The Theravada Civilizations Project
announces:
A Dissertation Workshop
To be held at University of Pennsylvania, March 25, 2014
DEADLINE for proposals:
January 1st,
2014.
The Theravada Civilizations
Project is pleased to announce plans for an intensive
dissertation
workshop, which will be held on March 25 2014 in Philadelphia
(preceding the
Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting).
Theravada Buddhism is practiced
throughout the world with
over 150 million practitioners settled primarily in Cambodia,
Laos, Sri Lanka,
Burma, Nepal, and Thailand. The South and Southeast Asian
diaspora communities
as well as the rise in global interest in vipassana meditation
has led to the
growth of Theravada Buddhism in the Americas, Australia,
Japan, and Europe. The
scholarly study of Theravada Buddhism began with the scrutiny
of Pali literature,
but now covers many disciplines including literature, ethics,
anthropology,
philology, philosophy, history, cultural studies, political
science, urban
studies, and art and material culture.
The
Theravada Civilizations Project is comprised of scholars from Arizona State
University,
Bowdoin
College, the University of
Chicago, Cornell University, the École Française
d’Extrême-Orient, Harvard
University, the University of Leeds, the University of London, the University of
Louisville, Missouri
State University, the University of Pennsylvania, the
University of Toronto, the
University of Vermont, the University of Washington and the
University of
Wisconsin, and in consultation with scholars from a range of
other Asian,
Australian, and European institutions.
A description
of the larger project can
be found in Juliane Schober and Steven Collins, “The Theravāda Civilizations
Project: future directions in
the study of Buddhism in Southeast Asia,” in the (on-line) Journal
Contemporary Buddhism, vol. 13 (1), May 2012. Since project
members and other scholars in the field are based at many
different locations,
graduate students preparing their dissertations do not have
the opportunity to
present and gain detailed feedback on their work from several
experts in the
field.
This
workshop
is intended to bring together doctoral students and/or post-doctoral
academics in
the humanities and social sciences who are (1) developing
dissertation proposals
or are in early phases of research, dissertation writing, or
revising
dissertations for publications; and who are (2) engaging some
aspects of
Theravada classical and/or vernacular literature and/or
researching aspects of
Theravada history and cultural practice among South or Southeast
Asian
communities.
The workshop will be limited to 6 doctoral students and/or post doctoral academics, ideally from a broad array of disciplines and working on a wide variety of materials in a variety of time periods on themes related to Theravada traditions and communities in Southeast Asia. It will provide a day of intense discussion, presentation, and close review of dissertation proposals, outlines, and/or draft review on March 25. 2014.
Priority will be given to doctoral candidates at North American universities.
The Theravada Civilizations Project will be able to provide up to 1,000 US dollars in support for participants to help cover travel and accommodation. Meals will be provided at the workshop. Students needing additional funds to attend the workshop are encouraged to approach their home institutions for support.
Applicants need not have advanced to candidacy but must have at least drafted a dissertation research proposal to apply. Applications are also welcome from doctoral students in the early phases of writing their dissertations, as well as those in the later phases and recent post-docs. Applications consist of two items only:
(1) A current Curriculum Vitae, and
(2) A dissertation proposal, or a statement of the specific issues being addressed, the intellectual approach, and the materials being studied. Neither the proposal nor statement should exceed 10 double-spaced pages in length.
Application materials must reach Steven Collins at s-collins@uchicago.edu no later than January 1st 2014. Workshop participants will be selected on the basis of the submitted projects, the potential for useful exchanges among them, and a concern to include a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, intellectual traditions, and regions. Applicants will be notified by February 1st 2014. For further information about the workshop, or eligibility, please contact Prof. Collins at the above email address.