Table of Contents
- POSITION>
Lecturer in Tibetan, University of Virginia
- NEW BOOK>
From Indra's Net to Internet: Communication, Technology and the Evolution
of Buddhist Ideas
POSITION>
Lecturer in Tibetan, University of Virginia
by A. Charles Muller
The University of Virginia invites applications for a full-time Lecturer
position in Tibetan Language and Culture beginning fall 2019. The
position is a three-year renewable appointment and will be hosted in The
Department of East Asian Languages, Literatures and Cultures.We seek a strong language instructor to teach during the academic year, with experience teaching modern spoken and written Tibetan, as well as classical Tibetan. Candidates must have native or near-native fluency in Tibetan and English, teaching experience, and have at least a Master's degree or higher in: Tibetan language, literature, linguistics, history, religious studies, art history, applied linguistics, second/foreign language acquisition or other related field.. They must also be comfortable teaching undergraduates in subjects relating to Tibetan culture.
For full details, please see:
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=57455
NEW
BOOK> From Indra's Net to Internet: Communication, Technology and the
Evolution of Buddhist Ideas
by Daniel Veidlinger
Dear Colleagues, I would like to alert you to a new book that has recently
been published:"From Indra's Net to Internet: Communication, Technology and the Evolution of Buddhist Ideas" by Daniel Veidlinger (University of Hawaii Press, 2018).
https://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/from-indras-net-to-internet-communication-technology-and-the-evolution-of-buddhist-ideas/
The book uses communications theory as a lens through which to examine the rise of Buddhism in the largely urban milieu of Axial Age northeastern India and its rapid spread along the transportation and trading nodes of the Silk Road, where it appealed to merchants and traders from a variety of backgrounds. Throughout, it compares these early phases of Buddhism with contemporary developments characterized by rapid changes in patterns of social interaction brought about by the digital communications revolution. The book argues that Buddhist ideas tend to fare well in certain media environments and through a careful analysis of communications used in these contexts, parallels with modern advances in communications technology are presented that amplify the conditions and effects found along ancient trade routes. The book should be of particular interest to those working on the sociology of Buddhism and Buddhism in the modern world, but the first part deals extensively also with early Buddhism in India.
The contents are as follows:
1) Introduction: Media Theory and the Study of Buddhism
2) Wheeling and Dealing: Transportation, Communication, and Axial Age Religion
3) Discourse and the Buddha: Trade, Urbanization, and Communication in Ancient india
4) The Information Superhighway of Old: Buddhism along the Silk Road
5) Electrifying Indra's Net: How the Internet Shapes the Reception of Buddhist Ideas
6) Self, Selfies and Selflessness in Cyberspace
7) Thus Have I Clicked: Quantitative Data and Survey Results for Buddhism Online
8) Conclusion: Computer-Mediated Communication and the Future of Buddhist Ideas
