The Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies Structure
In 1988 and every year thereafter, the Society has met concurrently with the American Academy of Religion, in the same city as the AAR, usually in the few days before the AAR meetings begin. The round of meetings begins with a Board meeting, followed by two sessions with papers and discussion and a general business meeting at which Board recommendations are voted on. The Society’s vice president is charged with organizing the annual program. The Society does not engage in a general Call for Papers.
For many years, an evening field trip to a local Buddhist or Christian institution was held in conjunction with our annual meetings, but that practice has fallen by the wayside since about 2010. Sample previous trips include:
After the untimely death of the Society’s third president and founding member, Frederick Streng, the Society established an annual book award in his honor, to be awarded to a recently published book chosen as significant for Buddhist-Christian interchange.
Initially, the Society’s goal was to sponsor a large international Buddhist-Christian conference every five years and for some years such conferences were held. However, these conferences proved to be expensive and difficult to organize. They required a sponsoring institution and a great deal of outside funding, not practical for ongoing financial health of the Society. The SBCS Board now focuses on the annual meetings, which are quite successful, and the ongoing annual publication of the Buddhist-Christian Studies Journal.
Previous International Conferences were sponsored by:
Boston University (1992)
DePaul University, Chicago, (1996)
Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma (2000)
Chiang Mai, Thailand (2003)
Loyola Marymount, Los Angeles (2005)
Read more: The Buddhist-Christian Studies Journal