Getting Buddhist Philosophy (and other non-Western thought) into the academy
Last Wednesday, Jay Garfield (who I wrote about in 2013) and Bryan Van Norden published an op-ed in the NYTimes calling for the renaming of university “Philosophy” departments to something like...
View Article“Our Buddhist University and the Role of Intellectualism in our Studies” a...
The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Universities (IABS), based in Bangkok, has issued a call for papers today examining the role of intellectualism in Buddhist studies. The key...
View ArticleKing’s College London – Buddhist Studies Research Seminars
King’s College London Buddhist Studies Research Seminars (2016-17) Room VWB 3.01 at 5.00pm Theology and Religious Studies Virginia Woolf Building 22 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NR Friday 14 Oct 2016...
View ArticleIn the Obituary of a Tibetan Buddhism scholar, some ominous words
The obituary for Elliot Sperling begins as most do, noting the peaks of the man’s life: 66 years of vitality, a MacArthur (genius) Fellowship, and a reshaping of our understanding of Sino-Tibetan...
View ArticleThe Nature of Reality: Buddhist Scholar Alan Wallace in dialogue with...
During my undergraduate studies in philosophy at the University of Montana, I took a ‘capstone’ class on Philosophy of Mind. We started with Descartes, setting out the direction that Western thinkers...
View ArticleAn End of Academic Critique: Mindfulness and a Philosophy of Humility
Teetering on the edge of academia, I watch eagerly as each new hiring cycle rises and falls. This year marks the first season that my PhD, the longest single endeavor of my life, is finally done. My...
View ArticleA Teaching Philosophy as Revolutionary Manifesto
Sixteen hours of travel and four hours of sleep left me particularly jet-lagged and head-achy as I arrived in Hong Kong on Monday. I am starting a semester-long position as a Visiting Instructor at the...
View ArticleThe psychedelic drug debate: why Buddhist ethics matters
Last month I covered the revived discussion amongst Buddhists in North America about psychedelic drug use. One fascinating aspect of this work was seeing the various forms of reasoning used by those...
View ArticleA wrap-up of 2018 life adventures (a short version)
Those who follow this space might have noticed a steady decline in posts in 2018. Part of this is due to very positive developments in my personal life (getting engaged and getting married), and a...
View ArticleThe ongoing importance of Engaging with Buddhism
Nearly every week I encounter the idea that Buddhism should somehow be kept ‘pure’ and separate from our ordinary, mundane lives. For many, it seems, Buddhism must exist in an ethereal realm apart from...
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