The Wutai International Institute of Buddhism, with assistance from East Asian Cultures and the Buddhist Studies Forum and the FROGBEAR project (www.frogbear.org) at the University of British Columbia (UBC-BSF) in Vancouver, Canada, cordially invite applications for an intensive program on Buddhist Studies. Lasting for four weeks from September 18 to October 15, 2017, this program is composed of two segments: Segment 1 from September 18 to October 1 and Segment 2 from October 1 to October15.

The backbone of this program consists of four seminars delivered by four international scholars. Each seminar combines close reading of primary sources (non-Chinese primary sources may be accompanied by English translations), lectures on the implications of these sources, and guided presentations from participating students on their research, which could be their term papers, or thesis chapters. The four instructors for this year’s intensive program include, alphabetically:

1. Jinhua Chen 陳金華 (UBC): “Monk and Stone: The Significances of Epigraphic Sources for the Study of Chinese Buddhism” (Segment 2);
2. Imre Galambos 高奕睿 (Cambridge 劍橋): “The Dunhuang manuscripts: Donors, Faith and Paper” (Segment 1);
3. Seishi Karashima 辛島靜志 (Soka University 創價大學): “Reading anew the Lotus Sutra: The Renaissance of the Teaching of Becoming a Buddha” (Segment 2);
4. Stefano Zacchetti 左冠明 (Oxford 牛津): “Early Chinese Buddhist Translations” (Segment 1 ).

The program also supports a series of occasional lectures, to be delivered by 4 top scholars based in China. In addition to participating in these seminars and lecture series, student participants will conduct several field trips at Mount Wutai and neighboring areas, to gain firsthand experience of famed religious sites. They are also encouraged to present their research papers to their program instructors, lecturers, and their peer participants. Outstanding students will be selected and invited to carry out short-term (6-12 months long) research at UBC and UBC’s partner universities in East Asia, Europe and North America that are linked together through a large SSHRC-sponsored international and interdisciplinary project on Buddhism and East Asian Religions (www.frogbear.org). This may further bring them the opportunity of pursuing doctoral degrees or doing postdoctoral research at these top universities.

Participants are required to take part in all of the activities supported by the program, including the lecture series, the conference, students’ forum and field trips. Senior undergraduate students and graduate students specializing in any Buddhist tradition(s), and postdoctoral fellows working on relevant fields, are encouraged to apply. Please direct applications and inquiries to buddhistseminarandfieldwork@gmail.com. Please submit applications before August 20, 2017. Each application should include (1) an application form (to be provided upon request via the above email address), (2) updated curriculum vitae, (3) one writing sample, and (4) a reference letter (to be emailed by the referee directly to the above email address). Priority will be given to those applicants who are able to participate in both segments, although applications may also be considered from applicants who can only take part in one segment due to compelling reasons.

To guarantee sufficient interaction of student participants with instructors and between student participants themselves, student enrollment is limited to 30. In addition to being exempted from all tuition and administration fees, a successful candidate may receive free meals and accommodation during the program period although it is his or her responsibility to arrange his or her trip to Wutai.