Every year the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies hosts a number of doctoral school specialist courses aimed at graduate students. Please find a list of our future and recent doctoral schools below:
Doctoral school “Chinese Buddhist Iconography and Manuscript Culture: Fieldwork Data and their Use in Pedagogical Contexts, with an Emphasis on Digital Resources”, June 17-21, 2024 - Abstract: Field work activities and the study of manuscripts are vital aspects of conducting research in East Asian Buddhist Studies, and both the fields of analysing iconography and deciphering and contextualizing manuscripts have undergone rapid changes during the last decade, mainly driven by innovations in the field of Digital Humanities. This course aims to provide participants with first-hand insights concerning fieldwork activities conducted in the… Read more
Doctoral School “Systems of Representation in Asian Religious and Philosophical Traditions”, October 9–13, 2023 - Abstract: Representation, a vital concept in accounting for how we perceive and engage with the world, has emerged as a significant subject across various fields, including anthropology, philosophy, religious studies, cultural studies, cognitive science, and visual culture. Focusing specifically on Asian religions, philosophy, and aesthetics, this course explores profound existential and ethical inquiries that have played a formative role in shaping and impacting those societies.… Read more
Doctoral School “Buddhism and Law in China”, June 19–23, 2023 - Abstract: This (on campus) course will focus on how Buddhists in China engage(d) with various aspects of the Buddhist monastic law (Vinaya). It will cover discussions on clerical immunity for ordained Buddhists in Buddhist legal texts; Chinese transformation of jurisdictional negotiation between the state and the Buddhist establishment; and case studies of Buddhist engagements with state law and Buddhist religious law in modern and contemporary… Read more
Doctoral School “Demystifying Chan (Japanese: Zen) Buddhism”, July 4-8, 2022 - Abstract: This (on campus) course is aimed at PhD students and will focus on the rise and success of Chan Buddhism (known in Japan as Zen) in medieval China. It will cover (1) Indian and Chinese doctrinal antecedents; (2) the emergence of new modes of ritual and literary expression, drawing from both Indian and Chinese exemplars; and (3) the specific contributions of the “public case”… Read more
Doctoral School “Buddhism and Medicine in East Asia”, June 28-July 2, 2021 - Abstract: This specialist course will focus on an interdisciplinary approach to the intersection of religion and medicine in medieval and late imperial East Asia, with a particular focus on Buddhism. As a religious and cultural tradition with transnational scope, Buddhism played an important role in circulating medical knowledge around Asia. This course focuses on this history from the perspectives of Religious Studies, History of Medicine,… Read more
Doctoral School “Sino-Tibetan Languages: Research Methodologies and Approaches to Linguistic Field Studies and Language Documentation among Tibeto-Burman Speaking Minorities in China”, October 26–30, 2020 - Abstract: This specialist course will focus on an interdisciplinary approach to the Sino-Tibetan (ST) language family, with an emphasis on languages of the Tibeto-Burman (TB) branch spoken by ethnic minorities in China. In the course there will be an emphasis on linguistic aspects, such as the genetic relations between the ST languages in a historical perspective, comparative approaches to the study of language families, fieldwork… Read more
Doctoral School “Chinese Buddhist Historical Records in the Context of Digital Humanities”, October 21–25, 2019 - Abstract: The Doctoral School’s specialist course will focus on historical literature, including local gazetteers and Transmission of the Lamp texts, of the Chinese Buddhist schools. While adopting a diachronic perspective, covering texts between the 10th and the 17th century, the special angle of the course is to relate the study of historical sources to modern technologies and most recent advances in Digital Humanities. This will… Read more
Doctoral School “Women and Nuns in Chinese Buddhism”, Ghent University, June 3–7, 2019 - Abstract: The Doctoral School specialist course will focus on “Women and Nuns in Chinese Buddhism”. While adopting a diachronic perspective, it will give ample space to the twentieth and early twenty-first century. This will offer students insight into the status of Chinese Buddhist nuns and women in contemporary Chinese society and within the Buddhist world as a whole. This specialist course contributes to the FROGBEAR… Read more
Doctoral School “Chinese Writing and Lexicography in Medieval China”, October 8-12, 2018 - Abstract This Doctoral School will address key questions concerning medieval Chinese writing practices and manuscript culture, in addition to providing an introduction to important historical lexicographical material. As such, the course will address essential issues concerning the research of and work with medieval Chinese source materials. Description The course is aimed at PhD students specializing in medieval China and medieval Chinese texts and manuscripts (focusing… Read more
Doctoral school “Buddhism and Silk Culture”, May 28-June 1, 2018 - Abstract: Doctoral school on "Buddhism and Silk Culture" features Stuart Young as a guest lecturer. The course aimed to enhance the PhD researchers' understanding of key questions pertaining to the role of Buddhism in these contexts. While offering a thorough analysis of essential text material in the Chinese medieval period, the instructor, assisted by the organizers, will also introduce specific methodologies of research in medieval… Read more
Doctoral School “East Asian Historical Phonology in a Comparative Perspective”, March 13-17, 2017 - This Doctoral School is open to a limited number of external PhD students (free of charge)! For more information, please contact christoph.anderl@ugent.be. Monday, March 13th 9:30: Welcome of the participants by the Doctoral School organizers (Christoph Anderl, Ann Heirman) 10:00 – 12:00: General introduction* (Guillaume Jacques) 12:00 – 13:30: lunch break 13:30 – 15:00: Introduction: Multilingualism along the Silk Road* (Christoph Anderl) Tuesday, March 14th… Read more
Doctoral School “Chinese Buddhist Apologetic Literature in aDiachronic Perspective”, September 28 – October 2, 2015 - Abstract: The course will introduce Chinese Buddhist apologetic texts from two different periods. Dr.Jülch will deal with the Zhenzheng lun 甄正論 written in the Tang dynasty, and Dr. Dr. Zhangwith the Dayuan zhiyuan bianwei lu 大元至元辨偽録 written in the Yuan dynasty. In thecourse, selected parts of the texts will be translated, their historical background analyzed, andmethodological issues discussed. "Chinese Buddhist Apologetic Literature in a Diachronic… Read more