International and Intensive Program on Buddhism at Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO)

Paris, France
Deadline: 5th Apr 2019

With the assistance from UBC’s SSHRC-sponsored international and interdisciplinary project on Buddhism and East Asian Religions (www.frogbear.org), the Tianzhu Global Network for the Study of Buddhist Cultures (tianzhubuddhistnetwork.org), whose founding members include UBC, McMaster, UC Berkeley, and Harvard in North America, and Ghent and INALCO in Europe, cordially invite applications for an intensive program on Buddhism and East Asian Cultures at Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO) in July. Lasting from July 7 to July 24, 2019, this program is composed of two segments: July 7 – 14 (Segment 1) and July 18-24 (Segment 2), with an intersegmental conference (July 15-16) and a special forum for young scholars on July 17.

The backbone of this program consists of four seminars delivered by four international scholars. Each seminar combines close reading of primary sources, lectures on the implications of these sources, and guided presentations from participating students on their research, which could be their term papers, or thesis chapters. The four instructors for this year’s intensive program include, alphabetically:

• Clair BROWN (University of California at Berkeley): Buddhist Economics: The Foundation for an Equitable, Sustainable, Caring Economy (Segment 1);
• Jinhua CHEN (UBC): Identity and Network in East Asian Buddhism (Segment 2);
• Ann HEIRMAN (University of Ghent): Material Culture in Buddhist Normative Texts: From India to China (Segment 1);
• Zhe JI (INALCO-CEIB): Studying Chinese Buddhist Figures: Methods and Cases (Segment 2).

The program also supports a series of occasional lectures, to be delivered by several top scholars (to be announced separately), both based in and coming from outside Europe. In addition to these seminars, lectures, and Students’ own forum, student participants will conduct field trips in Paris and neighboring areas, to gain firsthand experience of famed religious sites. They are also encouraged to present their research papers to their program instructors, lecturers, and their peer participants. Outstanding students will be selected and invited to carry out short-term (6-12 months long) research at UBC and UBC’s FROGBEAR partner universities in East Asia, Europe and North America. This may further bring them the opportunity of pursuing doctoral degrees or doing postdoctoral research at these top universities.

Senior undergraduate students and graduate students specializing in any Buddhism and other non-Buddhist East Asian religions, and postdoctoral fellows working on relevant fields, are encouraged to apply. Please direct applications and inquiries to tianzhu.network@ubc.ca. Each application should include (1) an application form (to be provided upon request via the above email address), (2) updated curriculum vitae, (3) one writing sample (published or unpublished; in English or Chinese), and (4) a reference letter (to be emailed 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.

The deadline to submit an application is April 5, 2019.

To guarantee sufficient interaction of student participants with instructors and between student participants themselves, student enrollment is limited to 30. In addition to being exempted from all tuition and administration fees, a successful candidate may receive a subsidy ranging from US$1,000-1,500 (depending on his or her individual needs and the distance s/he has to travel for the program) that will help defray program-related expenses, including lodging, meals, and transportation.

This marks a continuation of an intensive program that was successfully initiated at UBC last summer (External Link…).

 

Schedule

1. Segment 1 (July 7-14)
1.1. July 7: arrival in Paris
1.2. July 8-12: seminars (location: INALCO)
1.3. July 13: tour 1 (Musée national des Arts asiatiques-Guimet)
1.4. July 14: break
1. Intersegmental Conference and Student Forum (July 15-17) (location: Abbaye de Royaumont; recevoir.royaumont.com)
2.1. July 15-16: regular conference;
2.2. July 17: Youth Forum.
1. Segment 2 (July 18-24)
3.1. July 18-22: Seminars (location: INALCO)
3.2. July 23: Tour 2 (Fo Guang Shan France)
3.3. July 24: Departure