English Buddhist Studies Lecture Series 

From June 16 to 20, 2025, the College of Buddhist Studies at Fo Guang University hosted a lecture series titled Overview of Buddhist Studies in the English-Speaking Academic World, featuring Professor Huaiyu Chen from Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict and Center For Asian Research at Arizona State University as the keynote speaker. The six-session series commenced with an overview of the development of Buddhist Studies in Europe and North America and extended to cover topics such as early Chinese translations of Buddhist texts and the origins of Mahāyāna, the relationship between Buddhism and animals and plants, historiographical approaches to Buddhism, and the study of Buddhist imagery and material culture. The series concluded with a faculty-student dialogue session. The program was open to both internal and external participants free of charge, drawing approximately forty attendees each day.

The lecture topics reflected an interdisciplinary approach, integrating Buddhist Studies with religious studies, art history, and ecological ethics, thereby offering both academic depth and practical value. Professor Chen, a renowned scholar in the international field of Buddhist Studies, has published extensively on Buddhist textual traditions, iconography, Dunhuang manuscripts, Buddhist material culture, and the religious history of medieval China. Each lecture was accompanied by carefully prepared English-language PowerPoint presentations featuring rich visual and textual content. Professor Chen supplemented the presentations with Chinese explanations when appropriate, facilitating students’ comprehension of complex scholarly materials.

In the June 18 session on “Buddhism and Animals & Plants,” Professor Chen explored Buddhist ethical views and symbolic representations of animals in canonical texts, as well as recent developments in Buddhist ecological studies. Employing a visual-cultural methodology, he analyzed how animals and plants are depicted in Buddhist murals and artifacts, elucidating their religious meanings and cultural transformations. The presentation featured a wide array of images from sites such as Dunhuang, Yungang, and Longmen, allowing participants to transcend linguistic and cultural barriers and engage directly with the visual embodiment of Buddhist thought.

On June 20, the lecture “Imagery and Material Culture in Buddhism” and the closing bilingual faculty-student dialogue session provided further opportunities for academic exchange. Students were encouraged to share their interests, questions, and research plans related to Buddhist Studies, fostering intercultural dialogue and scholarly collaboration between Chinese- and English-speaking participants.

This lecture series was organized Center for Buddhist Studies at Fo Guang University. The organizers expressed their hope that the program would inspire students and scholars interested in Buddhist Studies and intercultural research to engage with global scholarly dialogues and contribute to the internationalization of Buddhist scholarship.