Curriculum Vitæ
Christian K. Wedemeyer
The University of Chicago Divinity School
1025 East 58th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637 USA
(773) 702-8265 (phone) • (773) 702-8223 (fax)
Education
Ph.D. with Distinction, May 1999. Columbia University, New York, NY.
• In Religion, specialization in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism; disciplinary minor in Philosophy.
• Dissertation: “Vajrayāna and its Doubles: A critical historiography, exposition, and translation of the Tantric works of Āryadeva.”
M.Phil., Religion (Buddhist Studies), 1995. Columbia University, New York, NY.
• Worked in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Japanese languages, esoteric Buddhist texts, Tibetan and Sanskrit manuscripts, textual criticism, and method in comparative religions.
A.M., Religion, 1994. Columbia University, New York, NY.
• Worked in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Japanese languages, Buddhist texts, history of world religions, and methodology in Religious Studies and Indology.
• MA thesis: “Orientalism is a Humanism?!: Materials and methods for an history and auto-critique of Buddhist Studies”
B.A., with High Honors, 1991. Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT.
• Double major in Philosophy and Religion
• University of Wisconsin-Madison College Year Program in Nepal, 1989–90
• Honors thesis: “Situation and Ratiocination: The Lam-rim tradition as philosophical critique and praxis”
Teaching and Professional Experience
Associate Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School, July 2011–present
• Associate Member of the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, July 2011–present
Duties: Teach courses and administer examinations to M.A. and Ph.D. students in the History of Religions (also Philosophy of Religion, Islamic Studies, and the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations) with particular area responsibility for South Asian Buddhist Studies.
Divinity School service: Area Chair, History of Religions (2004–06 and 2011–14); Academic Policy Committee (2006–08; chair ’07–08), Search Committee in Environmental Ethics (2012–13), Search Committee in History of Religions (2004–05, 05–06, 10–11, and 11–12), Undergraduate Studies Committee (2005–07, 2010–12), Committee on Degrees (2004–05), Committee on Admissions and Aid (2005–06, 10–11, 12–13), ad hoc Working Committee on Redeveloping Divinity School Cloister Garden (2012–13), and ad hoc MA Curriculum Committee (2006–07).
University service: Assistant Marshal of the University (2013–present), Committee on Southern Asian Studies (2003–present), Council of the University Senate (2011–2012, and 2013–16), Committee of the Council of the University Senate (2013–14), University Board of the Library (2006–09), Sustainability Council (2007–09), and Ad Hoc Committee for an Energy and Environmental Policy (2009–10). Served on dissertation committees, administered doctoral exams and guided qualifying papers for the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations; served on search committee for SALC Lecturer in Tibetan (2010).
Courses taught: “Introduction to Religion and the Human Sciences,” “Classical Theories of Religion,” “Indian Buddhism,” “Tibetan Buddhism,” “Ritual in South Asian Buddhism,” “Mahāyāna Sūtra Literature,” “Issues in Indian Esoteric Buddhism,” “Buddhism in the Americas,” “Tibetan Auto/biography,” “Readings in Tibetan Religious Literature,” Third-year Tibetan, Fourth-year Tibetan, Advanced Tibetan, “Buddhism in the Americas,” “Studies in Buddhism: The Classics,” “Representation and Ideology in the Study of South Asian Religions,” “Readings in the History of Religions: the ‘Chicago School,’” and “Contemporary Perspectives on the History of Religions.”
Assistant Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School, July 2003–June 2011.
• Duties, teaching, and service, as above.
Lecturer in South Asian Studies and Director of Tibetan Studies Area, Department of Asian Studies (Asien-instituttet), University of Copenhagen (Københavns Universitet), Denmark, August 2000–July 2003.
• Taught and administered exams in South Asian (Indian and Tibetan) language, history, religion, and culture; administered M.A and B.A. programs in Tibetan Studies; guided M.A. students for the Philosophy Dept.
• Courses offerings: Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Indo-Tibetan Tantric Traditions, Topics in Buddhist Philosophy, Tibetan language (all levels, classical and modern), Tibetan Literature: Auto/biography, and The Politics of Representation: Methodology and Ideology in South Asian Studies.
Instructor, Barnard College, Columbia University, June–August 1999 and June–August 2000.
• Taught lecture/fieldwork course “Religious Worlds of New York.”
