: Re-Orienting the Conversation on Western Buddhism Series
    Tue, Feb 08
    Zoom
    Feb 08, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM PST
    Zoom
    A conversation with Dr. Hsu about her upbringing as an Asian American Buddhist in So. California, her famous 2016 Lion’s Roar Article on the erasure of Asian American Buddhism, and her most recent engagement as a co-organizer of May We Gather, a nat'l Buddhist memorial for Asian American ancestors.
    Details
  • LECTURE - Dr. Ester Bianchi: The Theravāda Model and Early Buddhist Meditation in the Republic of China
    LECTURE - Dr. Ester Bianchi: The Theravāda Model and Early Buddhist Meditation in the Republic of China
    Thu, Jan 27
    Zoom
    Jan 27, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PST
    Zoom
    The talk will inquire into the rediscovery of early meditation techniques in modern China, in an attempt to evaluate the significance of the Theravāda model within this movement.
    Details
  • CONVERSATION - Dr. Jane Iwamura: Revisiting Virtual Orientalism
    CONVERSATION - Dr. Jane Iwamura: Revisiting Virtual Orientalism
    Mon, Dec 06
    Zoom
    Dec 06, 2021, 6:00 PM PST
    Zoom
    The Institute for the Study of Humanistic Buddhism ISHB at University of the West is celebrating the tenth anniversary of Dr. Jane Naomi Iwamura’s groundbreaking study on Western media depictions Asian religions.
    Details
  • LECTURE - Dr. Rongdao Lai: Tracing the Tiantai Lineage in Southeast Asia
    LECTURE - Dr. Rongdao Lai: Tracing the Tiantai Lineage in Southeast Asia
    Tue, Nov 30
    Zoom
    Nov 30, 2021, 6:00 PM PST
    Zoom
    In this talk, Dr. Rongdao Lai offers a survey of Tiantai lineage transmission practice, and examines how these trends shed light on the shifting centers of authority, influence, and legitimacy in modern Chinese Buddhism.
    Details
  • BOOK TALK - Dr. Jack Meng-Tat Chia: Monks in Motion
    BOOK TALK - Dr. Jack Meng-Tat Chia: Monks in Motion
    Tue, Oct 19
    Zoom
    Oct 19, 2021, 6:30 PM PDT
    Zoom
    Professor Jack Meng-Tat Chia from National University of Singapore presents a talk on his recent book, Monks in Motion: Buddhism and Modernity across the South China Sea. See Recording Link in the description below.
    Details
  • BOOK TALK - Dr. Jens Reinke: Mapping Modern Mahayana
    BOOK TALK - Dr. Jens Reinke: Mapping Modern Mahayana
    Thu, Sep 09
    Zoom
    Sep 09, 2021, 6:00 PM PDT
    Zoom
    The University of the West welcomes Dr. Jens Reinke as the new Director of the ISHB. At this inaugural lecture, Dr. Reinke will present on his recent book, Mapping Modern Mahayana: Chinese Buddhism and Migration in the Age of Global Modernity. See Recording Link in the description below.
    Details
  • LECTURE - Dr. Jiang Wu: Pei Xiu & the Fellowship of Dao-learners in Medieval Chan History
    LECTURE - Dr. Jiang Wu: Pei Xiu & the Fellowship of Dao-learners in Medieval Chan History
    Thu, Sep 02
    Zoom
    Sep 02, 2021, 2:00 PM PDT
    Zoom
    In this lecture, Dr. Jiang Wu will examine the culture of Dao-learners in the mid- and late Tang society by focusing on Pei Xiu 裴休 (791-864), a literati follower of Buddhist teachers, the two most eminent among whom were Chan figures Zongmi 宗密 (780-841) and Huangbo Xiyun 黃檗希運 (?-850).
    Details
  • Iain Sinclair - The Religiosity of Newar Buddhism: Mahāyāna or Tantric Śrāvaka?
    Iain Sinclair - The Religiosity of Newar Buddhism: Mahāyāna or Tantric Śrāvaka?
    Tue, Apr 27
    Zoom
    Apr 27, 2021, 2:00 PM PDT
    Zoom
    Dr. Iain Sinclair presents on Newar Buddhism, which is not only the last form of Buddhism existing continuously on the subcontinent, but also the only living Mahāyāna tradition practiced using the original Sanskrit texts.
    Details
  • Dr. John Campbell - The Esoteric Community Tantra with The Illuminating Lamp
    Dr. John Campbell - The Esoteric Community Tantra with The Illuminating Lamp
    Thu, Apr 15
    Zoom
    Apr 15, 2021, 2:00 PM PDT
    Zoom
    A translation of the first 12 chapters of The Glorious Esoteric Community Great King of Tantras (Sri Guhyasamaja Maha-tantra-raja), along with the commentary called The Illuminating Lamp (Pradipoddyotana-nama-tika), in Sanskrit by Chandrakīrti. See Recording Link in the description below.
    Details
  • Dr. Laura Thuy-Loan Nguyen: Trúc Lâm Buddhism in Vietnam
    Dr. Laura Thuy-Loan Nguyen: Trúc Lâm Buddhism in Vietnam
    Tue, Apr 13
    Zoom
    Apr 13, 2021, 5:00 PM
    Zoom
    UWest alum, Laura Thuy-Loan Nguyen, presents her new book, Trúc Lâm Buddhism in Vietnam, which chronicles the history, revival, and globalization of the popular Vietnamese Buddhist sect. See Recording Link in the description below.
    Details