Buddhism in the West Unit

The Buddhism in the West Unit is seeking to fill two 90-minute sessions and strongly encourages proposals for fully developed panels, roundtable discussions, or other formats focused on a single theme, question, or recent publications. The Unit is happy to support co-sponsorships with other Units including, but not limited to: the Buddhism Unit; the Buddhist Critical-Constructive Reflection Unit; the Asian North American Religion, Culture, and Society Unit; the Space, Place, and Religion Unit; and the Class, Religion, and Theology Unit.   The Unit is particularly interested in responding to the 2024 Presidential Theme: Violence, Nonviolence, and the Margin.    Other topics that have been suggested include:

• Buddhism and Buddhists in conflict zones (e.g., Ukraine, the Middle East, the Americas); contact Upayadhi Luraschi, upayadhi@uchicago.edu
• Buddhism and ambivalence; contact Blayne Harcey, bharcey@asu.edu
• Buddhism, caste, and race (with a possible co-sponsorship with either the Buddhism Unit or the Class, Religion, and Theology Unit)
• Buddhism outside Asia and the transnational (with a possible co-sponsorship with the Space, Place, and Religion Unit)
• Reader response to forthcoming volume on Buddhism in Europe; contact John Harding, john.harding@uleth.ca
• In collaboration with the Critical Approaches to Hip Hop and Religion Unit, an panel or roundtable discussion of the Wu-Tang Clan's album, "Enter the Wu-tang"; contact Justin Smith jmsmith@apu.edu and Daniel White Hodge dan@whitehodge.com
• Empowerment of Lay Buddhist practitioners, egalitarianism, and challenge of Monastic Authority in Asian Buddhist communities outside of Asia; contact: Xiao HAN, han.xiao@courrier.uqam.ca
• Buddhism in Oceania - Beyond East/West and other Binaries; contact Kim Lam, lam@deakin.edu.au
• What is “the West?”; a discussion on theory and method in the study of Buddhism outside Asia; contact Scott Mitchell, scott@shin-ibs.edu
• Buddhist studies academic labor; contact Scott Mitchell and Courtney Bruntz, scott@shin-ibs.edu, cbruntz@southeast.edu

AAR membership is not required to submit a proposal. Please contact the unit co-chairs with questions.