This project, conducted in 2021 under the direction of Drs. Adeana McNicholl and Ann Gleig, compiles a selection of pedagogical resources for the incorporation of race and racism into Buddhist Studies classes. The project consists of three components: (1) video interviews with instructors who are engaged with these issues and who contributed syllabi to this project (drop-down list above), (2) a database of nearly three hundred English-language resources relevant to teaching Buddhism, race, and racism (below); and (3) a list of syllabi from instructors. We also included two episodes of The Circled Square podcast that feature faculty who address race and anti-racist pedagogy in their interviews (embedded below).
We understand race and its relationship to religion to be capacious. As such, we took an expansive approach to including resources for the database, including items that discuss colonialism, Orientalism, ethnicity, Islamophobia, caste, and racism. The database, created with Airtable, will be of use to practitioners, students, and teachers. The collection includes podcasts, videos, websites, and public scholarship pieces in addition to articles and books. Airtable’s filter system allows you to efficiently search through the contents to find items useful for your project. A tutorial can be found here.
We hope that this project is only the beginning of a longer conversation on Buddhism, Buddhist Studies, race, and ethnicity. To contribute syllabi to the project or suggest items for inclusion in the database, please contact Buddhist Studies UofT, [email protected].
August 2021 update: The Airtable Bibliography is still being updated. Stay tuned for future updates with more resources and future video interviews.
Video conversations on teaching Buddhism, race and racism
Hosted by Dr. Adeana McNicholl and Dr. Ann Gleig
(See each video page on the drop-down list above for show notes and transcripts)
Searchable bibliography of resources relevant to teaching Buddhism, race, and racism
(Updated August 2021)
Podcast interviews with Buddhist studies professors on teaching Buddhism, race and racism
From The Circled Square, Hosted by Dr. Sarah Richardson
Thanks to our team for their hard work:
- Airtable spreadsheet: Molly Mignault
- Video captions and transcripts: Sam Keravica