Richard Nance

Richard Nance is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, affiliated with the Department of Central Eurasian Studies and Religious Studies. His work focuses on Indian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, particularly the interplay between doctrine and practice in first-millennium Buddhism. He employs historical, philosophical, and philological methods to analyze primary sources in Sanskrit and Classical Tibetan.

Education: PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Chicago (2004).

Research interests include commentarial rhetoric, Buddhist philosophy in comparative perspective, textual transmission norms, and the philosophical implications of Indian Buddhist practices. His recent work examines commentarial conventions, letters to Indian kings, and the 'four reliances' doctrine.

Key publications include *Speaking for Buddhas: Scriptural Commentary in Indian Buddhism* (2012) and articles on Buddhist hermeneutics and royal address protocols. He has received awards such as the Trustee’s Teaching Award and Luce Dissertation Fellowship.

Teaches courses like *Introduction to Buddhism* and *Buddhist Philosophy in India*. Active in philological research and grant-funded projects exploring textual transmission and doctrinal development.