Asian-Global Networks and Relationships in the Modern Spread of Buddhism
Audience: Public Format: Hybrid
Two-day hybrid conference on Buddhist networks and relationships in the modern spread of Buddhism at Oxford
Tuesday, 30 June 2026 to Wednesday, 1 July 2026, 9am - 6pm
The conference celebrates three major milestone anniversaries coinciding in 2026:
• The Centennial (100 Years): Celebrating the founding of the London Buddhist Vihara, the very first Buddhist temple established in the UK.
• The 75th Anniversary: Honoring the impact of the American Buddhist Study Center (ABSC) of New York.
• The 60th Anniversary: Marking the global founding and legacy of Tzu Chi.
The academic programme features prominent keynote lectures from Elizabeth Harris (University of Birmingham), Steven Kemper (Bates College), and Mark Unno (University of Oregon). Over the two days, presenters from global institutions will present on a diverse range of themes, including institutional networks in Europe and America, transnational Southeast Asian Buddhism, narratives of propagation, and the evolution of meditation lineages across public identities. Following the core presentations, the event concludes on July 2 with an optional tour of Oxford and a specialized archival research workshop aimed at graduate students and early career researchers interested in finding out more about the archival work behind some of the recent research and publications in the field.
Speaker(s): Elizabeth Harris (University of Birmingham), Steven Kemper (Bates College), Mark Unno (University of Oregon)
Venue:
Rewley House - Lecture Theatre
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Lecture Theatre Rewley House 1-7 Wellington Square Oxford Oxfordshire OX1 2JA United Kingdom
Department: Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Department)
Organiser: Pyi Phyo Kyaw
Host: Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford
More info:
In-person attendance: FREE. Limited places.
To register for in-person attendance, contact pyi.kyaw@ames.ox.ac.uk.
Online attendance via: Teams.
Meeting ID: 390 173 382 894 672
Passcode: xx9QS2P5
Funded by the Yin-Cheng Network for Buddhist Studies, with additional support from the London Buddhist Vihara, and the American Buddhist Study Center of New York.
Schedule
All times in BST (London; GMT+1)
Tuesday 30 June 2026 Lecture Theatre, Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square | |
Global Networks and the Shaping of British Buddhism (1900–1930) Chair: Kate Crosby (AMES and Balliol College, Oxford) | |
9:00–9:15 | Opening Keynote Lectures |
9:15–9:45 | Elizabeth Harris (University of Birmingham, UK) Allan Bennett/Ananda Metteyya and the Global Networking of Buddhists 1900–1930 |
9:45–10:15 | Steven Kemper (Bates College, US) Dharmapala in London. 1925–1927 |
10:15–10:30 | Questions and Discussion |
10:30–11:00 | Coffee break – served on site
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Buddhist Networks in Europe Chair: Ven. Wadigala Samitharathana (AMES and St. Cross College, Oxford) | |
11:00–11:20 | Jani Barua (University of Chittagong, Bangladesh) Cross-Continental Theravāda: Asian Networks and the European Buddhist Renaissance (1870–1956) |
11:20–11:40 | Rev. Kudawawe Somananda Thero (Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany) Architecture and Materiality of Das Buddhistische Haus Berlin: A Hybrid German – Asian Buddhist Identity |
11:40–12:00 | Catherine Gidney (St. Thomas University, Canada) “A great facilitator”: Ananda Bodhi, the English Sangha, and the development of South and Southeast Asian Networks in 1960s Britain and beyond |
12:00–12:30 | Questions and Discussion
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12:30–14:00 | Lunch at Organic Deli Café, 24 Friars Entry, Oxford, OX1 2BY |
Institutional Networks and Relational Collaborations in Modern Buddhism Chair: Zoe Zielke (School of Anthropology and Keble College, Oxford) | |
14:00–14:20 | Run Gu (University of Tübingen, Germany) Relational Buddhism in New South Wales: Asian–Global Networks and the Making of a Multicultural Buddhist Public in Modern Australia |
