The study of Buddhism at Stanford is centered in the Department of Religious Studies, with additional resources provided by the Stanford Center for Buddhist Studies, the Asian Religions & Cultures Initiative, the Center for East Asian Studies, and other units of the university, as well as by the Group in Buddhist Studies and other units of the University of California, Berkeley. The Buddhist studies program began in the late 1980s. Since 1994, it has graduated twenty-one doctoral students, with another fourteen currently enrolled. The Stanford program has focused especially on East Asian Buddhism, with an emphasis on the religion in its cultural and historical contexts. The recent appointment of Professor Paul Harrison in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and a planned university initiative to develop Tibetan studies at Stanford give promise that the focus of the Buddhist studies program may gradually broaden.

For further information on the Buddhist studies program: Programs: Undergraduate and graduate degree programs focusing on Buddhism Faculty: Current faculty in Buddhist studies Courses: Courses on Buddhism in the current bulletin Students: Currently enrolled doctoral students in Buddhist studies Graduates: Doctoral degree alumni in Buddhist studies since 1994