Justin McDaniel

Dr. Justin McDaniel received his PhD from Harvard University’s Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies in 2003. Presently he teaches Buddhism and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His research foci include Lao, Thai, Pali and Sanskrit literature, Southeast Asian Buddhism, Japanese Buddhism, ritual studies, manuscript studies, and Southeast Asian history. His first book is on the history of Buddhist monastic education in Laos and Thailand, Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008). It won the Harry Benda Prize from the Association of Asian Studies for the best first book in Southeast Asian Studies (2008-2009). His second book is a study on material culture and ritual in Thai Buddhism: The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magic Monk: Practicing Buddhism in Thailand (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011). His recent publications appear in the Bulletin l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient (Études thématiques), Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Aséanie, Journal of Religion and Film, Material Religion, Manusya, and the Journal of the Siam Society, as well as contributions to collected articles on Buddhism and Modernity, Pali literature, Palm-leaf Manuscript research, and liturgical studies. He has received grants from the National Endowment of the Humanities, Mellon Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Fulbright Foundation, PACRIM, the Social Science Research Council, among others. He is the co-editor of the journals: Buddhism Compass and Journal of Lao Studies, and is the Chair of the Southeast Asian Studies Council of the Association of Asian Studies. He has won teaching and advising awards at Harvard University, Ohio University, and the University of California at Riverside.