2022 Glorisun International and Intensive Program, co-organized by the Glorisun Network for Buddhist Studies at UBC and Yale University

[Photo courtesy of Mingli Sun, taken in front of the Bingling si 炳靈寺 Grotto Complex, Yongjing 永靖, Gansu, China.]

2022 Glorisun International and Intensive Program, co-organized by Glorisun Network for Buddhist Studies at UBC and Yale University

(July 20 – August 9, 2022, ONLINE, in collaboration with Yale University)

The Glorisun Global Network for Buddhist Studies, whose members are Peking University, UBC, Hamburg, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, UC Berkeley, Harvard FAS CAMLab, University of Hong Kong, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem, cordially invites applications for an intensive program on Buddhist Studies. This intensive program is administered by the Glorisun Global Network for Buddhist Studies at UBC and the FROGBEAR project at UBC, with assistance from the Glorisun Global Network for Buddhist Studies at Yale. Lasting from July 20 to August 9, 2022, this program is composed of two segments: Segment 1 from July 20–28 and Segment 2 from August 2–10, which are connected by an intersegmental conference and a student forum (July 29–31, Aug 2).

The backbone of this program consists of eleven lectures and lecture series delivered by international scholars:

• Imre GALAMBOS (Cambridge): “The Afterlife of Manuscripts in Buddhist Cultures of East and Central Asia” (Lecture Series, Segment 1)
• Eric GREENE (Yale): “From chan to Chan: the theory and practice of Buddhist meditation in early medieval China” (Lecture Series, Segment 2)
• Ann HEIRMAN (Ghent): “What about Animals in a Buddhist Monastery? Some Thoughts by the Vinaya Master Daoxuan (道宣, 596–667)” (Lecture 2 Segment 1)
• Birgit KELLNER (Austrian Academy of Sciences): “Philosophy and the study of Buddhism: Perspectives and Problems”  (Lecture 3, Segment 2)
• Matthew ORSBORN (Oxford): “Translating Buddhist texts: theory and practice” (Lecture 1, Segment 1)
• James ROBSON (Harvard): Monasteries and Madhouses: On the Care and Confinement of the Insane in Early Modern and Contemporary East Asian Buddhism (Yin-Cheng Lecture, Segment 2)
• Jacqueline STONE (Princeton): “The Tendai Buddhist Tradition and Lotus Sūtra Interpretation in Heian and Medieval Japan” (Lecture Series, Segment 1)
• Barend TER HAAR (Hamburg): “Thinking through socio-religious change from the Han to the late imperial period” (Lecture Series, Segment 1)
• Eugene WANG (Harvard CAMLab): “Chinese Buddhist Towers” (Lecture Series, Segment 2)
• ZHAN Ru (Peking): “Monastery Networks in Sui-Tang China and Beyond” (Lecture Series, Segment 2)
• Monika ZIN (Leipzig University): “The Buddha, the Dead and the Demons” (Lecture 4, Segment 2)

The theme for the intersegmental conference (scheduled for July 29–31) for this year’s intensive program is International Conference on “How Zen Became Chan: Pre-modern and Modern Representations of a Transnational East Asian Buddhist Tradition“. The conference will bring together 25–30 top scholars from all over the world. Student participants are expected to attend and, if they have relevant papers, may also present at the conference. Details of the conference are available here.

In addition to participating in these lectures and the intersegmental conference, student participants are also encouraged to present their research papers to their program instructors, lecturers, and their peer participants. Participants are required to take part in all of the activities supported by the program, including the lecture series, the conference, and student forum. Travel permitting, outstanding students may be selected and invited to carry out short-term (3–12 months long) research at UBC and UBC’s partner universities in East Asia, Europe and North America that are linked together through a large SSHRC-sponsored international and interdisciplinary project on Buddhism and East Asian Religions (frogbear.org). This may further bring them the opportunity of pursuing doctoral degrees or doing postdoctoral research at these top universities.

General Schedule:

Segment 1 

*participation in session 3 is optional for students in East Asia, who may watch the recorded sessions afterwards

** Segment 1 Session 3 will be recorded for viewing by participants later

 Segment 2 

* participation in session 1 is optional for students on West Coast, who may watch the recorded sessions afterwards

***Segment 2 Session 1 will be recorded for viewing by participants later

Senior undergraduate students and graduate students specializing in any Buddhist tradition(s), and postdoctoral fellows working on relevant fields, are encouraged to apply. Priority is given to students that have not previously attended an intensive program.

Please direct applications and inquiries to FrogBear.Project@ubc.ca. Each application will include (1) an application form, (2) updated curriculum vitae, and (3) one writing sample, submitted through the online Application Form.

In addition, a reference letter must be emailed separately by the referee directly to the above email address. Priority will be given to those applicants who are able to participate in both segments, although applications may also be considered from applicants who can only take part in one segment due to compelling reasons. We will be delivering the intensive program online using Zoom. More details will be provided at a closer date. Please send in your applications by April 15, 2022.

To guarantee sufficient interaction of student participants with instructors and between student participants themselves, student enrollment is limited to 35. There are NO administration or tuition fees.