< Issue No. 20 (2025/2026)
Sub-Article
Making #BlackLivesMatter in Buddhist Studies Curricula
McNicholl, Adeana, Vanderbilt University
Abstract
This article focuses on the inclusion of Black history and perspectives in Buddhist studies courses. Although adding Black voices is a crucial step toward decolonizing the curriculum, anti-racist pedagogy necessitates that we do not limit our efforts to additive approaches that leave uninterrogated normative frameworks. Including Black voices in the Buddhist studies classroom necessitates a reorientation and deconstruction of the constitutive frameworks of Buddhist studies. This article provides as examples two courses that integrate Buddhism and Black Religious history to propose that centering Black contributions to Asian religions and highlighting Black-Asian solidarity can disrupt hierarchies of Orientalism, racism, and colonialism.