Thomas Calobrisi

Contact: tcalobrisi@shin-ibs.edu

Dr. Calobrisi received his doctorate from the Graduate Theological Union and his masters from the Institute of Buddhist Studies. His research has focused on the legacy of Eugene Burnouf’s 1844 Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism in the reception of Buddhism in the West.

Degrees and Credentials:
PhD in Buddhist Studies, Graduate Theological Union
MA in Buddhist Studies, Graduate Theological Union
BA in Philosophy & Religious Studies, University of North Texas

Research Interests:
Buddhist modernism
Buddhism in America
Buddhism & Science
Buddhist philosophy
Postcolonial Theory & HistoriographyPhilosophy & History of Science

Recent Publications:

  • Early Modern European Encounters with Buddhism.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford University Press, 2022.
  • “Presenting the Dharma Essence in an American Vocabulary: Apologetic Strategies in the Writings of Jon Kabat-Zinn.” 4th ser. no. 2 (2021): 7-31.
  • Review of Secular Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for Uncertain Times by Stephen Batchelor, Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion, August 2018.
  • Review of Meditation, Buddhism, and Science by David L. McMahan & Erik Braun, Journal of Dharma Studies, vol 1, no. 1 (2018): 189-193.
  • “The Quantum Leap from Karma to Dharma: Moral Narrative in the Writings of Jon Kabat-Zinn,” Journal of Dharma Studies, vol 1, no. 1 (2018): 85-95.
  • With Scott A. Mitchell. “Buddhism in the West (North America and Europe)”. Oxford Bibliographies: Buddhism. Oxford University Press Online, 2018.
  • Review of Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation and Philosophy by Evan Thompson, Journal of Global Buddhism, vol. 18 (2017): 45-50.
  • Review of Engaging Buddhism: Why it Matters to Philosophy by Jay L. Garfield, Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, 3, no. 18 (2016): 223-230.

Courses Taught:
Methods in the Study of Buddhism
Introduction to Buddhism and Buddhist Studies
Topics in Theravada Buddhist Thought: Buddhist Responses to Colonial Presence, 1860-1940