News of the Site.

As you will see from the link on our home page, we have added a web site for the Soto Zen Text Project to our Resources directory. This site, developed for the International Division of the Sotoshu, will gradually grow to provide online translations of the complete scriptural canon of the Japanese Soto Zen school. Buddhist studies doctoral student Sarah Fremerman will be working with Carl this year to build and maintain the site.

The year in review.

During the past year, the center sponsored several programs connected with its new Asian Religions & Cultures (ARC) initiative. We worked with the Stanford Humanities Center to sponsor a year-long workshop on cultural images of children, organized by our assistant director, Irene Lin. In the winter term, we held a week-long workshop on a Shinto text, with Fabio Rambelli, of Sapporo University; and in spring, we mounted a one-day symposium on Taoism at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, in connection with the museum's exhibit on Taoist art.

Also in the spring, we were at the charming Asilomar conference center on the Monterey Peninsula to host a conference on the origins of Mahayana Buddhism, organized for SCBS by Gregory Schopen (UCLA), Paul Harrison (Canterbury), and Jonathan Silk (Yale). And finally, in August, the center held a small three-day workshop on translation for the Soto Zen Text Project. A full listing of the year's activities can be found on our 2000-01 archives page.

In addition to its events schedule, the center was host to several visiting scholars, including Islamicist Jackie Armijo-Hussein and Taoist specialist Judy Boltz, who joined us as ARC fellows while teaching in Religious Studies; as well as Ishii Seijun, of Komazawa University, who spent the year as an SCBS visiting fellow and led a reading group on a Zen text. The center was also beneficiary of a gift of texts on Thai Buddhism, made possible through the kind offices of Mr. and Mrs. Vudhi Chuchum.

Last year was saddened by the death of History professor Jeffrey Mass and by the departure for Sarah Lawrence of History professor Ellen Neskar, both long-time friends of our Buddhist studies program; as well as by the decision of new Religious Studies professor Gregory Schopen to cast his lot with UCLA. On the bright side, we saw the graduation of Buddhist studies doctoral students Hank Glassman and Irene Lin; Hank has taken a post at Haverford, while Irene will continue on this year as a development officer for the center.

The year ahead.

With the departure of Gregory, Carl re-joins Bernard as co-director of the center. With the graduation of Irene, we have a new assistant director, Wendy Abraham, doctoral student in Asian Languages and former assistant director of the Center for East Asian Studies.

Joining us as new visiting center fellows this year will be Michelle Li, CEAS postdoc in Japanese studies from Princeton; Okajima Hidetaka, scholar of Zen thought from Aichi; Fabrizio Pregadio, Taoist specialist from Berlin; and Julia Shaw, scholar of Buddhist archeology from Cambridge. We also welcome new Buddhist studies doctoral student J.J. Josephson from Harvard; J.J. will be studying the development of modern Zen in Japan.

On the events calendar, in addition to our annual center colloquia, we are again co-sponsoring a Humanities Center workshop, on the topic of conversion, organized by ARC doctoral fellow Shari Epstein. During the winter term, we are planning a lecture series on gods and demons and, in the spring, will be working with the Silk Road Foundation on a series of talks on the cultures of Central Asia. Also under consideration for the spring: a day of lectures on Buddhist contemplative practices, organized for Stanford's Continuing Studies Program.

Finally, on the book front, we look forward to the appearance this year of the first two volumes of our new ARC series with the Stanford Press; and also to the relocation of Stanford's East Asian collection to the Meyer Library, a move that we hope will enable us to integrate our center holdings into the university system and improve the collection housed in our reading room.

Watch our home and calendar pages for updates on news and events throughout the year, and feel free to contact us if you have questions or suggestions for us.

Carl Bielefeldt
Bernard Faure

News of the site.

We've added several new pages: a site index, to help you find what you're looking for here; a set of links to Asian studies resources at Stanford; a research opportunities page, for those interested in affiliation with SCBS; and a page chronicling the Evans-Wentz lectureship at Stanford, for the historically minded.

Buddhist studies doctoral student J.J. Josephson has kindly offered to take on the job of web master. If you have questions or suggestions for him, write to j.josephson@stanford.edu.

