Buddhism & Social Justice

Telephone number:	+31 (0)71 527 2510
E-Mail:	j.a.silk@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of the Humanities, Leiden Institute for Area Studies, SAS India en Tibet
Office Address:	Johan Huizingagebouw Doelensteeg 16 2311 VL Leiden Room number Room 1.37

Academic Qualifications

1994	Ph.D. The University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan), Buddhist Studies. Dissertation title: “The Origins and Early History of the Mahāratnakūta Tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, With a Study of the Ratnarāśisūtra and Related Materials.”
1988	M.A. The University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan), Buddhist Studies.
1983	B.A. Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio), East Asian Studies.

Professional Employment

July 2007-	Professor in the Study of Buddhism, Leiden University
July 2002-2011	Assistant Professor, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, UCLA, later Associate and Emeritus Associate Professor.
July 1998–June 2002	Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Yale University
Aug. 1995–May 1998	Assistant Professor, Department of Comparative Religion, Western Michigan University.
Aug. 1994–May 1995	Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Grinnell College.

Major Awards and Fellowships

2010-2015	VICI award from the NWO (Dutch National Science Foundation) for project: “Buddhism and Social Justice.” (5 years, €1,5m)
2001-2002	Morse Junior Faculty Fellowship, Yale University.
1996–1997	Western Michigan University Faculty Research and Creative Activities Support Fund Award.
1993–1994	Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (Religion and Ethics)
1992–1993	Ryūkoku University Numata Fellowship
1991–1992	Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai Fellowship for the Study of Buddhism in Japan
1989–1990	Fulbright Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship Japanese Government Fellowship (declined)
1986-1988	FLAS (Foreign Language and Area Studies) Fellowships in Sanskrit (3)
1984-1986	FLAS Fellowships in Japanese (2)

Professional Memberships and Service

Founding Editor-in-chief, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Co-Editor-in-Chief, Indo-Iranian Journal, 2008-.
Editorial board member, Gonda Indological Studies.
English consultant for the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies, 1990-.
Member of the Editorial Board, The Eastern Buddhist (Kyoto, Japan), 1999-2006.
Reader for Oxford University Press, Columbia University Press, The Journal of Indian Philosophy, Journal of the American Oriental Society, History of Religions, Journal for the Study of Religion, and others.
Editorial Board Member, University of Hawaii Press Pure Land Buddhist Studies series.
Advisory Board Member, Kangyur-Tengyur Project (associated with the University of Virginia Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library).
Academic Advisory Board, Asian Literature and Translation: A Journal of Religion, Society and Culture (Centre for the History of Religions, Cardiff University).
Advisory board member, Tōyō Bunka Kenkyūjo, Minobusan University.
Member: American Oriental Society, International Association of Buddhist Studies, Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies, Pāli Text Society.
Evaluator: Israel Science Foundation, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies, etc.