China Religions Seminar
This series is focused on cutting edge research in the study of Chinese religions.  By inviting scholars from different disciplinary perspectives and with different areas of specialty, the seminar hopes to explore the complexity of Chinese religions, both in the past and in the ethnographic present.


Friday, October 16, 2009  12:00

Negotiations, Politics, and Religion in Southwest China: Building a New Central Temple for the Daizu, and Some of Its Consequences
Thomas Borchert, assistant professor of religion at the University of Vermont

In November 2007, the Theravada monks of Xishuangbanna dedicated a new temple near the site of the palace of the traditional king. This temple, a long held dream of the monks of the region, was built with the permission, of course, of the local government and with the capital of a Liaoning real estate company. While in many ways seemingly a victory for these monks and the Dai people of the region, this new temple points to the limits of “autonomy” for religious action by minorities in Southwest China.

Thomas Borchert is assistant professor of religion at the University of Vermont. His research focuses on monasticism in contemporary China and Thailand, particularly as it relates to education and politics. His primary research has been in the minority Theravada Buddhist communities of Southwest China, and his work has appeared in the Journal of Asian Studies and the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. He received his doctorate in 2006 from the University of Chicago.

Location: CGIS South, Room S153
1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA
Contact: lkluz@fas.harvard.edu