Jens Reinke is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Institute for the Study of Humanistic Buddhism at University of the West.  

 

His research explores modern and contemporary Buddhism as practiced by ethnic Chinese all over the globe. Taking into consideration the dynamics of colonialism, globalization, and ethnic Chinese migration, Jens Reinke is particularly interested in exploring the manifold ways ethnic Chinese employ and adapt Buddhist ideas and practices to the contemporary era.

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His recent book Mapping Modern Mahayana: Chinese Buddhism and Migration in the Age of Global Modernity, presents a multi-sited ethnography of Fo Guang Shan temples in Taiwan, Los Angeles, South Africa, and the People’s Republic of China. Mapping Modern Mahayana is published by De Gruyter.

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Research Interests

Buddhism in sinophone societies, ethnic Chinese migration and diaspora, Buddhist transnationalism, multiple modern religiosities, Buddhism and global modernity, multi-sited ethnography