Library Exhibit on Japanese Wood Carvings
A new exhibit at The Regenstein Library, entitled “Buddha, Jesus, and the Japanese American Community in Chicago: Wood Carvings by Harry Koizumi” is now available. The exhibit was curated by Paride Stortini, PhD Candidate, History of Religions, the University of...
Buddhism and Beyond: Sculpture from Buddhist sites in Early Historic India
Tuesday, April 19, 2022, 2:30–6:30 Foster Hall 103 This half-day workshop will focus on sculpture from three different regions with important Buddhist sites in the early centuries of the common era: Gandhara, Andhra, and northern Karnataka. We will discuss the role of...
Dan Arnold Recognized for Excellence in Teaching
The classroom has long been the foundation of a transformative University of Chicago education. This past year, however, students have found inspiration even without traditional classroom settings—guided by faculty who have navigated unusual circumstances with...
Daniel A. Arnold, scholar of Indian Buddhist philosophy, recognized for his exceptional teaching.
The University annually recognizes faculty for exceptional teaching and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students through the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Awards, believed to be the nation’s oldest prize for undergraduate teaching; and...
The study of Buddhism enjoys a long tradition at the University of Chicago, engaging students and faculty from the Divinity School and several Departments in the Humanities and Social Sciences. (For a list of faculty whose work centrally involves Buddhism, see here.) The excellence of work at Chicago in the history, religions, and literatures of South and East Asia provides a rich contextual framework for in-depth consideration of particular developments in the Buddhist world, and the University’s strong commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship broadens the horizons for work in the area. Thus, while there is not (as at some institutions) an official degree-granting program called “Buddhist Studies,” a recent study found that Chicago had produced the greatest number of Buddhist studies scholars holding positions at North American colleges and universities.
Programs in which graduate study relating to Buddhism may be undertaken include those of the departments of Anthropology, Art History, History, East Asian Languages and Civilizations (EALC), and South Asian Languages and Civilizations (SALC), in addition to the many doctoral programs in the Divinity School in which it is possible to study topics in Buddhist studies. Other Departments have also at times hosted research relating to Buddhism, including Music and Comparative Human Development. For those pursuing studies in Buddhism under the aegis of any of these programs, there is the possibility of advanced study in many major Buddhist linguistic and textual traditions, with the University regularly offering courses in the Buddhist languages of East Asia (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), and of South Asia (Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan). Work in such textual traditions is well supported by the University’s outstanding library collections pertaining to these and other languages.
Historically strong in many of the various fields of Buddhist studies, the University is presently home to a mix of both younger and established faculty, and thus figures to be a center of gravity in these fields for a long time to come.
The range of work encouraged in the University’s various programs relating to Buddhist studies is reflected in recent faculty publications, as well as in coursework offered in the various departments and programs that foster Buddhist studies at Chicago.
Members of the University of Chicago community who would like to be apprised about Buddhist studies events may sign up for the University’s Buddhist Studies Listserv. You may also search the University-wide Events Calendar.