The Buddha’s Footprint: An Environmental History of Asia

Event description: 

April 21, 2022

11am-12:30pm PDT

In person INTN 2043 and via Zoom

Join the Zoom meeting here.

With Dr. Johan Elverskog (Southern Methodist University)

Drawing from his wide reaching and revisionist monograph, Professor Elverskog will survey how the spread of Buddhist teachings, the extension of Buddhist trading networks, and the increase of Buddhist state power were intimately connected to agricultural expansion, resource extraction, deforestation, urbanization, and the radical transformation and exploitation of Asia's environment.

Johan Elverskog is Dedman Family Distinguished Professor, Professor of Religious Studies, and, by courtesy, Professor of History at SMU. He has published widely on the history of Buddhism across Asia and is the author and editor of nine books and numerous articles.

Public Religion & Environment in Inner Asia: 2021-22 University of California Riverside’s Critical Asian Humanities Speaker Series

Sponsored by Asian Studies, the Center for Ideas & Society, Department of Religious Studies, & Department of Environment, Sustainability and Health Equity

View the flyer.