What the appropriate amount of ChatGPT in a completed PhD dissertation? Am reading a diss not at my home institution. My hunch is zero. The appropriate amount is “zero.” Thoughts?

One of my favorite poems since childhood, and a poem I share every #autumnequinox. By the 12thc warrior poet Xin Qiji 辛棄疾, sidelined during peacetime, demoted, drifting through a decade of minor posts in remote lands. Poetry, then, is that which is left unsaid. “My, what a cool and lovely autumn.”

My department is hiring! Apply to join me in Oslo :) www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

My tribute to Paul Cohen as historian & mentor to many www.asianstudies.org/in-memoriam-... cc @lmansley.bsky.social

My review of Ayoush Lazikani’s ‘The Medieval Moon’, in the latest @historytoday.com

"drastic plans to halve the intake of humanities students at one of China’s most prestigious institutions, Fudan University, divided opinions among scholars." Has anyone seen more on this?

The Fourth Middle-Period China Humanities conference in Hong Kong, summer 2026. Hope to see many of you there!

Updated question : can the garden in China provide ways to think about the environmental ethics of Buddhist temples in Ming-Qing southern China? Now gathering essays on Buddhist estates as / in / and gardens. End of a research and writing week.

From Sanmenxia and Three Gorges to the Yarlung Tsangpo Dam, China has long relied on monumental hydropower to prove state capacity. @zenel25.bsky.social and @pguer.bsky.social show how such projects, while promising development and security, often deepen the very insecurities they claim to resolve.

Just cracked open four double-yolk eggs in a row. If the odds of one are 1-in-1,000 …. should I buy lottery ticket?

How do aesthetics connect to environmental ethics? Has anyone written a study of how Buddhism is figured in early Chinese photography? End of a long research day.

A wonderful position at the University of Leuven, application deadline 9/15. #ChineseStudies #Sinology academicpositions.nl/ad/ku-leuven...

Jin Park's Karma as Active Resistance in @immanentframe.bsky.social 's series Karmic Historiography: tif.ssrc.org/2025/08/20/k... "To conceive of karma as active resistance, then, is to cultivate awareness and agency in ways that challenge both structural and internalized forms of domination."

The Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii English Teaching Division in 1925: Bishop Yemyo Imamura and Revs. Dorothy Hunt, Ernest Hunt, and M.T. Kirby. Their pioneering efforts continue to impact Buddhism in Hawai'i over 100 years later. #buddhism #buddhist #jodoshinshu #shinbuddhism #hawaii

Just sharing the “Xtreme endnotes” assignment @parisnoire.bsky.social mentions here in case anyone else finds it helpful as we begin a new academic year. FWIW, it’s a purely analog exercise in an AI-freaky world & my students have never not had fun doing it.✌🏽 www.historians.org/perspectives...

drinking tea alone-- every day the butterfly stops by Issa

"If your books were uploaded to LibGen/fed into the LLMs, add your name to the potential class action lawsuit by tomorrow." Details: LibDem database: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a... Attorney form: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au... (This information comes via a reliable Discord source.)

I had FLAS support as a graduate student one summer to do intensive language study. The financial support came at a critical time, and it made possible the next steps in my career.

Religious Studies folks: I'm teaching theory/method for grad students this fall, and I'd love to hear/share ideas about what we should read together. This is Pt. 1 of a 2-part sequence; it's also supposed to develop a sense of the history of RS as a field. Any thoughts? 1/

Google Gemini just invented a koan. No, literally. I was searching for anything out there about koan number 73 of the Blue Cliff Record. It’s a classic. About master Mazu and two of his disciples. Instead, Google just, like, made up this abysmal garbage:

Cold War in Asia is my new favorite podcast. Or it would be. Stories like Lee Meng 李明 (1926-2012), communist fighter of Malaya. She was ferocious. Irene Lee was widowed when her husband, a prominent detective, was assassinated. Plot twist, Irene enrolls as a detective and tracks down the killers.

My translation is featured in the new issue of Tricycle Magazine. First time that’s happened. tricycle.org/magazine/chi...

I just ordered a copy of Issue #9 Summer 2025. Looking forward to reading this.

My translation is featured in the new issue of Tricycle Magazine. First time that’s happened. tricycle.org/magazine/chi...

