Stephanie Balkwill, Associate Professor at the UCLA Center for Buddhist Studies, visited the Fo Guang University College of Buddhist Studies on April 14 to deliver a public lecture titled “Why Study Women through Buddhist Studies?” The lecture was conducted in English with Chinese interpretation provided to facilitate understanding among attending faculty and students.

Professor Balkwill noted that women are sparsely represented in conventional secular historical records, making it difficult to gain a comprehensive understanding of the past. In contrast, Buddhist sources—such as inscriptions, dedicatory records, and textual materials—preserve abundant traces of women’s participation, offering valuable evidence for reconstructing women’s history.
 

From a methodological perspective, Professor Balkwill introduced the concept of “Buddhist feminist historiography,” which emphasizes the use of Buddhist sources as a foundation for rewriting women’s history. She highlighted that women’s participation in Buddhist contexts often exceeds that found in other historical domains, making Buddhist studies a crucial avenue for understanding women’s roles in history.

The lecture was attended by over a dozen faculty members and students, with lively interaction and enthusiastic discussion throughout the session.

On April 15, Professor Balkwill will also lead a reading group exploring the relationship between the concept of “transforming from female to male” in Buddhist thought and Mahāyāna philosophy. If you are interested in joining the reading group, please download the article and read it in advance.

In addition, Professor Balkwill’s recent publication is available for open-access download:
https://storage.googleapis.com/rua-ucp/files/books/209/233c70ef-6d86-491a-9d09-ed33189bd2db.pdf