[Blog] Digital Humanities Workshop at McMaster University

By Shanshan Zhao On May 26th and 27th, 2018, the McMaster University Centre for Buddhist Studies held a graduate student workshop entitled “Digital Humanities for Research in East Asian Religions.” This workshop was sponsored by the Tianzhu Global Network in Buddhist Studies. More than twenty graduate students from nearly twenty universities in North America gathered …

[Blog] Buddhism and Economics: Individual, City, and State: A Reflection of the “Buddhism and Business, Market and Merit” Conference at UBC

By Shanshan Zhao From June 16th to 18th, 2017, an international conference titled “Buddhism and Business, Market and Merit: Intersections between Buddhism and Economics Past and Present” was held at the University of British Columbia (UBC). It was sponsored by UBC Buddhist Studies Forum and the newly funded SSHRC partnership project on Buddhism and East …

[Blog] Writing on the Wall: Manuscripts & Caves – A Talk by Professor Eugene Wang at Research Roundtable: East Asian Manuscript and Print as Harbingers of the Digital Future

By Shanshan Zhao The significance of manuscript and print culture in the historical transmission of religion, art, and literature in East Asia can be paralleled with today’s digital media. The transition from manuscript to print and the historical development of reading and printing techniques in pre-modern Asia may inform our understanding of the modern transition …

[Blog] HH Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa on The Relevance of Tibetan Buddhism in the 21st Century

By Shanshan Zhao The development of technology and urbanization in the contemporary society has set more people free from farm and traditional labor. Worries and concerns have been raised towards this rapid progress, yet many Buddhist teachers regard it as an advantage for the spread and practice of Buddhism. On May 15th, 2016, His Holiness …

[Blog] Madness and Buddhist Compassion – A Talk by Dr. Mark Unno (UBC, March 21, 2016)

By Shanshan Zhao On March 21, 2016, the Buddhism and Contemporary Society at the University of British Columbia welcomed Dr. Mark Unno from the University of Oregon, with his guest lecture titled “Madness and Buddhist Compassion.” In his lecture, Dr. Unno examined various definitions of "madness" in both Western and Japanese contexts, its social impact …

[Blog] Buddhist Art: A Fragile Inheritance – A Reflection on The Film Screening at UBC (February 17, 2016)

By Shanshan Zhao From Bhutan and Ladakh in the Himalayas to the Dunhuang Grottoes on the Silk Road in China, the spread of Buddhism has left numerous historical artistic treasures. Many of them, however, have already disappeared or been damaged. The sumptuous film “Buddhist Art: A Fragile Inheritance” by award-winning filmmakers Mark Stewart Productions tells …