Scott A. Mitchell
Dean of Students and Faculty Affairs
Rev. Yoshitaka Tamai Professor of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Studies
Rev. Yoshitaka Tamai Professor of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Studies
Core Doctoral Faculty
At the GTU since
2008
(510) 809-1449
Scott has been a faculty member of the Institute since 2008, and a member of the IBS and GTU community since he began his graduate work in 2000. His research interests include Buddhism in Western contexts, Buddhist modernity, Pure Land Buddhism, translocal religions, ritual studies, and media studies.
Degrees and Certifications
PhD, Graduate Theological Union, 2008
MA, Institute of Buddhist Studies/Graduate Theological Union, 2002
BA, San Francisco State University, 1999
Research and Teaching Interests
- Buddhism in Western contexts
- Buddhist modernism
- Pure Land Buddhism
- Postcolonial studies of religion
- Ritual studies
- Media studies
Selected Publications
- Buddhism in America: Global Religion, Local Contexts, Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
- “English Language Sources on Chinese Pure Land Buddhism: a bibliographic essay,” in Pure Land Buddhism in China: a Doctrinal History, BDK America, 2016.
- Buddhism Beyond Borders: New Perspectives on Buddhism in the United States, co-edited with Natalie E.F. Quli, SUNY Press, 2015.
- “American Shin Buddhist Music,” in Asian American Religious Cultures, ABC-CLIO Press, 2015.
- “The Ritual Use of Music in US Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist Communities,” Contemporary Buddhism, 2014.
- “The Tranquil Meditator: representing Buddhism and Buddhists in US popular media,” Religion Compass, 2014.
Courses Taught
- Buddhism in the West
- Topics in Buddhism in the West: Buddhism and Film
- History of Shin Buddhism Tradition: the Modern Period