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Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

 

2023 Chuan Lyu Lectures in Taiwan Studies

The Spectrum of Unlimited Possibilities for Religion in Taiwan
Unpacking and Reassessing Narratives and Protagonists

Dr Stefania Travagnin, SOAS, University of London

[ combined series poster ]

 



Stefania Travagnin teaches at SOAS, University of London. Before joining SOAS, she held the position of founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Culture in Asia at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. She has a MA in Chinese Studies from Ca’Foscari University (Italy) and a PhD in the Study of Religion from SOAS. Travagnin has done field research among Buddhist communities in Taiwan for more than twenty years, has been visiting scholar in several Taiwanese institutes like Academia Sinica, National Cheng Chi University, and the Center of Chinese Studies at the National Central Library of Taipei; she has active collaborations with Taiwanese Buddhist institutions like Tzu Chi Foundation, and is a research fellow at the Center for the Study of Buddhism in Taiwan in Hsuan-Chuang University. Her research and publications on religion in Taiwan have explored especially Buddhist women, the phenomenon of Humanistic Buddhism, religion and media, and life and works of the monk Yinshun. In the past few years she has also researched Buddhist communities in Sichuan, and is currently co-director of the multiyear project “Mapping Religious Diversity in Modern Sichuan” (CCKF funds, 2017-2023). She has edited or co-edited several volumes, including Religion and Media in China: Insights and Case Studies from the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (Routledge, 2016), and the three-volume publication Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions (De Gruyter, 2019-2020). She is also co-editor of the journal Contemporary Buddhism, and editor-in-chief of Review of Religion and Chinese Society.


The annual Chuan Lyu Lectures in Taiwan Studies is generously funded by the Chuan Lyu Foundation.

The Chuan Lyu Foundation has been supporting an Annual Lecture Series in Taiwan Studies at Cambridge for over three decades. We are very grateful to the Foundation and its founder, Dr Lee Hwa-lin, for initiating the series and for its continuous support. Over the years, the lectures have attracted a very distinguished list of speakers. The Chuan Lyu lectures are held annually in May.

  • 1991 Professor Stefan Feuchtwang (LSE)
  • 1992 Professor Helen Siu (Yale University)
  • 1993 Professor Charles Stafford (LSE)
  • 1994 Professor TU Wei-ming (Harvard University)
  • 1995 Professor Leo Ou-fan Lee (Harvard University)
  • 1996 Professor SHIBA Yoshinobu (Osaka University)
  • 1998 Dr David Landsborough IV
  • 2000 Professor LIU Ts'ui-jung (National Taiwan University)
  • 2001 Dr LEE Yuan-Tseh (Academia Sinica)
  • 2002 Professor TU Cheng-sheng (Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica)
  • 2003 Professor CHEN Jo-shui (National Taiwan University)
  • 2004 Professor Steve Tsang (University of Oxford)
  • 2005 Dr TSAI Ing-wen
  • 2006 Lord Patten of Barnes (University of Oxford)
  • 2007 Professor LUNG Ying-tai (National Tsing Hua University)
  • 2008 Dr Margaret Hillenbrand (University of Oxford)
  • 2009 Professor CHOU Wan-yao (Academia Sinica)
  • 2010 Professor YEN Chuang-yin (Academia Sinica)
  • 2011 Professor LIAO Ping-hui (UC San Diego)
  • 2012 Professor Julia Huang (National Tsing Hua University)
  • 2013 Professor Chen Kuo-Tung (Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica)
  • 2014 Professor Leonard Blussé (Leiden University)
  • 2015 Dr LAI Chi-Wan
  • 2016 Dr WU Rwei-Ren (Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica)
  • 2017 Professor CHANG Hsun (Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica)
  • 2018 Professor Joseph Allen (University of Minnesota)
  • 2019 Professor Paul R. Katz (Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica)
  • 2020 Not held due to COVID pandemic
  • 2021 Not held due to COVID pandemic
  • 2022 Professor Philip Clart (University of Leipzig)
  • 2023 Dr Stefania Travagnin (SOAS)