Scott A. Mitchell

scott@shin-ibs.edu

President

After completing his doctorate, Scott Mitchell joined the IBS faculty in 2008 teaching courses on Buddhism in the West, Buddhism and media studies, postcolonial studies of religion, and critical race theory. After serving as academic dean and accreditation liaison officer for over seven years, Dr. Mitchell was appointed IBS President in 2024.

Degrees and Certifications
PhD, Graduate Theological Union
MA, Institute of Buddhist Studies/Graduate Theological Union
BA, San Francisco State University

Research and Teaching Interests
Buddhism in the West
Buddhist modernism
Pure Land Buddhism
Postcolonial studies
Media studies
Critical Race Theory

Select Publications

• The Making of American Buddhism, New York: Oxford University Press, 2023.
• The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism, co-edited with Ann Gleig, Oxford University Press, 2024.
• Methods in Buddhist Studies: essays in honor of Richard K. Payne, co-edited with Natalie Fisk Quli, Bloomsbury Academic, 2019.
• Buddhism in America: Global Religion, Local Contexts, Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
• Buddhism Beyond Borders: New Perspectives on Buddhism in the United States, co-edited with Natalie E.F. Quli, SUNY Press, 2015.

Courses Taught
Buddhism in the West
Buddhism and Film
History of Shin Buddhism: Modern
Critical Race Theory and American Buddhism