Postdoctoral Research Scholar, New College, University of South Florida, January–May 2000.
• Conducted research in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and worked on new curricular initiatives.
Adjunct Instructor, Antioch University Buddhist Studies Program (India), Sep–Dec 1995 and Sep–Dec 1999.
• Taught courses on Buddhist Philosophy, Meditative Traditions, and Tibetan language; advised students doing field research projects; acted as advisor in residential study-abroad program.
Preceptor and Instructor, Columbia University, May 1995–May 1999.
• Taught “Contemporary Civilization”: yearlong Core Curriculum course on Western intellectual history (1997–99).
• Team-taught “Colloquium on Major Works in the Oriental Traditions” (Sep. 1996–Dec. 1996).
• Taught “Indo-Tibetan Buddhism” (Instructor: May 1995–July 1995).
Instructor and Teaching Assistant, Columbia University, September 1993–May 1995.
• Taught Tibetan language; team-taught graduate course on “Religious Traditions of Asia.”
• Teaching Assistant for “Buddhist Ethics,” “Indo-Tibetan Buddhism,” “Tibetan Civilization,” and “Topics in Tibetan Philosophy,” (Professor R. A. F. Thurman).
Teaching Assistant, Columbia University, September 1992–May 1993.
• Lectured, counseled, and evaluated students in “Indo-Tibetan Buddhism,” “Buddhist Ethics,” “Tibetan Civilization,” and “Religious Traditions of Asia” taught by Professor R. A. F. Thurman.
Teaching Apprentice, Wesleyan University, September 1990–May 1991.
• “Intro. to Buddhism” (Prof. J. H. Stone II) and “Issues in Buddhist Philosophy” (Prof. L. Nordstrom).
Books (forthcoming or in preparation)
Tantric Practices of the Esoteric Community: Ritual and Exegetical Works of the Noble Tradition (Nāgārjuna, Āryadeva, Nāgabodhi, Candrakīrti). Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences Series. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies (in preparation for publication in autumn 2014)
Brokering the Tantras: Commentarial Practices in India and Tibet (work in progress)
Glorious Esoteric Community Tantra (Guhyasamāja) with the ‘Illumination of the Lamp’ Commentary (Pradīpoddyotana) of Candrakīrti. (two volumes in progress)
Books (published or in press)
Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism: History, Semiology, and Transgression in the Indian Traditions. South Asia Across the Disciplines Series. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.
• Winner of the 2013 American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion (Historical)
• Reviewed in Journal of Religion (forthcoming) by John Nemec
• Reviewed in South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies by David Templeman (36:3, pp. 476–477).
• Reviewed in Religious Studies Review by Justin McDaniel (forthcoming).
• Required graduate student reading, University of Pennsylvania.
In Vimalakīrti’s House: A Festschrift in Honor of Robert A. F. Thurman on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday, edited by Christian K. Wedemeyer, John D. Dunne, and Thomas F. Yarnall. Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences Series. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2013.
Hermeneutics, Politics, and the History of Religions: The Contested Legacies of Joachim Wach and Mircea Eliade, edited by Christian K. Wedemeyer and Wendy Doniger (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).
• Reviewed in Journal of Religious History, vol. 36, no. 4 (Dec 2012), 626–627.
The Caryāmelāpakapradīpa – SARIT Transcript, Sanskrit text edited by Christian K. Wedemeyer, TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) markup by Richard Mahoney. London: SARIT (Search and Retrieval of Indic Texts), 2009. [published online; URL: http://sarit.indology.info/newphilo/getobject.pl?c.6:1.indologica]
Āryadeva’s Lamp that Integrates the Practices (Caryāmelāpakapradīpa): The Gradual Path of Vajrayāna Buddhism according to the Esoteric Community Noble Tradition. Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences Series. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2007.
• Reviewed: Prof. Giacomella Orofino, University of Naples. H-Buddhism, H-Net Reviews. September, 2009.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=23885
Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis: Studies in its Formative Period, 900–1400 (Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Oxford 2003, vol. 4), edited by Ronald M. Davidson and Christian K. Wedemeyer. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
Articles (in preparation)
“Thus Have We Heard: Rhetorics of Seduction and Solidarity in Mahāyāna Sūtra Literature” (in preparation)
“The ‘Third Tortoise Tale’ (Kacchapa Jātaka III): Tongue-(or something-)in-cheek soteriology in the Pāli Canon” (in preparation).
