• Membership Form

• Post Grad Support
• Seminar Series
• Web Site Design

• Seminar Series
• Presidents Message
• From the Secretary
• Conference at Wollongong
• AABS Web Site
• Recent Publications
• Web Sites of Interest
• Feedback

Best wishes to all AABS members and friends for a peaceful and happy holiday season.

AABS Executive Committee

Glenys Eddy, a doctoral candidate from the University of Sydney, discussed the methodological issues that arise in undertaking field work with Western Buddhist groups. For an abstract, visit the Seminar Series page on our website.  We will shortly be announcing the schedule for 2006.

* Email us with any suggestions for seminar topics and offers to present papers

There is a general awareness that in recent years there has been a rapid, almost exponential, increase in Buddhist Studies throughout the scholarly world. What is perhaps not so well known is how much work is being done in Buddhist Studies in universities in the Australasian region. Some of us became aware of this when a seminar series on Buddhist topics was started about eighteen months ago at the University of Western Sydney. We were amazed at how many academics attended and how many were doing research in some aspect of Buddhism.

It was noteworthy that none of the academics coming to the seminars were affiliated with a department of Buddhist Studies, but were working in a wide range of disciplines and in comparative isolation, sometimes unaware that there were others, even in their own universities, who shared an interest in the study of Buddhism.

This being so, it became apparent that there was a need for an organization to focus the activities of these academics and to sponsor some feeling of community among them. Thus there arose the idea of setting up an Australasian Association of Buddhist Studies (AABS). As a result of the energetic activities of a group of enthusiasts, the organization was inaugurated at its first general meeting in October this year.

The Association aims to establish links between scholars and students of Buddhism working in Australasia, between different disciplines working in the field of Buddhist Studies, and between local and overseas scholars. To these ends it will organize seminars, conferences, public lectures, and discussion and study groups. The Association also intends to set up a Buddhist Studies website, together with a resource base to make available information and data relevant to Buddhist Studies. It will also work to establish liaison with other academic organizations in related scholarly fields. It is hoped that it will eventually publish a journal of Buddhist Studies.

The Association now exists as a registered organization; and the executive committee extends a warm welcome to any academic or student who wishes to become a member.

Dr. Adrian Snodgrass

The overwhelming impression after this short but dynamic period of existence of the AABS (judging by the number of persons present at the IGM, number of registered members, communication with academics, Buddhist organizations and other institutions concerned with Buddhist studies) is that our association is greatly appreciated, appearing at the right time, and widely perceived as having capacity to unite all scholars engaged in Buddhist studies in the region in their collective pursuit for advancement of knowledge on the field.

Assured and encouraged by such a positive reception, the Executive Committee works on realising the envisaged projects and activities (as concluded at the IGM and listed above by the president).  During the last quarter significant progress was made in all areas of engagement but priority was given to raising the profile of the Buddhist Seminar Series and creation of the website that will serve as portal for scholars of Buddhism in the region.

Regarding the Seminar Series, we are currently working on creating a schedule for 2006, which we'll post soon after receiving confirmation of all regional and international renowned scholars we invited to present papers and run workshops.  Regarding the website, currently we are in the process of collecting relevant links and tools and creating a prototype.

Of course, both projects are costly, involving fees for travel and accommodation of a renowned scholar and fees for professionally constructing and maintaining the website of envisaged magnitude and quality. Therefore, members of the EC devoted and continue to devote much time in examining and contacting all possible sources of funding: international foundations engaged in sponsoring Buddhist studies on academic level as well as regional sources of funding - Universities, foundations and local institutions concerned with developing Buddhist studies in the region.

The EC cordially invites all recipients of this newsletter who have not yet registered as members to do so and share their ideas regarding the seminar series, website, liaison with other associations or postgraduate students involvement.

Drasko Mitrikeski

AABS will be hosting a Buddhist Studies panel at the 2006 Asian Studies Association conference - Wollongong, NSW (26-29 June).

The conference is titled Asia Reconstructed: from critiques of development to postcolonial studies and aims to examine governance, society, culture, history, education, language, law, technology, and the arts. The themes of the conference are:

• The Critique of Development
• Governance and Citizenship
• Labour and Social Transformation
• Forms of Knowledge
• Language and Interculturality
• The Clash of Fundamentalisms
• National and Transnational Legal Issues
• The Role of Technology
• New and Old Arts
• Asia and World History
• Postcolonialism
• Australia-South Asia Links: History and Culture The Neo-Liberal Challenge

Visit the ASAA site for details.

* Email us with any suggestions for topic for the Buddhist Studies panel and with offers to present papers

Phase 2 is the design and development of a database of web links and resources of value to academics in Buddhist Studies. It is planned to cover the following categories:

• Research Resources
• Search
• Research Tools
• Learning Resources
• News
• Publishers
• Academic Community
• Buddhist Community
• Research Resources
• Electronic Publishing
• Recordings

The database will store a range of categorization information about each site to enable effective sorting and querying. Please refer to the Web Site Design page for draft strategy.

* Email us with any feedback on the proposed Phase 2 design