14:20–14:40 | Rev. Dr. Monica Sanford (Harvard Divinity School, US) From Localization to Re-import: Buddhist Chaplaincy as a Global Network in the Modern Spread of Buddhism |
14:40–15:00 | Questions and Discussion
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15:00–15:30 | Tea break – served on site
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Buddhist Communities in South Asia Chair: Bikash Bhattacharya (AMES and Linacre College, Oxford) | |
15:30–15:50 | Berthe Jansen (Leiden University, Netherlands) Ghoom Monastery between the 1880s and the 1950s: an Unparalleled but Forgotten International Hub for Tibetan Buddhism |
15:50–16:10 | Sanyan Parial (Kazi Nazrul University Asansol, India) From Precarity to Possibility: Mapping the Networks of Engagement of Buddhist Communities in Post–Partition India |
16:10–16:30 | Usha Chakma (International Buddhist College, Thailand) Reviving the Bhikkhunī Saṅgha in the Chittagong Hill Tracts through Global Networks |
16:30–17:00 | Questions and Discussion (depart) |
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18:00 | Dinner at Sichuan Grand (Buddhist vegan meal for contributors and volunteers) |
Wednesday 1 July 2026 Lecture Theatre, Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square
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Narratives of Propagation in Global Buddhist Missions Chair: Jingke Xiao (AMES and Wolfson College, Oxford) | |
9:00–9:20 | Aaron Shōken Proffitt (University of Albany-SUNY) Going with the Flow: Jinen in Buddhist-Daoist Contexts |
9:20–9:40 | Theo Stapleton (University of Cambridge, UK) Buddhism and Business: comparing two models of religious labour at the first Chinese Buddhist temple in Tanzania |
9:40–10:00 | Philip Wei-li Hsu (National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan) From Chinese Buddhism to Global Buddhism: Yu Lingbo and the Historiography of Overseas Buddhist Missions |
10:00–10:30 | Questions and Discussion |
10:30–11:00 | Coffee break – served on site
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Transnational Meditation: Adapting Lineages and Public Identities Chair: Sarah Shaw (AMES and Wolfson College, Oxford) | |
11:00–11:20 | Kate Crosby (University of Oxford, UK) Threads of Meditation, Crisscrossing the Globe, and Early British Buddhism |
11:20–11:40 | Chontida Poonpipat (University of Oxford, UK) Presence and Influence of Thai Buddhist Meditation Practices in the UK |
11:40–12:00 | Jesada Buaban (Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia) Popularizing Meditation: Changing Methods and Public Representations in Modern Indonesia |
12:00–12:30 | Questions and Discussion
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12:30–13:30 | Lunch – served on site (all welcome)
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Transnational Buddhism of Southeast Asia Chair: Pyi Phyo Kyaw (AMES and St. Antony’s College, Oxford) | |
13:30–13:50 | Bikash Bhattacharya (University of Oxford) Monastic Networks and the Production of Buddhist Diplomacy on the Indo-Burma Frontier: Burmese Goodwill Missions to Assam, 1948–1950 |
13:50–14:10 | Tony Scott (University of Tokyo, Japan) Contradictions and Centrifugal Forces in Buddhist Diplomacy: Radical Buddhist Internationalism in the Cold War |
14:10–14:30 | Ven. Huynh Quoc Tuan (University of Oxford, UK) Thích Huyền Vi and Transnational Vietnamese Buddhist Networks |
14:30–15:00 | Questions and Discussion |
15:00–15:30 | Tea break – served on site
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Buddhist Networks in America Chair: Dr. Gordon Bermant (American Buddhist Study Center) | |
15:30–15:50 | Bryan D. Lowe (Princeton University, US) Asian and Asian-American Scholars and the Founding of Buddhist Studies in North America |
15:50–16:10 | William McGrath (New York University, US) Blue Ridge Dharma: The Study of Tibetan Buddhism at the University of Virginia |
16:10–16:30 | Questions and Discussion |
15:30–16:45 | Break |
16:45–17:45 | Keynote Lecture Mark Unno (University of Oregon, US) The Grasshopper and Global Buddhism: A Tale of Nested Daruma Dolls
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18:00 | Depart the conference venue |
18:30 | Drinks reception, Buttery, Balliol College (all welcome) |