“Ex cathedra or ad hoc?: On the Diversity and Textuality of Esoteric Buddhist Commentary” (in preparation)
Articles (published or in press)
“Appraising Praises: Bu ston’s ‘Praise [entitled] “All Wishes Fulfilled”’ and its Genre in South Asian Buddhist Literature,” in C. K. Wedemeyer, J. D. Dunne, and T. F. Yarnall, eds., In Vimalakīrti’s House: A Festschrift in Honor of Robert A. F. Thurman on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday (AIBS, 2013).
“Sex, Death, and ‘Reform’ in Eleventh-century Tibetan Buddhist Esoterism: ’Gos Khug-pa Lhas-btsas, spyod pa (caryā), and mngon par spyod pa (abhicāra),” in Todd T. Lewis and Bruce Owens, eds., Sucāruvādadeśika: A Festschrift Honoring Prof. Theodore Riccardi, Jr. (forthcoming, 2011).
“Locating Tantric Antinomianism: An Essay toward an Intellectual History of the ‘Practices/Practice Observance’ (caryā/caryāvrata),” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 34, no. 1–2 (2011 [2012]), pp. 349–419.
“Introduction I: Two Scholars, a ‘School,’ and a Conference,” in Chr. K. Wedemeyer and W. Doniger, eds., Hermeneutics, Politics, and the History of Religions: The Contested Legacies of Joachim Wach and Mircea Eliade, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. xv–xxvi.
“Pseudepigrapha in the Tibetan Buddhist Canonical Collections: The Case of the Caryāmelāpakapradīpa Commentary Attributed to Śākyamitra,” Journal of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, vol. 5 (Dec 2009), pp. 1–31.
“Cette fraude littéraire ne peut tromper personne: Jo nang Tāranātha and the Historiography of the gSang ’dus ’phags lugs,” in Maret Kark and Horst Lasic, eds., Studies in the Philosophy and History of Tibet. PIATS 2006 Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Königswinter 2006. Bonn: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2011, pp. 145–174.
“Beef, Dog and Other Mythologies: Connotative Semiotics in Mahāyoga Tantra Ritual and Scripture” in Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 75, no. 2 (June 2007), pp. 383–417. Online: http://jaar.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/lfm006?ijkey=bkajNBGbqo2ecbb&keytype=ref
• Translated into Chinese in Li-jie-mi-jiao (Perceiving Tantric Buddhism), ed. Weirong Shen (forthcoming).
“Tantalising Traces of the Labours of the Lotsāwas: Alternative Translations of Sanskrit Sources in the Writings of Rje Tsong kha pa,” in Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis: Studies in its Formative Period, 900–1400, ed. R. M. Davidson and Chr. K. Wedemeyer (Leiden: Brill, 2006), pp. 149–182.
“Introduction: Envisioning the Topography” and “Conclusion: Prominent Peaks, Obscure Valleys, and Mirages,” co-authored with Ronald M. Davidson, in Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis: Studies in its Formative Period, 900–1400, ed. R. M. Davidson and Chr. K. Wedemeyer (Leiden: Brill, 2006), pp. 1–6 and 261–262.
“Bon” in Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Robert E. Buswell, Jr., ed. (New York: Macmillan, 2003), pp. 66–68.
“Antinomianism and Gradualism: The contextualization of the practices of sensual enjoyment (caryā) in the Guhyasamāja Ārya Tradition,” The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies, (New Series) No. 3 (2002), pp. 181–195.
“Fødsels- og genfødsels-processer i den tantriske buddhisme” [“Processes of Birth and Rebirth in Tantric Buddhism”], Buddhistisk Forum, vol. X, no.1 (2002), pp. 14–22.
“Tropes, Typologies, and Turnarounds: A Brief Genealogy of the Historiography of Tantric Buddhism,” History of Religions, vol. 40, no. 3 (February 2001), pp. 223–259.
• Translated into Chinese in Li-jie-mi-jiao (Perceiving Tantric Buddhism), ed. Weirong Shen (forthcoming).
“Vows” in Encyclopedia of Women and World Religions, ed. Serinity Young (New York: Macmillan, 1998), pp. 1016–1018.
