domingo, 26 de mayo de 2013

Call for Papers

*Buddhist Meditation: Tradition and Transformation*

2013 Buddhist Studies Graduate Conference at the University of Virginia
September 13-15, 2013

The Buddhist Studies Group at the University of Virginia is pleased to
announce an interdisciplinary graduate student conference to be hosted on
the UVa Grounds in Charlottesville, VA on September 13-15, 2013 on the
theme of "Buddhist Meditation: Tradition and Transformation." The
conference will include panels and paper presentations by graduate students
from across North America and lectures by a number of the world’s foremost
Buddhist Studies scholars (lineup TBA). This conference is designed to be a
collaborative forum in which young scholars can test new approaches, bridge
disciplines in creative ways, and expand the scope of sources that we bring
to our studies.

*Call for Paper Proposals*

Along the lines of this year’s theme, we are looking for paper proposals
from students currently enrolled in M.A. or Ph.D. programs - not only in
Buddhist Studies, but also in other disciplines, including sociology,
anthropology, and history - that speak directly to the study of Buddhist
meditation. The papers selected for presentation will be organized into
panels, each chaired by a faculty respondent. Presentations will not exceed
twenty minutes.

We strongly encourage proposals that stretch received boundaries and
challenge the way we think about and study Buddhist Meditation in its many
forms and contexts. We encourage papers that approach Buddhist meditation
from a diverse range of methodological approaches - literary, historic,
ethnographic, sociological, political, and educational/pedagogical, to name
a few.

We are particularly interested in the following topics:

  - Problems in the *historical study* of Buddhist meditation.
  - Innovative *Interdisciplinary* investigations into contemplative
    practice in Buddhist societies (e.g.: historically-informed ethnography)
  - How *the body* has been conceptualized and represented within specific
    Buddhist contemplative systems
  - The role of *creativity and innovation* vis-à-vis lineage and
    “tradition.”
  - *Therapeutic* and instrumental* (vs. soteriological) applications of
    Buddhist meditation *in Buddhist societies*.
  - Institutional and pedagogical frameworks.
  - The role of *the literary* in Buddhist meditation traditions (e.g.:
    biographical literature, meditation manuals, philosophical literature, etc)

Paper Proposal Submission Guidelines

Please submit an abstract of your paper of *not more than 500 words*,
along with your name, university and department affiliation, and a brief
bio, to gradbuddhismconf2013@gmail.com  by *June 15, 2013.* You will be
notified by the end of June of the status of your proposal, after which we
will publish a detailed schedule of the conference.

University of Virginia may potentially be able to provide funding to cover
the costs of lodging and meals for students presenting papers. Travel
funds, however, should be obtained from the students' home institutions or
other sources. We also warmly welcome and encourage non-presenting students
to attend at their own cost. Regrettably, we cannot provide letters of
invitation to international observers for visa purposes because we are not
equipped to take legal responsibility for international observers.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact one of the
conference organizers:

Eric Fry-Miller:      ef6ab@virginia.edu
Christopher Hiebert:  ch7wt@virginia.edu
Naomi Worth:          nw3ca@virginia.edu

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H-Buddhism (Buddhist Scholars Information Network)

Web Site: <http://www.h-net.org/~buddhism/>
Posting Guidelines: <http://www.h-net.org/~buddhism/posting_guidelines.html>