Dear friends and colleagues,

We are excited to host the final two sessions of our seminar, Language, Poiesis, and Buddhist Experiments with the Possible, at the AAR Annual Meeting in Denver. We will meet on Sunday, November 22, from 3:00–4:30 PM and 5:00–6:30 PM, at the Colorado Convention Center, Room 302.

In this fifth and final year of the seminar, we will bring our work to a close with two concluding events.

The first session is a roundtable bringing poet and essayist Jane Hirshfield into dialogue with scholars of religion Laurie Patton and Nancy Lin. Together, they will explore how Buddhist thought informs poetic making, how language shapes attention and ethical perception, and how literary form becomes a site for the articulation of insight. Bridging creative and scholarly perspectives, the session will reflect on the generative power of language in both contemplative and literary traditions.

The second session features brief paper presentations and an open discussion, bringing together members of the steering committee and past participants to reflect on the trajectory of our work and consider future directions for integrating the study of linguistic poiesis into the study of Buddhist texts.

We very much look forward to seeing you in Denver and to concluding this shared intellectual journey with you.

Best wishes,

Nancy Lin and Roy Tzohar (co-chairs)

 

FIRST SESSION (3:00–4:30 PM)

(Session information and Abstract)

 

Poet and essayist Jane Hirshfield in conversation with Laurie Patton, President of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences; and Nancy Lin, Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley.

 Presiding: Roy Tzohar, Tel Aviv University

 SECOND SESSION (5:00–6:30 PM)

(Session and Papers Abstracts)

 Nancy Lin, Institute of Buddhist Studies, Presiding

 Natalie Gummer: “Rethinking Literature through Buddhist Worldbuilding”

Roy Tzohar: “Moments of Poiesis in Buddhist Texts”

Sonam Kachru, Yale University: “Towards Aesthetic Mindfulness”

 Respondents:

Laurie Patton, President of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Charles Hallisey, Harvard Divinity School

Thomas Mazanec, University of California, Santa Barbara