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Professor Jinhua Chen (PhD, McMaster University, 1997) is a leading scholar in East Asian Buddhism at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts. Holding a Canada Research Chair (2001-2011) and inducted into the Royal Society of Canada (2020), his work spans trans-regional Buddhist narratives, monastic institutions, relic veneration, and technological innovations in medieval Asian religions. Key Affiliations: UBC Buddhist Forum (Director), Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies (Resident Scholar), and editorial roles in Brill Book Series on East Asian Religions and Studies in Chinese Religions . Research Themes: Combines textual analysis with interdisciplinary methods to explore Buddhist sacred sites, doctrinal transmissions, and church-state dynamics. His projects include From the Ground Up (SSHRC Partnership Grant 2016-2023), examining East Asian religions through multi-media sources, and studies on ruixiang (propitious signs) in medieval Chinese prognostication. Scientific Awards: Royal Society of Canada Fellow, Canada Research Chair, SSHRC Insight Grants, Humboldt Research Fellowship, and Max Planck Institute funding. Publications: Over 30 book chapters and journal articles (2000-2016), including monographs on Fazang, Shingon-Tendai conflicts, and Buddhist sacred geography. Teaching: Courses on Chinese thought, Chan/Zen Buddhism, and Buddhist text interpretation, emphasizing methodological rigor and cross-cultural analysis. Projects: Directed international collaborations on Buddhist manuscripts, palace chapels, and relic cultures, with grants totaling over $4 million CAD.

• East Asian Buddhism
• Buddhist Transmission Narratives
• Church-State Relationships
• +6 more

Professor Joshua S. Mostow is a scholar of pre-modern Japanese literature and art, specializing in text-image relationships, Heian-period studies, and gendered cultural constructions. He holds a professorship at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Asian Studies (Faculty of Arts), where he also serves as Acting Director of Language Programs. Mostow earned his doctorate in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at International Christian University (Tokyo), Université de Paris, and Gakushuin University. His career includes visiting roles at institutions like Heidelberg University and the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on intersections of literature and visual arts, particularly in Japanese pre-modern contexts. Key interests include the ideological construction of the Heian period, women’s writing traditions, and the role of sexuality in cultural identity. Major works include *Courtly Visions: The Ise Stories and the Politics of Cultural Appropriation* (2014) and *Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image* (1996). He has received prestigious awards such as the Japan Foreign Minister’s Commendation (2017) and induction into the Royal Society of Canada (2015). Mostow has authored/co-authored over 20 books, edited volumes, and numerous articles across Japanese literature, art history, and cultural studies. His work spans medieval commentaries, Edo-period print culture, and modern reception histories. He frequently lectures internationally on topics like gender representation in classical texts and the visual legacy of *The Tale of Genji*. Grants and fellowships include support from the Sainsbury Institute, Japan Foundation, and SSHRC (Canada). His contributions to Japanese studies include co-editing *The Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature* (2003) and curating exhibitions on Rinpa aesthetics and Edo-period shunga. Scholarly activities further include invited lectures at institutions worldwide and participation in major international conferences.

• Pre-Modern Japanese Literature
• Japanese Visual Culture
• Text-Image Relationships
• +3 more

Karine Gagné is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph. Her research, primarily conducted in the Indian Himalayas (Ladakh and Zanskar), addresses the political and cultural dimensions of human-environment interactions, with a focus on climate change, ethics of care, and citizenship. Her educational background: PhD in Anthropology, Université de Montréal, 2015 Professor Gagné's research explores how marginalized communities in the Himalayas develop technical expertise to address climate change and state abandonment. She examines the constitution of environmental knowledge, human-animal relations, and the infrastructure of citizenship. Her work bridges anthropology, environmental studies, and political ecology, emphasizing the ethics of care and the temporal dimensions of climate change. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a consistent focus on the Himalayas, addressing glacier retreat, infrastructure development, and human-animal relations. Her work shows a progression from local ethics of care to the intersection of state infrastructure and climate adaptation, with increasing attention to citizen expertise and temporalities of environmental change. Professor Gagné has secured multiple competitive research grants, including: SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2022-2024): Domesticating Wildness: Snow Leopard Conservation in the Himalayan Anthropocene ($70,981) SSHRC Insight Grant (2022-2027): Coping with Infrastructural Curves: Marginalized Citizens Challenging State Plans in India and Vietnam ($84,584) SSHRC Insight Grant (2020-2025): Decolonizing Climate Knowledge: An Ethnographic Study of Travel and Mobility in The Indian Himalayas in An Era of Climate Change ($99,643) SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2019-2022): Connecting People Positively? The Infrastructure of Mobility in Democratic India and Socialist Vietnam ($64,670) SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2018-2021): Amid Icy Ruins and Insecure Futures: Climate Change, Expertise, and The Infrastructure of Citizenship in Zanskar ($61,287) She actively supervises graduate students (Nigel Marimuthu, Tenzing Palmo, Tehzeeb Bano, and Alejandra Valentina Gonzalez Rodriguez) and offers fellowships for projects on infrastructures of mobility and snow leopard conservation. Her research team, operating within the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph, engages in interdisciplinary fieldwork in the Himalayas, focusing on climate change adaptation, infrastructure, and human-animal relations. Current projects include studies on snow leopard conservation through tourism and citizen science, and the impact of infrastructural development on marginalized communities.

