David Mozina

Dr. David Mozina is an affiliated researcher in East Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in comparative religion from Harvard University and previously served as an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Boston College. His research focuses on Daoist and Buddhist ritual practices in China, particularly in Hunan province, with emphases on materiality, healing, and social contexts. Mozina has authored Knotting the Banner: Ritual and Relationship in Daoist Practice (2021), a finalist for the American Academy of Religion’s Best First Book Award.

Education: Columbia University (Religion), Harvard Divinity School (Ph.D., Comparative Religion), with studies at Peking University and National Taiwan University.

Research Interests: Daoist/Buddhist ritual practices (10th–present), phenomenology of ritual, talismans/amulets, ecology and religion, and the socio-environmental embeddedness of religious practices. Current projects include studies on Fengdu underworld traditions and Buddho-Daoist funerary rites.

Grants & Awards: Funding from the American Philosophical Society, Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, and others. Notable award: 2022 AAR Best First Book finalist.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with Dr. Ling Zhang on the ‘Ecology, Religion, and Multispecies Healing’ project. Serves on the Global Daoist Studies Forum Board and previously on the Society for the Study of Chinese Religions’ Executive Board.