Bristol University’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies’ Centre for Buddhist Studies has been awarded £395,806 by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to fund a collaborative research project over three years on Buddhist Death Rituals of Southeast Asia and China.

Founded in 1993, the departmental Centre for Buddhist Studies was the first such centre in the U. K.   Over the years it has produced many publications, MAs in Buddhist Studies, and completed PhDs. 

The Buddhist Death Rituals project is under the overall direction of Professor Paul Williams, Co-Director of the Centre for Buddhist Studies.

AHRC funding includes a full bursary for a PhD student to work on Chinese Buddhist funeral rites under the supervision of Dr John Kieschnick, Lecturer in Buddhist Studies.  Dr Kieschnick has published widely on the impact of Buddhism on Chinese culture.

Dr Rita Langer, CBS Research Fellow, an Indologist with philological expertise and fieldwork experience, has extensive expertise in the area of Buddhist death rituals, and will be the project’s full-time Research Fellow working on the Southeast Asian Buddhist rituals.

Project findings will be presented at two academic conferences and published as a collection of academic articles in the form of an edited book. An exhibition will reach out to a wider audience and the chosen media (images and video films) will make the material easily accessible to those interested in Buddhist Studies from both within and outside the academic community.

Dr Gavin D’Costa, Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, said: “We are delighted and excited by this substantial funding award from the AHRC, which will further enhance Bristol’s reputation as the principal national centre for research and teaching in Buddhist Studies.”