Contemporary Buddhism

• Explicit Authority and Implicit Dharma: Negotiating Buddhism in Finnish MBSR Teacher Training
  Contemporary Buddhism24 March 2025By Ville Waltteri Husgafvel Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandVille Husgafvel is a postdoctoral researcher in the Study of Religion at the University of Helsinki. In his PhD dissertation, he examined the Buddhist influence on the MBSR programme and the historical-ideological continuity between Buddhist modernism and contemporary mindfulness. His current work focuses on the meditation-related learning trajectories of mindfulness teachers and mental health professionals, as well as the use of contemplative pedagogy in sustainability education.
• Monastic Visibility: Monasteries, Tourism, and Outreach in the Buddhist Himalayas
  Contemporary Buddhism11 March 2025By Swargajyoti Gohain Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University, Sonipat, IndiaSwargajyoti Gohain is Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Ashoka University. She has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Emory University, U.S.A., and a Bachelors and Masters in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University. Her research interests include the study of borders and state, cultural politics, Tibetan Buddhist communities, and ecological changes in the Indian Himalayas. Her first book Imagined Geographies in the Indo-Tibetan Borderlands was published by Amsterdam University Press in 2020. Her current book project is on modern Buddhist universities in the Himalayan borderlands.
• For Tomorrow For Tonight: Karma, Kinship and Queerness in the Cinema and Video Art of Apichatpong Weerasethakul
  Contemporary Buddhism11 March 2025By Arnika Fuhrmann Asian Studies/Comparative Literature, Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences, Ithaca, NY, USAArnika Fuhrmann (Asian Studies/Comparative Literature, Cornell University) is an interdisciplinary scholar of Southeast Asia, working at the intersection of the region’s aesthetic and political modernities. She is the author of In the Mood for Texture: The Revival of Bangkok as a Chinese City (forthcoming, Duke University Press), Teardrops of Time: Buddhist Aesthetics in the Poetry of Angkarn Kallayanapong (SUNY Press, 2020), and Ghostly Desires: Queer Sexuality and Vernacular Buddhism in Contemporary Thai Cinema (Duke University Press, 2016).
• The Forgotten History of the Dalai Lama’s Autobiography: Secular, Oral and Transnational Stories
  Contemporary Buddhism28 January 2025By Dhondup Tashi Rekjong Department of Religious Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USADhondup Tashi Rekjong is a Tibetan scholar and doctoral candidate in religious studies at Northwestern University. His writings have appeared in The Journal of Asian Studies, The Journal of Critical Asian Studies, The Journal of Cultural Anthropology, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Lion’s Roar, The Treasury of Lives, and elsewhere. He is an editor of The Tibet Reader, forthcoming from Duke University Press.
• An Introduction to Engaged Buddhism
  Contemporary Buddhism17 December 2024By Hanyi Zhang Ruotong Shi a Humboldt-Universität zu Berlinb Nanjing Normal University - Suiyuan CampusHanyi Zhang is a PhD student at the Chair for Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She received M.A. in Religion and Culture from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, B.Sc. in Economics from Freie Universität Berlin, and B.A. and M.A. degrees in German Studies. Her research interests include religion and sustainable development and eco-Buddhism.Ruotong Shi is a lecturer in the School of Foreign Languages at Nanjing Normal University. She earned her Ph.D. in German Studies from Shanghai International Studies University and completed a one-year academic scholarship at the Faculty of Theology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She holds a B.A. degree in German Studies from Nanjing University of Technology and an M.A. degree in German Translation and Interpreting from Tongji University in Shanghai.
• ‘Buddhism Won’t Be an Asian Thing Anymore’: U.S. Periodical Representations of Buddhism and Whiteness
  Contemporary Buddhism11 December 2024By Matthew W. Hughey Department of Sociology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USAMatthew W. Hughey (Ph.D. Virginia; A.L.M. Harvard; M.Ed. Ohio) is Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut. He is an affiliate scholar at Edge Hill University, Nelson Mandela University, University of Barcelona, and University of Cambridge and has served as an invited visiting professor at Columbia University, London School of Economics, Trinity College-Dublin; University of the Free State; University of Kent, and; University of Warwick. A scholar of “race” and its intersection with religion, science, media, and more, Professor Hughey has received numerous awards and support from sources such as the American Sociological Association, Fulbright Commission, National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, and the Society for the Study of Social Problems.