For #MapMonday, a manuscript created in Japan during the second half of the 18th century that features a collection of maps of feudal castles in the current Kansai, Chubu, Kanto, and Chugoku regions in central Japan. (UPenn Ms. Codex 1592) (1/2)

Out now! Bringing together contributions from North America, UK, Europe and Asia into a single volume, 'Mind, Text, and Reality in Buddhist Studies' advances scholarship and celebrates Rupert Gethin’s immense contribution to the field. Learn more: bit.ly/44mICM6

When I say “digital humanities,” I mean that I use my fingers to turn the pages of the book I’m reading.

JOB: Assistant Professor in South/Southeast Asian Religions (w/ focus on Hindu Traditions, defined BROADLY) in my department at the University of San Diego (PLEASE SHARE WIDELY). Apply here: jobs.sandiego.edu/cw/en-us/job...

Study of religion and spirituality among the listed interests for this position in Africana Studies.

Exciting. Will be watching how this works out. Bravo on moving on from APC (article processing charge) fees for authors. Pay to publish is inherently bad.

“American Academy of Arts&Sciences reports 96.3% of humanities grads age 23-32 fully employed. Earnings in humanitiess comparable to social/life sciences, job satisfaction levels too. A serious mismatch bw actual employment for hum grads +general perception." www.mellon.org/voices/human...

📰 A Brief Survey of Contemporary Eco-Buddhist Activism in Korea (A free, 19-page article from 2015) Tags: #EngagedBuddhism #Korea

It’s too late to stop the pile on, but OP is wrong about student evals. OECR is a unit at Brown. It already exists. It handles reports of discrimination. Even it doesn’t review course evals directly. OCR is a government unit. It receives reports from universities. It won’t receive course evals.

Important book: "A Philosophy of Climate Apocalypticism: In and Against the World" By Jakub Kowalewski www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/1...

Hi everyone, As part of my dissertation, I am researching audiobook narration. If you have listened to an audiobook within the last two years, or have previously been a frequent audiobook user, I would really appreciate your thoughts! You can find the survey here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Shi Yongxin, the abbot of the #Shaolin Temple in Henan province, is suspected of criminal offenses, including embezzling and misappropriating project funds and temple assets, according to a notice released on the temple's official website on Sunday. #释永信 bit.ly/44RJvhj

A job going in Singapore! ntu.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Careers/job/...

Gallup Poll asking Americans about “paranormal belief” Some interesting data— but a few of these prompts are about normal religious ideas (ie reincarnation for billions of people) or poorly worded (ie ‘can mind heal body’? See placebo effect). Source : news.gallup.com/poll/692738/...

I ordered a lot of index cards today (that I also paid for) because we’re going to be doing more short in-class writing this fall instead of some of the exercises they used to do on their own time (and turned in on line). Nobody learns from the ways they’re increasingly using AI - not them, not me.

“AI” doesn’t lie. It’s not deceitful, it doesn’t have feelings: it is broken. Those who are selling AI products encourage people to anthropomorphize it because doing so avoids language that indicates what a garbage product it is they’re selling. Or, as I wrote here: www.artforum.com/features/gen...

A roundtable on the future of environmental history as a subfield from early career scholars (with a small contribution from me). What is the place of scale? Of interdisciplinarity? Thanks especially to @hibbertsalex.bsky.social for organising and editing. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Poetry should be a requirement for white-collar jobs again

Joanna Macy, a foundational figure in Buddhism and ecology, has passed away. She trained Stephanie Kaza (the most sophisticated American writer in this field) and many others, was a pioneer in facing eco-anxiety, and tireless activist. #buddhism #buddhist #engagedbuddhism #ecology #sustainability

Thrilled to announce a new volume I've co-edited with Benjamin Brose: Inner Worlds: Individuals and Interiority in Chinese Religious Life. It’s out now from Brill and you can find it here: brill.com/edcollbook/t... ✨ #NewBooks #ReligiousStudies #BuddhistStudies

I'm so thrilled to have this published! Starting from a chat over lunch at @girtoncollege.bsky.social, James Wade & I chipped away at this & have made some fascinating discoveries. The actual article should be published later today. In the meantime, more here: www.cam.ac.uk/stories/song...

Catholic missionaries, Buddhist environmentalists, and lots of Tibetan wine.

In 'Crafting a Tibetan Terroir', Brendan Galipeau explores how wine is reshaping landscapes and livelihoods in the Sino-Tibetan border region known as Shangri-La. From missionary vines to luxury tourism, it is a story of modernity, identity, and global capitalism. A conversation with Dechen Pemba.