Thomas A. Borchert Associate Professor of Religion The University of Vermont

Thomas A. Borchert
Associate Professor of Religion
The University of Vermont
481 Main Street
Burlington, VT 05491
Phone : 802-656-3488
[email protected]
Education
Ph.D.
M.A.
B.A.
University of Chicago, 2006
University of Chicago, 1997
Swarthmore College, with Honors, 1992
Professional Experience
The University of Vermont, Associate Professor of Religion, 2012 to present. Assistant
Professor of Religion, August 2006 to 2012. (“Introduction to Religion: Asian Traditions,”
“Interpretation of Religion,” “Religion in China,” “Religion in Japan,” “TAP: Religion and
Violence in Asia,” “Religion, Nationalism and the State,” “Religion, Law and Discipline”)
Mahidol University, Bangkok Thailand, Visiting Research Professor, International PhD
Programme in Buddhist Studies, December 2013-June 2014.
Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, Visiting Research
Fellow, December 2009 to May 2010.
Wat Chetuphon Buddhist Secondary School, Chiang Mai, Thailand, ESL instructor, 1994.
JET Program(me), Hokkaido Board of Education, Hokkaido, Japan, ESL Instructor.
Asahikawa North High School; Asahikawa-City, 1993 to 1994; Soya Board of Education,
Wakkanai-City, 1992 to 1993.
Research and Scholarship
Journal Articles (peer-reviewed)
“The Buddha’s Precepts on Respecting Other Races and Religions? Thinking about the
Relationship of Race/Ethnicity and Theravāda Buddhism.” SOJOURN: Journal of Southeast
Asian Studies. Forthcoming, Noveember 2014.
“Sangha,” Oxford Bibliographies Online: Buddhism. Ed. Richard Payne. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2012.
“Monastic Labor: Thinking about the Work of Monks in Contemporary Theravada
Communities.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 79: 1 (March 2011): pp. 162192.
“The Abbot’s New House: Thinking about how Religion Works among Buddhists and Minorities
in Contemporary China.” Journal of Church and State 52: 1 (2010): pp. 112-137.
“Worry for the Dai Nation: Sipsongpanna, Chinese Modernity and the Problems of Buddhist
Modernism.” Journal of Asian Studies 67: 1 (February, 2008): pp. 107-142.
Cited as a “Top 10 most cited article;” April 3, 2011.
[https://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=JAS&tab=mostcited#tab]
“Buddhism, Politics and Nationalism in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries.” Religion
Compass 1: 5 (2007): pp. 529-546.
“Training Monks or Men: Theravāda Monastic Education, Subnationalism and the National
Sangha of China.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 28: 2 (2005):
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pp. 241-272.
Book Chapters (peer-reviewed)
“Monks at Play” and “Monastic and National Identity.” In Figures in Buddhist Modernity, edited
by Justin McDaniel, Mark Rowe and Jeffrey Samuels. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Accepted and under-contract.
“In Defense of Dharma: Reflections on Buddhism and Politics,” co-authored with Ian Harris, for
Teaching Buddhism, edited by Gary DeAngelis and Todd Lewis. Oxford University Press
(accepted). Forthcoming, 2015.
“Buddhism.” In Understanding the Religions of the World, edited by Willoughby H. Deming.
Wiley and Sons. Forthcoming 2014.
“Monk and Boy: Becoming a Novice in Contemporary Sipsongpannā.” In Buddhist Children,
edited by Vanessa Sasson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. 247-265.
“Of Temples and Tourists: The Effects of the Tourist Political Economy on a Minority Buddhist
Community in Southwest China.” In State, Market and Religion in Chinese Societies edited
by Joseph Tamney and Fenggang Yang. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Pp. 87-111.
Review Essays
“Scratching the Surface of Religion and “Religion” in Contemporary China: A Review of
Anthologies on Religion in Reform Era People’s Republic of China.” Religious Studies
Review, 38: 3 (September 2012). Pp. 125-135.