• Heuristic Approach in Contemporary Chinese Digital Art: Following the Traditions of Buddhism
  Contemporary Buddhism05 August 2024By Li Wu School of Music and Dance, South-Central Minzu University, Wuhan, ChinaLi Wu, associate professor, is a lecturer in the Central South University for Nationalities, WuHan, China. She has specialized in national vocal music education and performance research. Her current research interests are intersections between art, culture and religion, as well as the integration of art concepts into education with heuristic teaching method. Her research has been published as monographs and in volumes and journals of arts, social sciences, theology and religious studies.
• The Power and Authority of Monks in the Contemporary Thai Sangha
  Contemporary Buddhism14 July 2024By Thomas Borchert Department of Religion, University of Vermont, Burlington, VermontThomas Borchert is a Professor of Religion at the University of Vermont.
• Karma and Grace: Religious Difference in Millennial Sri Lanka
  Contemporary Buddhism01 July 2024By Bruno M. Shirley Universität Heidelberg
• Secularising Buddhism: New Perspectives on a Dynamic Tradition
  Contemporary Buddhism21 June 2024By Jingke Xiao University of Oxford, UK
• Understanding Young Buddhists: Living Out Ethical Journeys
  Contemporary Buddhism17 June 2024By Nathan Harrison-Clarke School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of NottinghamNathan Harrison-Clarke is a PhD Researcher at the University of Nottingham School of Sociology and Social Policy. His focus lies in contemporary lived religion and its intersection with sexuality and gender. His PhD research delves into the lived realities of LGBTQ+ Buddhists in Britain.
• Popular Chinese Fonts: The Role of Minimalism, the Influence of Zen and the Bauhaus School
  Contemporary Buddhism06 June 2024By Weirong Wang a Collage of Art and Design, Zhejiang Gongshang University Hangzhou College of Commerce, Hangzhou, Chinab Department of Art, Kharkiv National Academy of Art and Design, Kharkiv, UkraineWeirong Wang is an associate professor at the Hangzhou College of Commerce, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China, and a master’s and PhD student at the Department of Art, Kharkiv National Academy of Art and Design, Kharkiv, Ukraine. Wang’s research interests are Chinese culture, art and Chinese calligraphy.
• Corporate Religion and Spiritual Tourism at a Luxury Tibetan Buddhist Resort
  Contemporary Buddhism15 May 2024By Stephen ChristopherHoang Ngoc Ana International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken), Kyoto, Japanb Columbia University, New York, USAStephen Christopher is a Visiting Fellow at Nichibunken, a research center in Kyoto. He is the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies and an Asia editor at the Database of Religious History (DRH) at the University of British Columbia. He completed postdocs at the University of Copenhagen (2022-24) and Kyoto University (2019). He has taught at nine universities, including Beijing Normal University, Vietnam National University and Tokyo Metropolitan University. He has co-edited four Special Issues (HIMALAYA; Implicit Religion; Journal of Vietnamese Studies; and the Tribal Intellectual Collective) and two books (Springer and Brill). His research explores tribal casteism and refugee politics in the Indian Himalayas, new religions in Japan, and the recent popularization of Tibetan Buddhism in late-socialist Vietnam.Hoang Ngoc An is an academic researcher, museum practitioner and LGBTQI+ rights activist in Vietnam. She is the current recipient of a Fulbright award for graduate studies at Columbia University (2024-25). She has co-published several articles and book chapters on queer politics, spirituality and sexuality, LGBT ethnic minorities, trans medical interventions, parents’ acceptance of LGBT children, and ethnic minority child marriage.
• The Accomplishment of Individual Actions as a Duty on Moral Responsibility for the Growth of Humanism: A Comparative Study on Buddhist and Yogic Teachings
  Contemporary Buddhism03 May 2024By Randika PereraDepartment of Indigenous Health Sciences, Faculty of Indigenous Health Sciences and Technology, Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine, Sri LankaRandika Perera is an academic member of the Department of Indigenous Health Sciences, Faculty of Indigenous Health Sciences and Technology, Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine, Sri Lanka. He began his academic journey by earning a bachelor’s degree majoring in Philosophy and Psychology from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. Currently, he is enrolled in his doctoral degree in Philosophy exploring the comparative nature of early Buddhism and Yoga. As an early career researcher, his fervor lies in exploring the comparative nature of religion and spirituality from philosophical, psychological, and anthropological perspectives. Then, pragmatically apply the explorations for human resilience towards religion and spirituality and advancement of humanity.

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