معرفی
Professor Ann Heirman is a distinguished scholar of Buddhist studies at Ghent University (Belgium), where she serves as Professor of Classical and Buddhist Chinese within the Department of Languages and Cultures at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. She currently holds multiple leadership positions including Head of the Department of Languages and Cultures (since 2018), Head of the Examination Commissions of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy (since 2012), and Head of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies, an international research center focusing on India and China. Previously, she served as program director of Oriental Languages and Cultures from 2006 to 2016.
Her research expertise centers on Chinese Buddhist monasticism, particularly the development and transmission of disciplinary rules (vinaya) from India to East Asia. She has published extensively on Buddhist nuns, monastic regulations, and the material culture of Buddhist monasteries, with special attention to bodily practices and purity regulations. Her major publications include Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya (2002), The Spread of Buddhism (2007), A Pure Mind in a Clean Body (2012, co-authored with Mathieu Torck), and Buddhist Encounters and Identities Across East Asia (2018). Her most recent work examines Buddhist perspectives on animals, as seen in her 2024 article about oxen in Daoxuan's vinaya commentaries.
Her current research portfolio includes numerous projects extending through 2028, focusing on Buddhist initiation rituals, vinaya texts from Dunhuang, Buddhist material culture, and the evolution of Buddhist practices in medieval China. Her scholarly approach combines textual analysis with attention to material culture and historical context, revealing how Buddhist monastic practices were adapted as they traveled across Asia.
Professor Heirman has supervised numerous PhD students including Xiaoxiao Xu, Anna Sokolova, Jianhong Zeng, Laura Lettere, Ang Zou, Tzu-Lung Chiu, Claire Maes, and Julia Schneider. Her collaborative work extends across international boundaries, reflecting the transnational nature of Buddhist studies.
As head of the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies, she leads a vibrant research community dedicated to advancing our understanding of Buddhist traditions across Asia, with particular emphasis on the historical and cultural connections between India and China. Her administrative leadership has strengthened Ghent University's position as a significant center for Buddhist studies in Europe.