“Buddhisms of French Indochina: Reconsidering Buddhist Modernities and Buddhist
Nationalisms in the 19th and 20th Centuries,” Religious Studies Review, 35: 4 (2009): pp.
247-252.
Book Reviews
Pattana Kitiarsa, Mediums, Monks and Amulets: Thai Popular Buddhism Today (Silkworm
Books, 2012), in Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia 29: 1 (2014).
Justin McDaniel, The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk: Practicing Buddhism in Modern
Thailand (Columbia University Press, 2011), in History of Religions, forthcoming.
Jason Carbine, Sons of the Buddha: Continuities and Ruptures in a Burmese Monastic Tradition
(Berlin/New York: DeGruyter, 2011), in Journal of Contemporary Religion, forthcoming.
Anne Blackburn, Locations of Buddhism: Colonialism and Modernity in Sri Lanka (University of
Chicago Press, 2010), in Journal of Religion 92: 2 (April), 313-315.
Francesca Tarocco, The Cultural Practices of Chinese Buddhism: Attuning the Dharma (London:
Routledge, 2007), in Religious Studies Review 38: 1 (March 2012).
James Taylor, Buddhism and Postmodern Imaginings in Thailand: the Religiosity of Urban Space
(Ashgate, 2008), in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 42:3 (October 2011).
Aiwha Ong, Neoliberalism as Exception: Mutations in Citizenship and Sovereignty (Duke
University Press, 2006) and Anna Tsing, Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection
(Princeton University Press, 2005), in Crossroads 19: 2 (2010).
Donald K. Swearer. Becoming the Buddha: The Ritual of Image Consecration in Thailand
(Princeton University Press, 2004), in Journal of Religion 87: 3 (July 2007).
Jonathan Walters, Jacob Kinnard and John Holt. Constituting Communities: Theravada Buddhism
and the Religious Cultures of South and Southeast Asia (SUNY, 2002), in Journal of Asian
Studies 63: 2 (May 2004).
Alan Klima, The Funeral Casino: Meditation, Massacre and Exchange with the Dead in
Thailand (Princeton University Press, 2002), in Journal of Religion 84: 1 (January 2004).
Rosalind Morris, In Place of Origins: Modernity and its Mediums in Northern Thailand (Duke
University Press, 2000), in Journal of Religion 81:3 (July 2001).
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Bruce Kapferer, The Feast of the Sorcerer: Practices of Consciousness and Power (University of
Chicago Press, 1997), in Sociology of Religion 60 (Spring 1999).
Kamala Tiyavanich, Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in Twentieth Century Thailand
(University of Hawai’i Press, 1997), in Journal of Religion 78: 4 (October 1998).
Blog Essays
“Four Letter Words: Monk,” posted to “New Mandala,” August 2009
(http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/2009/08/07/monk/)
“Wat Luang Sipsongpanna: a follow-up report,” posted to “New Mandala” July 2009
(http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/)
“Burmese Monastic Uprising,” posted to “Deathpower” October 2007
(http://deathpower.wordpress.com/tag/deathpower/)
Manuscripts under review or in progress
“Relocating the Centre of a Sangha: Minority Buddhists, Local Politics and the Construction of a
New Temple in Southwest China.” Under review at Thai International Journal of Buddhist
Studies, Mahidol University, Thailand.
“Monks as Citizens in Thailand and China.” To be included in Buddhism and Politics, edited by
Ian Harris, submitted to Routledge.
“’Conscripts’ of Chinese Modernity? Transformations of Theravada Buddhism in Southwest
China.” To be included in Theravada Buddhist Encounters with Modernity, edited by Steven
Collins and Juliane Schober, submitted for review to Routledge.
“Buddhism and Religious Freedom: an introduction,” submitted to the Berkeley Center for
Religious Freedom, Georgetown University, as an introduction to an online Sourcebook on
Religious Freedom within the World Religions.
Fellowships, Grants and Honors
Fulbright Senior Fellowship (Thailand), 2013-14.