Selected, Recent Book Reviews
Khetsün, Shin’ichiro Miyake, Maho Iuchi, and Shoko Metaka, eds. History of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism by dGe ye Tshul Khrims seng ge: A Critical and Facsimile Edition of the Tibetan Text with Summary and Index, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 128, no. 4 (Oct–Dec 2008), pp. 780–82.
Lopez, Donald S., Jr., ed. Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism, in Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 76, no. 1 (March 2008), pp. 240–43.
Hodge, Stephen, The Mahā-vairocana-abhisaṃbodhi Tantra with Buddhaguhya’s Commentary, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 127, no. 4 (2007), pp. 530–32.
Davidson, Ronald M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement, in History of Religions, vol. 45, no. 4 (May 2006), pp. 373–376.
Kajiyama, Yuichi. An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy: An Annotated Translation of the Tarkabhāṣā of Mokṣākaragupta, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 124, no. 2 (2004), p. 406.
Dreyfus, Georges B. J. The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk, in Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 72, no. 4 (Winter 2004), pp. 1028–1031.
Bühnemann, Gudrun. The Iconography of Hindu Tantric Deities, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Series 3, Vol. 14, Part 3 (Nov 2004), pp. 280–282.
Harper, Katherine A. and Robert L. Brown, The Roots of Tantra, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Series 3, Vol. 14, Part 2 (July 2004), pp. 138–140.
Powers, John. Jñānagarbha’s Commentary on Just the Maitreya Chapter from the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra: Study, Translation and Tibetan Text, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 123, no. 3 (2003), pp. 685–688.
Handurukande, Ratna. Three Sanskrit Texts on Caitya Worship: In Relation to Ahorātravrata, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 12, part 1 (April 2002), pp. 112–113.
Dreyfus, Georges B. J. Recognizing Reality: Dharmakīrti’s Philosophy and its Tibetan Interpretations, in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 122, no. 1 (January–March 2002), pp. 146–148.
Lopez, Donald S., Jr. Prisoners of Shangri-la: Tibetan Buddhism and the West, in History of Religions: An International Journal for Comparative Historical Studies, vol. 41, no. 2 (November 2001), pp. 186–188.
Faure, Bernard. The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality, in the International Journal of Hindu Studies, vol. III, no. 2 (1999), pp. 201–202.
And numerous brief reviews for Religious Studies Review, 2002–present.
Recent Conference Papers
“Interpreting Antinomian Scripture in Tibet: Commentaries on Guhyasamāja Chapter Five,” XIIIth Congress of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 24 July 2013.
“The Trouble with Tribals: Indian Esoteric Buddhism and Fantasies of the Primitive,” invited seminar paper, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 4 April 2011.
Workshop on “Locating Tantric Antinomianism: An Essay Toward an Intellectual History of the Practice/Practice-Observance (caryā/caryāvrata), McMaster University, Toronto, 4 March 2011.
Invited Numata lecture, “The Trouble with Tribals: Indian Esoteric Buddhism and Fantasies of the Primitive,” University of Toronto, 3 March 2011.
“The Trouble with Tribals: Indian Esoteric Buddhism and Fantasies of the Primitive,” invited seminar paper at Harvard University Buddhist Studies Forum, Cambridge, MA, 28 February 2011.
“Thus Have We Heard: Rhetorics of Seduction and Solidarity in Mahāyāna Sūtra Literature,” invited to present on Mahāyāna Literature panel at 39th Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, October 2010.
“Thus Have We Heard: Rhetorics of Seduction and Solidarity in Mahāyāna Sūtra Literature,” at the 220th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society, St. Louis, MO, 12 March 2010.
• Also served as invited chair of session on Buddhist Philosophy, 13 March 2010.
“Packaging Tantric Sensuality: An Intellectual History of the ‘Practices’ (caryā),” at the XVth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 27 June 2008.
Convener of Panel, “‘Terms of Art’ in Indian Esoteric Buddhism,” at the XVth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 27 June 2008.
•Also served as invited chair for panel on “Vajrayāna Buddhism,” 24 June 2008.
“Indigenous Historiography of Indian Esoteric Buddhism: An Analysis of Indic and Tibetan Sources,” at the 218th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society, Chicago, IL, 15 March 2008.
• Also served as invited chair of session on ‘Śāstra, Ritual and Society,’ 14 March 2008.
