Associate Professor of Religious Studies Pamela D. Winfield presented her research on Zen Buddhism at two international symposia in Asia this summer.
Associate Professor of Religious Studies Pamela D. Winfield presented her research on Zen Buddhism at two international symposia in Asia this summer.
She first traveled to Guangzhou, China (formerly known as Canton) to join an international cohort of leading scholars for the “Ultimate Concerns” conference organized by the Woodenfish Foundation. It was hosted by the historic Dafosi, or Great Buddha Temple in Guangzhou and televised by Hong Kong TV with simultaneous Chinese-English translation for over 200 attendees.
Her paper addressed themes of mortuary architecture and memoralization as it analyzed the visual and material culture of monastic and lay memorial halls at Eiheiji Zen temple in Japan. Winfield then traveled to Tokyo to participate in the annual Lotus Sutra seminar hosted by Rissho koseikai, a modern socially-engaged offshoot of Nichiren Buddhism. There she presented her research on Zen master Dogen (1200-1253) who cited the Lotus Sutra liberally to justify and raise funds for his new building campaign at Eiheiji in 1244.
After the week-long symposium, Winfield further extended her research by traveling to Eiheiji thanks to an Individual Research Grant from the American Academy of Religion.