معرفی
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.
