Natalie Fisk Quli

Core Faculty

natalie@shin-ibs.edu

Yehan Numata Professor of Buddhist Studies
Associate Professor of Theravāda Buddhist Studies

Senior Editor and Chair, Editorial Committee of the Pacific World Journal
Program advisor, Certificate in Theravāda Studies

Natalie Quli specializes in the social scientific study of contemporary Buddhism, with areas of expertise in Buddhist modernism, postcolonial theory, and contemporary Buddhist communities in North America, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.

Degrees
PhD, Graduate Theological Union, Cultural & Historical Study of Religions
MA, Graduate Theological Union, Buddhist Studies
BA, Humboldt State University, Anthropology and Religious Studies

Research and Teaching Interests
Buddhist modernism
Buddhist American communities
Contemporary Theravāda
Women in Buddhism

Select Publications

  • “Curators of Vipassana: Institutionalizing the American Vipassana Movement in Spirit Rock Meditation Center” (forthcoming)
  • “Review of Decolonising the Study of Religion: Who Owns Buddhism? by Jorn Borup.” Journal of Global Buddhism (2024).
  • “A Brief Critical Appraisal of the Buddhist Modernism Paradigm.” In Carol Anderson and Thomas Cattoi, eds. Routledge Handbook of Buddhist-Christian Studies. Routledge, 2022.
  • “The Utility of the Convert/Natal Lens in the Study of Theravāda Buddhist Organizations in California.” Buddhist-Christian Studies 41 (2021): 59–67.
  • “When White Buddhists ‘Don’t See Race.’” Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly. Spring 2020.
  • “On Authenticity: Scholarship, the Insight Movement, and White Authority.” In Scott Mitchell and Natalie Fisk Quli, eds. Methods in Buddhist Studies: Essays in Honor of Richard K. Payne. Bloomsbury, 2019.
  • “Western Self, Asian Other: Modernity, Authenticity, and Nostalgia for ‘Tradition’ in Buddhist Studies.” Journal of Buddhist Ethics 16 (2009): 1–38.
  • “Multiple Buddhist Modernisms: Jhāna in Convert Theravāda.” Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, 3rd ser. (2008): 225–249.

Courses Taught
Introduction to Theravāda Traditions
Western Theravāda
Women in Theravāda
Meditation in Theravāda