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SYMPOSIUM> 2017 Toshihide Numata Book Award in Buddhism Symposium
by Robert H Sharf
BERKELEY — The Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2017 Toshihide Numata Book Award in Buddhism is Professor Jacqueline Stone (Princeton University) for her book: Right Thoughts at the Last Moment: Buddhism and Deathbed Practices in Early Medieval Japan (Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism, University of Hawaii Press, 2016).
The Toshihide Numata Book Award in Buddhism is awarded on an annual basis to an outstanding book or books in the area of Buddhist studies. The selection is made by an external committee that is appointed annually. The three members of this year's committee were unanimous in their ranking and praise of Right Thoughts at the Last Moment. One called it an "accomplished, textured, and thoughtful masterclass in Buddhist Studies with a socio-historical bent," and goes on to comment, "The book is sensitively written and presents a balanced counterpoint of minute fascinating detail with broad historical sweep." Another member of the committee wrote, "Stone is exemplary in the manner in which she interacts with some of the most significant developments in Buddhist Studies in recent decades, most notably how to trace the intersections between doctrine and social practice as well as how to deal historically and interpretively with the internal diversity of historical Buddhist communities (what Stone calls 'multiple logics')…. Stone's work is a pleasure to read, rich in detail and historical particulars, while at the same time providing easy access for those who might be quite unfamiliar with the terrain of medieval Japanese Buddhism."
Professor Stone will be presented with the Toshihide Numata Book Award on the afternoon of Friday, December 1, 2017, at the Brower Center (2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, next to the UC Berkeley Campus). The prize presentation, which will begin at 3 PM, will be followed by a keynote by the author and a symposium that will include talks by Professors James Benn (McMaster University), Gregory Schopen (UCLA), and Mark Blum (UC Berkeley).
More information about the Toshihide Numata Book Award in Buddhism, including names of past recipients of the Award, can be found here:
http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/bookprize/
Robert Sharf
Professor of Buddhist Studies, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
Chair of the Center for Buddhist Studies
University of California, Berkeley
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