Benedetta Lomi is a professor of religion at Bristol University, who focuses on Japanese Buddhism, its material, and visual culture, with particular emphasis on the performative, healing and transformative dimensions of Buddhist rituals, scriptures and objects.

Chün-fang Yü is professor emerita of Chinese Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, whose work includes Guanyin, Buddhist women, ritual and the historical development of Chinese Buddhist traditions.

Ian Reader is a scholar of contemporary Japanese religion at Lancaster University whose work includes pilgrimage, Japanese Buddhism, new religious movements and religious practice in Asia.

Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm is a religion professor Williams College, who is particularly useful for reporters who need to understand why Western assumptions about “religion” can be misleading in Japan. His research examines how categories such as religion, science and superstition were constructed in modern Japan and how those categories shaped Shinto and Buddhist traditions […]

Gregory Price Grieve studies religion in virtual worlds, gaming and digital Buddhism. His research explores ritual, embodiment and authenticity in online and immersive environments. He has written extensively on religion and digital culture.

Grisel D’Elena is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of international relations at Florida International University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she is an adjunct professor. She has performed fieldwork abroad with U.N. officials, refugee coalition members and ethnic minorities, specifically in Southeast Asia, where she began to investigate the Rohingya Muslim ethnic […]

The Homeless Dharma Network is a socially engaged Buddhist organization dedicated to the poor, disadvantaged and those experiencing homelessness in Santa Cruz, California. Founded in the fall of 2011 by Stephen Conover (Sonam Dorje), HDN began by offering a Buddhist meditation and study group weekly at the Homeless Services Center in Santa Cruz.

Tencho Gyatso is President of the International Campaign for Tibet, the largest Tibet support group in the world with offices in Washington DC, Amsterdam, Berlin and Brussels.

Lama Rod Owens is a self-described “Black Buddhist Southern Queen.” Owens holds a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist studies from Harvard Divinity School with a focus on the intersection of social change, identity and spiritual practice. Owens is also author of The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors and Love and Rage: […]