• Climate Change
• Ethics of Care
• Human-Animal Relations
• +5 more

Angela Sheng is an Associate Professor at the School of the Arts, McMaster University. Her research focuses on Textile History , Cultural Exchange , and Art Historical Methodology , with particular emphasis on Chinese textiles, Silk Road studies, and sociocultural transformations. Selected Publications: Writing with Thread: Traditional Textiles of Southwest Chinese Minorities (2009) Reading Textiles (2020) Research Interests: Dr. Sheng explores the intersection of textile technology, cultural symbolism, and historical narratives. Her work spans from ancient silk weaving techniques to gendered labor in imperial China. Teaching: Recent courses include Gender and the Textile Arts , Intercultural Arts Along the Silk Road , and Visual Literacy , covering topics such as textile conservation, historical fashion, and cross-cultural artistic exchange.

• Textile History
• Art History
• Cultural Exchange
• +3 more

Timothy Pettipiece is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religion at Carleton University, part of the College of Humanities. He holds an Hon. BA in Classical Languages from the University of Guelph (2000), an MA in Religion and Culture from Wilfrid Laurier University (2002), and a PhD in Religious Studies from Université Laval (2006). His research focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to religious cultures of Late Antiquity, particularly Gnostic and Manichaean studies, and the reception of ancient religious ideas in modern media. His teaching interests include Classics and Religion, with a specialization in Manichaean literature and the intersection of late ancient religious texts with contemporary cultural narratives. Key research areas are Coptic Manichaean homilies, Syriac Christianities in Mesopotamia, and gender roles in early religious communities. Dr. Pettipiece’s publications emphasize textual analysis of apocryphal traditions, redaction criticism in Manichaean and early Christian texts, and comparative religious studies. Recent work explores intersections between Manichaean theology and global religious movements, as well as modern reinterpretations of ancient mythologies in popular culture. He currently serves as an academic leader in Carleton’s Religion program, contributing to both undergraduate and graduate curriculum development. His office is located in 2A51 Paterson Hall, and he maintains active engagement with international scholarly networks through conferences and collaborative research projects.

• Classics and Religion
• Gnostic and Manichaean Studies
• Late Antiquity
• +3 more

Christoph Emmrich is an Associate Professor in the Department for the Study of Religion (DSR) at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on Buddhist and Hindu traditions in Nepal, Burma, and Tamil Nadu, with expertise in ritual studies, textual analysis, and the intersection of religion with gender, language, and material culture. He holds a PhD from the University of Heidelberg (2004) and has conducted extensive fieldwork in the Kathmandu Valley, Yangon, Mandalay, and Mawlamyine. Key areas of study include Nepalese and Burmese Buddhism, Jainism in Tamil Nadu, and the analysis of ritual manuals, literary texts, and historiography. His work addresses questions of memory, translation, and resistance in religious practices. Recent publications explore the inclusion of Burma in South Asian Studies, the role of repetition in Theravāda Buddhism, and the cultural significance of jewelry in Newar rituals. Emmrich’s research also engages with the historiography of Tamil Jain literature and the impact of colonial frameworks on religious scholarship. He contributes to interdisciplinary projects such as the study of Buddhist textual transmission and the reclamation of marginalized religious narratives.

• Anthropology of Religion
• Buddhist Studies
• South Asian Religions
• +7 more

James Alexander Benn is a Professor of Buddhism and East Asian Religions in the Department of Religious Studies at McMaster University, where he also serves as Director of the McMaster University Centre for Buddhist Studies. His research focuses on medieval Chinese religions (Buddhism and Taoism), examining practices and worldviews through analysis of primary sources in literary Chinese. His work centers on three primary areas: bodily practices in Chinese religions, transmission of religious practices/doctrines, and religious dimensions of commodity culture. Education: Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Oriental Studies (Chinese), University of Cambridge Master of Arts Eastern Religions, University of London Master of Arts Oriental Studies (Chinese), University of Cambridge PhD East Asian Languages and Cultures (Buddhist Studies), University of California Los Angeles Research Focus: Professor Benn specializes in the religious and cultural history of medieval China, with particular emphasis on self-immolation practices, Chinese Buddhist apocrypha, and the religious significance of tea culture. His research employs close textual analysis to understand how religious practices were created, transmitted, and practiced in historical contexts, especially regarding bodily practices and material culture. Publications Overview: Benn's scholarly output includes extensive work on Chinese Buddhist texts, ritual practices, and cultural history. His publications frequently examine themes of asceticism, apocryphal literature, and material culture in medieval East Asian religions. Recent works demonstrate continued focus on textual analysis of Buddhist scriptures and their socio-cultural contexts, with particular attention to the Diamond Sutra and Lengyan Jing.

• Buddhism
• East Asian Religions
• Religion and Culture
• +4 more

Jason Neelis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religion and Culture at Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Arts. His research focuses on South Asian religious traditions within historical, economic, and material contexts, with particular emphasis on cross-cultural mobility and exchange. Dr. Neelis specializes in South Asian religions, Buddhist transmission across Asia, Gandharan manuscripts, epigraphy, archaeology, and Upper Indus inscriptions and petroglyphs in northern Pakistan. His work examines the material conditions for Buddhist establishments along transmission routes between South Asia and Central Asia, challenging traditional models of gradual diffusion. His recent publications reveal consistent focus on Buddhist narrative transmission through written and visual media, particularly examining how stories of previous births of the Buddha were localized in Gandharan sacred geography. His research demonstrates how Buddhist mobility was closely linked to transregional trade networks extending to northwestern borderlands and connecting to Central Asian silk routes through capillary routes in the upper Indus and Tarim Basin. Dr. Neelis actively engages with endangered cultural heritage, particularly through his work documenting Upper Indus petroglyphs and inscriptions in northern Pakistan, which serve as critical evidence for understanding transregional Buddhist transmission.

• South Asian religions
• Buddhist transmission
• Gandharan manuscripts
• +7 more