Blakemore Foundation Language Refresher Grant 2013 – Advanced Study in Thai, Chiang Mai
University, June-August, 2013.
Faculty Research Support Grant, University of Vermont, 2013-2014.
Inter-Asia III: Religious Networks and the Transmission of Knowledge, workshop participant,
Hong Kong Institute for Humanities and Social Science-SSRC, June 2012.
Lattie Coor Humanities Faculty Development Fund, 2010-11.
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies-Buddhist Lodge Fellowship, focused on Buddhist Networks
in Asia, Spring 2010.
Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago, Dissertation Writing Fellowship, 20042005.
Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, 2003-2004.
Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion, University of Chicago, Junior
Fellowship, 2002-2003.
Title VI (FLAS) Summer Language Fellowship (Thai), University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2002.
Fulbright-IIE (China), 2001-2002.
Title VI (FLAS) Summer Language Fellowship (Thai), University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2000.
Title VI (FLAS) Summer Language Fellowship (Chinese), Taiwan University-IUP, 1997.
University of Chicago Divinity School Fellow, 1995-1999.
Service
University of Vermont
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Curriculum Committee, Department of Religion, 2012-13.
Interim Director, Asian Studies Program, Spring 2012
Committee Member, Faculty Senate Curricular Affairs Committee, 2011-2013.
Committee Member, Islam Search, Department of Religion, 2011-12.
Committee Member, College of Arts and Sciences Honors Committee 2008-2011.
Committee Member, Academic Planning and Budgets 2008-2009.
Academic Community
Member, AAR Buddhism Section Steering Committee, 2012-2014
Conference Organizer, “Theravada Buddhism under Colonialism,” ISEAS, Singapore, May 2425, 2010.
Reviewer, American Philosophical Society Sabbatical Fellowship 2009; Franklin Research Grant,
2010, 2011.
Southeast Asian Buddhism Book Review Editor, H-Buddhism, 2009 to present.
Subeditor, East Asian Religion, Religious Studies Review, 2008-2012.
Thai Lao Cambodian Studies Group, Association for Asian Studies, Executive Council member,
2011-2014; Graduate Student Board Representative, 2003-2005.
Workshop coordinator, “Buddhisms Across Asia Workshop,” University of Chicago, 1998-2000.
Panels Organized
Echoes, Reverberations and Returns: Buddhism in Contemporary Asia. New England
Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, November 2010, Burlington, VT.
Monastic Labor: Thinking about the Activities of Monastics in Twentieth and Twenty-first
Century Theravada Societies. Annual Meeting of the Association of Asian Studies, March
2009, Chicago, IL.
Regionalizing Thailand: Studies on the National Organization of Theravāda Buddhism in Honor
of Donald K. Swearer. IXth International Conference on Thai Studies, Northern Illinois
University, DeKalb, IL. April 2005.
Technologies of Control: Ethnicity, Education, Class and Religion in Thailand and China.
Annual Meeting of the Association of Asian Studies, March 2004, San Diego, CA.
Community
Workshop presenter, “Religion in Japan,” for UVM Asian Studies Outreach, April 2013
Workshop presenter, “Buddhism in Thailand,” for UVM Asian Studies Outreach, April 2012.
Coach, “Odyssey of the Mind,” Vergennes Union Elementary School, 2011-12; 2012-13.
Public Speaking Facilitator, “Thai Diplomatic Communication Skills” Workshop, Sponsored by
the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kanchanaburi, Thailand, March 2010.
Religious Advisory Board, Boerhinger-Ingelheim. New York City, March 2009.
Panelist, “Religion in the US election,” Phi Betta Kappa presentation, February 2008, UVM.
“Religion in East Asia,” workshop presenter for the Northeast Council of Teachers of East Asia,
Montpelier, February 2, 2007.
Presentations on China, Japan and Thailand to Vergennes Union Elementary School, 2006-2011
Languages
Modern Chinese, Thai and Dai-lue; Pali, Sanskrit, French and German (Reading)
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