GCBS
Welcome to the
at Ghent University
The Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies (GCBS) was founded in 2007 at Ghent University, within the Department of Languages and Cultures of South and East Asia as the first academic centre for Buddhist studies in Belgium. The buddhological research in Ghent is rooted in a long tradition of expertise that began in the early 20th century with the works of Prof. Dr. Louis Étienne de la Vallée-Poussin (1869-1938). Since then an increasing number of researchers have focused on a broad range of Buddhological fields.
As Buddhism took its shape within its spread from India via China to Tibet and Japan the GCBS aims to enable scholars and students to research and study philosophical, doctrinal and socio-cultural aspects of especially the Asian Buddhist traditions.
The members of the GCBS are working interdisciplinary as well as on highly specialized fields. Therefore a major task of the GCBS is to offer a forum for international discussions, to organize lecture series and symposia, where research methodologies and findings can be presented and exchanged. Initiatives such as the 'Permanent Education in Buddhism', which is open to everyone holding an M.A., tend to open the discourse to society and inform the public about current ongoings in the field of buddhological research.
The GCBS puts a strong emphasis on cooperation with other institutions. Bilateral agreements and Socrates programs have been established with our partners the Chung Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies 中華佛學研究所, the Dharma Drum Buddhist College DDBC (法鼓佛教學院 (both Taiwan), the Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg and The Oslo Buddhist Studies Forum at the University of Oslo ..