The past term.

The autumn term started on a dramatic note, with TheatreWorks's performances of Stephen Sondheim's musical Pacific Overtures, for which our ARC initiative was a co-sponsor. Then we were at the Wheelwright Center, at Green Gulch Farm, for a conference on Language and Discourse in the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism, co-sponsored with the Institute of Buddhist Studies. The conference took place on the weekend after the tragic events of September 11, but somehow many of the scheduled speakers managed to make their way to California.

In October, we launched our Humanities Center workshop on Conversion, Comparison, and Genre, organized by ARC doctoral fellow Shari Epstein and Religious Studies student Jennifer Rapp; the workshop will continue with a series of lectures throughout the year. November saw the first meetings of our annual Buddhist studies graduate colloquium, with talks by David Quinter and Lisa Grumbach; as well as the first of our ARC fellows lectures, by David Nivison and Shao Dongfang, and by Fabrizio Pregadio. Meanwhile, we hosted visiting lecturers Raoul Birnbaum (UC Santa Cruzu), Kathy Ku (UC Berkeley), and Alexander von Rospatt (UC Berkeley).

The year ahead.

The winter term will feature a series of lectures on "Asian Gods and Demons", the theme of Bernard's Buddhist studies seminar this year. We are also planning a special workshop with Griffith Foulk (Sarah Lawrence) on Buddhist monastic rule. The term will end in March with a conference on Buddhism on the Silk Road, organized by Richard Payne and hosted at Stanford for the Institute of Buddhist Studies.

We'll be back on the Silk Road in the spring term, when ARC co-hosts a series of lectures on Central Asian cultures with the Silkroad Foundation and others. The series celebrates the visit to the Bay Area of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project and its musical performance at Stanford in April. Scheduled for May: a one-day symposium on "Buddhist Spiritual Practice", co-sponsored by SCBS and developed for Stanford's Continuing Studies Program by Religious Studies doctoral student Mark Gonnerman. Still in the planning stage for spring: an ARC conference on issues in Islamic studies, co-sponsored with Religious Studies.

People.

During the autumn term, we welcomed Winnie Chin and J.J. Josephson to the administrative staff of SCBS. In the winter, we'll be joined by visiting fellow Julia Shaw, from Cambridge, who will be offering a Religious Studies course in the spring on the archeology of Buddhist sites in India. Okajima Hidetaka, from Aichi University, will arrive in spring to work on Zen thought. On the negative side of the ledger, we'll be losing SCBS fellow Gregory Schopen, who is returning to UCLA, and ARC fellow Linda Hess, who will be doing research in India. Linda plans to be back next year, to continue her teaching in Religious Studies.

Also on the center fellows front, we are pleased to announce the launching of a new project by visiting professor and ARC fellow Fabrizio Pregadio, to develop a database of illustrations in Daoist sources; the project will be sponsored by SCBS and will employ several doctoral students as researchers. For information, contact Fabrizio, at pregadio@stanford.edu.

Congratulations to Buddhist studies doctoral students Will Hansen, for negotiating his qualifying exams; and James Robson, for producing a daughter (Hannah); and to former Evans-Wentz lecturer Paul Harrison (Canterbury), for winning the hand (in February) of former student and SCBS assistant director Irene Lin.

Watch our home and calendar pages for updates on news and events throughout the year, and feel free to contact us if you have questions or suggestions for us.

Carl Bielefeldt
Bernard Faure

New on the site.

We've put up the papers of the 20002 AAS panel on "Lineage in Chinese Buddhism of the Tang and Song" in our Resources directory.

The past term.

As usual, the winter term was a busy one for SCBS. In addition to our annual lecture series, this year focused on "Asian Gods and Demons", we continued the meetings of our year-long ARC/Humanities Center workshop on Conversion, Comparison, and Genre, hosted a lecture by Charles Hallisey (Wisconsin), and held a one-week graduate reading group with Griff Foulk (Sarah Lawrence) on "Buddhist Monastic Rules in East Asia." The term ended with a conference on "Visions and Visualization: Buddhist Praxis on the Silk Road", co-sponsored with the Institute of Buddhist Studies.

