Leadership

Program Director

Dr. Brian Victoria has led Antioch Education Abroad’s Buddhist Studies in Japan program since 2005. Dr. Victoria received his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the Department of Religion at Temple University. His M.A. is from Sôtô Zen sect-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo where he also majored in Buddhist Studies. Brian trained at the Sôtô Zen monastery of Eiheiji and is a fully ordained priest in that sect.

He is also the author and co-author of numerous books and articles on Zen including Zen Master Dôgen, Zen at War, and Zen War Stories.  The Japanese language edition of Zen at War served as a catalyst for Myôshinji, the largest branch of the Rinzai Zen sect, to publicly apologize for its role in support of Japanese militarism during WWII. During the program in Japan, he will teach Development and Doctrine of Buddhism. He will also supervise a selected number of student field research projects together with other Program Instructors.

 

Faculty

Diverse and highly qualified faculty and a low student-faculty ratio are among the strengths of the Buddhist Studies Program. A combination of Western and Eastern instructors ensures a continuity of American educational patterns, as well as access to the indigenous philosophies in their genuine form. Together they create a rich milieu for intellectual and cultural inquiry.

Academic Faculty

Development and Doctrine of Buddhism in Japan

This course will be taught by Dr. Brian Victoria. Please refer to the top of the page for his background.

Japanese Buddhist Culture                                                                                                                             Dr. Christal Whelan, founder of Blue Lotus Productions in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, is currently working on a film on Mongolian Buddhism under the auspices of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Mahayana Tradition.  A long-standing resident of Japan, Dr. Whelan received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Boston University, where she was a research associate at the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs for six years following her ordination as a Shingon Buddhist priest at Koyasan Monastery in 2000.  Author and filmmaker, Dr. Whelan's research interests include Japanese new religious movements, Butoh performance, and the present revival of the Vajrayana tradition in Mongolia.

Japanese Language                                                                                                                                          Kuniko Shimooka is well acquainted with Kyoto and its environs, having graduated from high school in the city of Uji where Japan's ancient aristocrats had their summer villas. She is a 2003 graduate of Ryukoku University, majoring in Japanese language and literature. Her research interests center on contemporary Japanese grammatical usage, especially the use of potential verb forms. Following graduation, Kuniko spent a year as a Japanese language instructor in China at Xi'an Communications University. At present, she is completing her Ph.D. studies at Ryukoku University.

Teaching Assistant                                                                                                                                           The Teaching Assistant is traditionally a graduate from the Antioch Education Abroad Buddhist Studies in Japan program and typically has intermediate or advanced fluency in the Japanese language. He or she assists the Program Director, leads discussions for the Practice and Theory of Buddhism in Japan course, and helps with cross-cultural advising.

The Teaching Assistant for 2008 is Julian Sharp. Julian is a recent graduate of Antioch College, where he earned a degree in Peace and Justice Studies and International Relations. He is also an alumnus of Antioch Education Abroad’s 2006 Buddhist Studies in Japan program. Over the past eight years, Julian has worked for progressive change through inter-religious dialogue. He served in key leadership positions in the Unitarian Universalist Association and has worked for both the American Civil Liberties Union and Mass Equality. He is interested in engaged Buddhism, and he will be organizing lectures on contemporary issues in Japanese Buddhism.

Buddhist Practice Faculty

Zen
Rev. Issho Fujita is the Soto Zen instructor. Rev. Fujita was born in Japan in 1954. After becoming inspired by the practice of zazen, he left his graduate school studies in developmental psychology at Tokyo University and entered Soto Zen-affiliated Antaiji temple where, at age 29, he entered the Zen priesthood. In 1987 he came to America to assume responsibilities as the resident director of Valley Zendo in Carlemont, Massachusetts. In addition, he taught Zen and led zazen sessions at colleges and Buddhist centers in the area, including Amherst College, Smith College, Mt. Holyoke College, the University of Massachusetts and the Barre Center of Buddhist Studies. He returned to Japan in 2005.

Rev. Thomas Kirchner is the Rinzai Zen Instructor. Rev. Kirchner, a native of Maryland, went to Japan on a junior-year abroad program in 1969. In 1971 he studied at Shofukuji monastery in Kobe as a lay monk under Rinzai Zen Master Mumon Yamada. In 1974 he was ordained and given the name Shaku Yuho and trained at Kenchoji in Kamakura and Kenninji in Kyoto. He now serves as caretaker of the Tenryuji sub-temple of Rinsenji in Kyoto and works at the International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism at Hanazono University. He has master's degrees in Buddhist Studies from Otani University and in Education from Temple University (Japan).

True Pure Land
Galen Amstutz, the lecturer for Shin Buddhism, grew up in an Asian-American neighborhood in Sacramento, California. He became interested in Buddhism after teaching English in Japan in the 1970s, studied at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California, and qualified as a minister of the Nishi Honganji True Pure Land organization. Later, having continued his academic study with a Ph.D. in Asian Religions from Princeton, he worked for Florida State University, the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard, and Ryukoku University in Japan. He is particularly interested in the communication problem related to Shin Buddhism and has published a book on the issue (Interpreting Amida, 1997) among other writings.

Shingon                                                                                                                                                             Dr. Christal Whelan, founder of Blue Lotus Productions in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, is currently working on a film on Mongolian Buddhism under the auspices of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Mahayana Tradition.  A long-standing resident of Japan, Dr. Whelan received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Boston University, where she was a research associate at the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs for six years following her ordination as a Shingon Buddhist priest at Koyasan Monastery in 2000.  Author and filmmaker, Dr. Whelan's research interests include Japanese new religious movements, Butoh performance, and the present revival of the Vajrayana tradition in Mongolia.