Global Studies Seminar presents Jue Liang

The Global Studies Seminar presents a talk titled “Other Feminisms: Lessons from Tibetan Buddhist Nuns” by Jue Liang, post-doctoral fellow in Asian religions and cultures at Denison.

What does Buddhism have to say about feminism? And why should we care? In the late 1980s, for the first time in the history of Buddhism, nuns in Eastern Tibet were granted an equal opportunity for and a terminal degree in advanced Buddhist learning. These women have been studying to become Buddhist teachers and taking on leadership roles in education, publishing, and management. This ongoing research project combines ethnographic research on people involved in this gender equality initiative and textual study of their creation of a canon for Buddhist women. The education program for these Buddhist nuns is born out of the local imperative to reimagine Buddhism in the twenty-first century and ensure its survival, and the global conversation on women’s role in Buddhism at large. This program and its social impact reveal a distinctly Buddhist theory of gender and an alternative way of thinking about and addressing issues such as gender equality and social inclusivity.

Liang is a scholar of Buddhist literature, history, and culture in South and East Asia. At Denison University, she teaches Buddhism, World Religions, as well as thematic courses dealing with the intersection between religion, gender, sexuality, and translation.