In March, Stanford Press brought out Chinese Magical Medicine, by the late Michel Strickmann, edited by Bernard. This long-awaited work represents the second volume in our ARC series with the Press.

Coming up.

This spring we'll be offering lectures by Urs App (Hanazono), Roderick Whitfield (London), Morten Schlütter (UCLA), and SCBS visiting fellow Julia Shaw (Cambridge), as well as the annual Evans-Wentz lecture, this year delivered by Victor Mair (Pennsylvania).

Meanwhile, ARC will be co-sponsoring the annual lecture on Islam, by Michael Sells (Haverford), and collaborating with Religious Studies to host a two-day conference on critical issues in Islamic studies. We'll also be working with the Silkroad Foundation and others to present a series of lectures on Central Asian cultures. The series celebrates the visit to the Bay Area of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project and its musical performance at Stanford in April.

We'll wind up the year with a one-day symposium on "Buddhist Spiritual Practice", developed for Stanford's Continuing Studies Program by Religious Studies doctoral student Mark Gonnerman.

People.

During the spring term, we'll be welcoming visiting fellows Julia Shaw, from Cambridge, who is offering a Religious Studies course on the archeology of Buddhist sites in India; and Okajima Hidetaka, from Aichi University, who is working on Zen thought.

We are delighted to report that visiting ARC fellow Fabrizio Pregadio will be extending his stay with us on a three-year appointment as visiting professor of Chinese religions.

Finally, we are happy to announce that John Strong (Bates) will be visiting professor in Buddhist studies next year; John will be joining the Department of Religious Studies for the spring term 2003.

Watch our home and calendar pages for updates on news and events throughout the year, and feel free to contact us if you have questions or suggestions for us.

Carl Bielefeldt
Bernard Faure

The past term.

During the spring, SCBS sponsored lectures by Urs App (Hanazono), Roderick Whitfield (London), Morten Schlütter (UCLA), and SCBS visiting fellow Julia Shaw (Cambridge), as well as the annual Evans-Wentz lecture, this year delivered by Victor Mair (Pennsylvania). In May, we offered a symposium with Stanford's Continuing Studies Program on "Buddhist Spiritual Practice"; and in June we sponsored a sand mandala ritual and other events by the Tibetan monks of Drepung Monastery. This last event was proposed to us only at the last minute, and our assistant director, Wendy, did a remarkable job of putting it all together. We want to thank her and all those who came to her aid.

Meanwhile, ARC completed its year-long Humanities Center workshop on Conversion, Comparison, and Genre, co-sponsored a lecture series on "Art and Religion on the Silk Road", and worked with Religious Studies to mount a two-day symposium on "Critical Issues in Islamic Studies", organized by Jackie Armijo-Hussein. In conjunction with the symposium, Michael Sells (Haverford) delivered the annual Islamic studies lecture. Islam was much on our minds this spring, since the university received a large gift in support of a new Islamic studies program.

People.

During the spring term, we welcomed visiting fellows Julia Shaw, from Cambridge, who offered a Religious Studies course on the archeology of Buddhist sites in India; Julia will be returning to Britain this summer to take up a postdoc at Oxford. Also joining us was Okajima Hidetaka, from Aichi University, who will be at the center for a year, working on Zen philosophy.

Congratulations to new doctor of Buddhist studies James Robson, who will be taking up a post at Williams next year, and to doctoral student Elizabeth Morrison, who has accepted a job at Middlebury.

A welcome to Naoko Kumada (Cambridge), who joins SCBS as a visiting fellow; Naoko will be working on Burmese Buddhism and will offer a course in Religious Studies next year on religion and society in S.E. Asia.

Coming up.

As usual, SCBS will go into hibernation for the summer, as we rest up from the past year and gear up for next year's programs. In planning: an Asian Art Museum docent lecture series, an SCBS collquium on Indian goddesses, and an ARC conference on Taoist alchemy.

Check the News window of our home page to keep track of developments, and feel free to contact us if you have questions or suggestions for us.

Carl Bielefeldt
Bernard Faure