Conference Schedule
The XVth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies will take place from Monday, June 23 through Saturday, June 28, 2008 at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The conference convocation is Monday afternoon. The following outline of the basic schedule will be updated in April 2008 to include a complete list of panels and excursions, and details about the special events. A detailed schedule, including locations for panels, sections, and events can be found here in PDF format.
Monday June 23
9:00 am – 8:00 pm: Registration
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Convocation
4:30 pm – 6:30 pm: IABS Board Meeting
6:30 pm – 9:00 pm: Welcome Reception
Tuesday June 24
8:00 am – 9:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am – 12:30 pm: Panels & Sections (1)
Tibetan Scholasticism in the 11th and 12th Centuries (I)
Panel Conveners: Pascale Hugon, Kazuo Kano, and Kevin Vose
Chinese Buddhist Meditation Practices and Chan
Panel Conveners: John McRae and Eric Goodell
Early Buddhism Section
Session Moderator: TBA
Panel Conveners: Tara Doyle and David Geary
Himalayan Buddhism Section
Session Moderator: Todd Lewis
Textual and Philological Studies Section
Session Moderator: TBA
The Academic Discipline of Buddhist Studies in North America
Panel Convener: Charles Prebish
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm – 5:30 pm: Panels & Sections (2)
Tibetan Scholasticism in the 11th and 12th Centuries (II)
Panel Conveners: Pascale Hugon, Kazuo Kano, and Kevin Vose
Vajrayāna Buddhism Section
Session Moderator: Robert Thurman
Narrative Studies Section
Session Moderator: Charles B. Jones
Universal Claims, Postcolonial Frames: An Interdisciplinary Session on Bodhgaya (II)
Panel Conveners: Tara Doyle and David Geary
Indian Buddhist Metaethics
Panel Convener: Martin Adam
Buddhism and the West Section
Session Moderator: Eve L. Mullen
Rebirth of Buddhist Scholasticisms in Twentieth-Century China
Panel Conveners: Eyal Aviv and Jason Clower
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm: Sand Mandala Opening Ceremony
Wednesday June 25
8:00 am – 9:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am – 12:30 pm: Panels & Sections (3)
Analyzing and Advancing Buddhist Philosophy (I): The Two Truths in India and Tibet
Panel Conveners: Jay Garfield and Jan Westerhoff
Buddhist Art Section
Session Moderator: TBA
Miracles and Superhuman Powers in Buddhism
Panel Convener: David Fiordalis
Vinaya Studies Section
Session Moderator: Charles Prebish
How Theravāda is Theravāda? (I)
Panel Convener: Peter Skilling
Contemporary Developments in Buddhism Section
Session Moderator: Eve L. Mullen
Hermeneutics, Scholasticism, and Commentarial Techniques Section
Session Moderator: Robert Gimello
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm – 5:30 pm: Panels & Sections (4)
Analyzing and Advancing Buddhist Philosophy (II): The Two Truths in East Asia
Panel Conveners: Jay L. Garfield and Jan Westerhoff
Mahāmudrā: Approaching the Great Seal
Panel Conveners: Roger Jackson and Lara Braitstein
New Research in Avadāna Literature
Panel Convener: Andy Rotman
Dunhuang Section
Session Moderator: Cristina Scherrer-Schaub
How Theravāda is Theravāda? (II)
Panel Convener: Peter Skilling
Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy Section
Session Moderator: John Dunne
Buddhism in the Writings of Ippolito Desideri, S.J. (1684-1733)
Panel Convener: Trent Pomplun
6:00 – 8:00 pm: Buffet Dinner
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Tibetan Monastic Music and Dance Performance
Thursday June 26
8:00 am – 9:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am – 12:30 pm: Panels & Sections (5)
Analyzing and Advancing Buddhist Philosophy (III): Philosophical Reflections on the Two Truths
Panel Conveners: Jay Garfield and Jan Westerhoff
Theory and Practice of Healing, Medicine and Longevity in Buddhism
Panel Conveners: Robert Mayer and Cathy Cantwell