“Visions and Treasures: Jo-nang Tāranātha and the Historiography of the gsang-’dus ’phags-lugs,” at the XIth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Bonn, 29 August 2006.
“‘Cette fraude littéraire ne peut tromper personne’: The Historiography of the Nāgārjunian Tantric Corpus Reconsidered,” at the 216th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society, Seattle, WA, 19 March 2006.
“On the Authenticity of the Caryāmelāpakapradīpa Commentary Attributed to Śākyamitra,” at the XIVth Conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, SOAS, London, England, 2 Sep 2005.
“Beef, Dog and Other Mythologies: Connotative Semiotics in Mahāyoga Tantra Ritual,” at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 22 November 2003.
“Alternative Tibetan Translations of Sanskrit Sources in the Writings of rJe Tsong-kha-pa: A Survey and Analysis of the Criteria for Preference,” Xth Seminar of the Intl. Association for Tibetan Studies, Oxford University, UK, 8 September 2003.
“’Gos Khug-pa Lhas-btsas, Tantric “practices” (caryā), and the Esoteric Communion Noble Tradition in Tibet,” at the XIIIth Conference of the Intl. Assoc. of Buddhist Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, 13 December 2002.
“Historiography of ‘Them’ and Historiography of ‘Us:’ India, Narrative Archetypes and the Very Idea of a Global Renaissance,” (invited paper) at Columbia University/Infinity Foundation conference “Completing the Global Renaissance: The Indic Contributions,” New York, USA, 26 July 2002.
“The Meaning and Function of the Term prakṛti in Buddhist Unexcelled Yoga,” at the 211th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society, Toronto, Canada, 30 March 2001.
“Antinomianism and Gradualism: The contextualization of the practices of sensual enjoyment (caryā) in the Guhyasamāja Ārya Tradition,” at the 210th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society, Portland, Oregon, USA, 14 March 2000.
“Tropes, Typologies, and Turnarounds: A Natural History of Tantric Historiography,” at the University Seminar on Buddhist Studies, Columbia University, New York, USA, 29 April 1999.
“Āryadeva’s Lamp of Integrated Practice (Caryāmelāpakapradīpa): A Missing Link in Studies of Indian Guhyasamāja Literature,” at the 209th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, 23 March 1999.
Grants, Awards, Distinctions
• Elected member of the American Society for the Study of Religion, 2012.
• National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for work on Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism, 2010.
• Norman Cutler Overseas Travel Grant for Research in South Asia, Univ. of Chicago, 2006–07, 08–09, 12–13.
• Franke Institute for the Humanities Grant, University of Chicago ($4,000 for conference ‘Hermeneutics in History’), 2006.
• Norman Wait Harris Foundation Fund, Center for International Studies, University of Chicago, ($1,000 for conference ‘Hermeneutics in History’), 2006.
• Schoff Publication Subvention, University Seminars, Columbia University, 2006.
• Listed in Marquis Who’s Who publications: Who's Who in the World, 2003 & 2004; Who’s Who in American Education, 2007–08; and Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders, 2007.
• ACLS Fellowship alternate, 2002.
• Elected Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland
• Ph.D. dissertation awarded Distinction (Highest Honors=top 10%), 1999.
• American Oriental Society Graduate Student Award, 1999.
• President’s Fellow, Columbia University: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97.
• Mellon Foundation Summer Research Fellowships: 1992 and 1997.
Service to the Profession (current)
• Co-Chair, Buddhism Section, American Academy of Religion, 2011–2014 and 2014–2017.
• Editor, History of Religions: An International Journal for Comparative Historical Studies, 2011–present.
• Executive Council Member, North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR), 2013–2016.
• Peer reviewer for the Journal of the American Oriental Society (2002–present), History of Religions (2003–present), Journal of Religion (2004–present), Journal of the American Academy of Religion (2007–present), Journal of Religious History (2008–present), Oxford University Press (2004–present), Columbia University Press (2006–present), and University of Chicago Press (2007–present).
• Peer reviewer for the French National Research Agency (ANR), US Dept. of Education, Israel Science Foundation, and tenure/promotion reviewer for various universities and colleges.
• Editorial Board, Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences Series, Columbia University Press, 2003–present.
• Review Board, 84,000 (prev. Buddhist Literary Heritage Project (http://www.buddhistliteraryheritage.org/), 2010–present.