Mahāyāna Sūtras
Panel Convener: Jonathan A. Silk
Beyond Simple Constructions of So-called Humanistic Buddhism (renjian fojiao): Reinterpreting Modernity in 20th Century Buddhism in China and Taiwan
Panel Convener: Esther-Maria Guggenmos
Representations of Brahmins and Brahmanism in Early Buddhist Literature
Panel Convener: Brian Black
Ethnography Section
Session Moderator: Abraham Zablocki
Buddhist Monumental Sculpture and Architecture
Panel Convener: Cameron David Warner
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Conference Excursions
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Banquet Dinner
9:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Wisdom Publications Book Series Launch Party
Friday June 27
8:00 am – 9:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am – 12:30 pm: Panels & Sections (6)
Madhyamaka and Yogācāra Models of Truth or Reality
in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism (I)
Panel Convener: Klaus-Dieter Mathes
“Terms of Art” in Indian Esoteric Buddhism
Panel Conveners: David B. Gray and Christian K. Wedemeyer
Gandhāran Manuscripts and Gandhāran Buddhism (I)
Panel Convener: Richard Salomon
Wonhyo (617-686) and his Comprehensive Buddhist Philosophical Vision
Panel Convener: Charles Muller
Buddhist Funerary Cultures: Art, Text, Ritual, Performance (I)
Panel Conveners: Justin McDaniel and Pattatorn Chirapravati
South Asian Buddhism Section
Session Moderator: Shoryu Katsura
Borobudur in International Perspective
Panel Convener: Hudaya Kandahjaya
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm – 5:30 pm: Panels & Sections (7)
Madhyamaka and Yogācāra Models of Truth or Reality in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism (II)
Panel Convener: Klaus-Dieter Mathes
Humor and Buddhism
Panel Convener: Shayne Clarke
Gandhāran Manuscripts and Gandhāran Buddhism (II)
Panel Convener: Richard Salomon
Buddhist Theories of Mind and Meditation Section
Session Moderator: Tao Jiang
Buddhist Funerary Cultures: Art, Text, Ritual, Performance (II)
Conveners: Justin McDaniel and Pattatorn Chirapravati
East Asian Buddhism Section
Session Moderator: TBA
Logic and Epistemology Section
Session Moderator: Helmut Krasser
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm: General Assembly of Members
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Farewell Reception
Saturday June 28
8:00 am – 9:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am – 12:30 pm: Panels & Sections (8)
Buddhist Theories of Self-Awareness (svasaṃvedanā): Interpretations and Critiques
Panel Convener: Birgit Kellner
Reexamining Tibetan Auto/Biographical Writing
Panel Conveners: Sarah Jacoby and Andrew Quintman
Technology and Resources Section
Session Moderator: TBA
Recovering Anew the Lotus Sutra’s Originality as a Religio-Philosophical System
Panel Convener: Joseph Logan
Pioneer Translators, Missionaries, and their Transmitted Texts
Panel Convener: Mariko Namba Walter
Southeast Asian, Inner Asian, Korean and Mongolian Buddhism Section
Session Moderator: TBA
East Asian Buddhist Philosophy Section
Session Moderator: Chen-kuo Lin
1:00 – 2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm – 5:30 pm: Panels & Sections (9)
Yogācāra Buddhism: Approaches
Panel Convener: Tao Jiang
Facets of Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia
Panel Convener: Charles D. Orzech
Śāntideva and the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra
Panel Convener: Ani Kunga Chodron
Buddhist Commentarial Traditions: Transdiscursivity and Textual Production in Buddhist Intellectual History
Panel Conveners: John Cha and Mark Dennis
Uses and Abuses of the “Modern” in Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism
Panel Conveners: Leigh Sangster, Robbie Barnett, and Laura Harrington
Mahāyāna Buddhism Section
Session Moderator: TBA
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm: Closing Ceremony for Sand Mandala