• Advisory Board, Tibetan Buddhist Canons Catalog Project, Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library (www.thdl.org), University of Virginia, 2005–present.
• Editorial Board, Tibetan Dictionary on Historical Principles and Tibetan and Himalayan Reference Resources, Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library (www.thdl.org), University of Virginia, 2004–present.
Service to the Profession (past)
• Editor, Buddhism section, Religious Studies Review, 2007–2013 (resigned).
• Governing Committee, INDOLOGY (international scholarly listserv: http://indology.info), 2000–13 (resigned).
• Chair, Committee on Nominations (officers of society), American Oriental Society (2009–10; member 08–09).
• Presented “Ritual, Doctrine, and Pastoral Care in the Buddhist Tradition,” to Secondary School Religion Teachers arranged by Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education at AAR, Nov 16, 2012.
• Presented “Buddhist Texts for Classroom Use,” at Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education Summer Institute on “Teaching the World’s Religions” for university and secondary school teachers of religion and history, 26–27 June 2009.
• Editorial Committee member, The Journal of Religion, 2004–08 (resigned).
• Chair, Committee on Local Arrangements, 218th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society, Chicago, 14–17 March 2008.
• Organized international conference, “Hermeneutics in History: Mircea Eliade, Joachim Wach and the Science of Religions,” at the University of Chicago Divinity School, 3–4 November 2006.
• Co-convener, Faculty Seminar, Committee on South Asian Studies, University of Chicago, 2004–2005.
• Co-director, Martin Marty Center Dissertation Seminar, University of Chicago Divinity School, 2003–04, 2004–05, and 2012–13.
• Selection committee, Rosenberger Dissertation Prize, University of Chicago Divinity School, 2004.
• Discussion Leader, Workshop on Teaching in the College, Univ. of Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning, Sep. 2004.
• Rapporteur, University Seminars in Indology (1997–99) and Buddhist Studies (92–95), Columbia University.
Ph.D. Dissertations Supervised (*indicates primary advisor)
Bronwen Bledsoe, 2004, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, “Written in Stone: Inscriptions of the Kathmandu Valley’s Three Kingdoms” (with Ronald Inden, Sheldon Pollock and Jonathan Walters)
*Anne T. Mocko, 2012 (distinction), Divinity School, “Demoting Vishnu: Ritual, Politics, and the Unmaking of Nepal’s Monarchy” (with Bruce Lincoln and Mary Cameron)
Eric Huntington, 2013, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, “Picturing the Universe: The Buddhist Cosmology of the Meru World-System” (with Robert Linrothe and Gary Tubb)
*Erin Epperson, in progress, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, “Tibetan Translations of Sanskrit Literature” (with Matthew Kapstein and Wendy Doniger)
*Alex Hsu, ABD, Divinity School (co-advisor with Paul Copp)
Other Activities
• Weekend Intensive Workshop, Namgyal Institute for Buddhist Studies, Ithaca, NY, 1–3 April 2011.
• Invited presenter (plenary address and talk) at American Institute of Buddhist Studies conference “Translating the Tengyur,” Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi, India, January, 8–11, 2011.
• Invited participant at Khyentse Foundation conference on translating classical Buddhist literature, Bir, India, March 2009.
• Court Interpreter (Tibetan-English), U.S. Dept. of Justice, Executive Office of Immigration Review, 1998–2000.
• Translator (Tibetan documents), U. S. Dept. of Justice, Immigration & Naturalization Service, 1998–2000.
• Consultant/translator (Tibetan language) for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, 1999–2000.
• Consultant/translator (Tibetan language) for Cable News Network (CNN), 1999–2000.
Languages
• Sanskrit: advanced research proficiency
• Tibetan: fluent in classical and archaic literary; somewhat rusty near-fluency in modern colloquial
• Pali: research proficiency
• French: research proficiency, conversational quite rusty
• German: research proficiency
• Danish: near-fluent reading and speaking, writing fair to good
• Japanese and Hindi: elementary spoken and literary
• Greek and Latin: elementary literary
Learned Societies
Fellow (elected), Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland
Member (elected), American Society for the Study of Religion
American Oriental Society (past officer)
American Academy of Religion (current officer)
International Association of Buddhist Studies
International Association for Tibetan Studies
North American Association for the Study of Religion/International Association for the History of Religions
University Seminars on Buddhist Studies and South Asian Studies (formerly Indology), Columbia University
