Tzu-Lung (Melody) Chiu 邱子倫

PROFESSIONAL CAREER
2017- Present Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute For the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
2016-2017 Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley Center for Buddhist Studies

EDUCATION
2009 - 2016 Ghent University, Belgium-Ph.D.
2006 - 2007 Lancaster University, UK - MSc Management
2005 - 2006 Lancaster University, UK - MA Women’s Studies
2002 - 2003 Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA (Student Exchange Programme)
2000 - 2004 Tamkang University, Taiwan - BA, English

DISSERTATION
“Contemporary Buddhist Nunneries in Taiwan and Mainland China: A Study of Vinaya Practices”. The dissertation studies the institutional organisation of Buddhist nunneries in a Chinese and in an international context. The focus lies on the attitude of nunneries towards tradition and present-day reality, as well as on their international role based on this attitude. The main aims of the research are to better understand how original Indian vinaya monastic rules are applied in the modern bhikkhunī sangha, and to explore how Chinese nunneries inherit traditional monastic rules to meet contemporary needs and achieve future goals.
Supervisor: Professor Ann Heirman
Reading Committees: Professor Ester Bianchi, Professor Hiroko Kawanami,
Professor Christoph Anderl, Professor Andreas Niehaus.

ACADEMIC AWARDS
2016 The Sheng Yen Education Foundation Grant for PhD. Dissertation Research USD$10,000
2009-2013 Doctoral project funded by the Research Foundation of Flanders (FWO)

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
2009-2013 Research Assistance of the Research Foundation of Flanders (FWO). Doctoral project supervised by Professor Ann Heirman: “Institutional Organization of Buddhist nunneries in China and Taiwan: past and present”.
2008-2009 Research Assistance for the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica. I was Chuen-rong Yeh’s research assistant on a project examining Chinese folk religion in Taiwan. As well as contributing to a programme of departmental and interdepartmental research, my duties included organisation of fieldwork data, essay translation, and general administration.

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Chiu, Tzu-Lung, “The Practice of Fasting after Midday in Contemporary Chinese Nunneries”, Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, 11 (2015), pp. 57-89
Chiu, Tzu-Lung and Ann Heirman, “The Gurudharmas in Buddhist Nunneries of Mainland China”, Buddhist Studies Review [SSCI], 31(2) (2014), pp. 241-272
Chiu, Tzu-Lung, “Rethinking the Precept of Not Taking Money in Contemporary Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese Buddhist Nunneries”, Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 21 (2014), pp. 9-56
Heirman, Ann and Tzu-Lung Chiu, “The Gurudharmas in Taiwanese Buddhist Nunneries”, Buddhist Studies Review [SSCI], 29(2) (2012), pp. 273-300
TEACHING EXPERIENCE April.26.2017 Instructor Buddhism in Contemporary Society, UC Berkeley, Spring 2017 “The Practice of Ordination in Contemporary Chinese Buddhism”
December.19.2016 Instructor Department of Religious Studies, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan “Introduction of Vinaya Rule”

CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOP
2017 “Body Movement and Sport Activities for Buddhist Nuns: A Normative Perspective from India to China”. Paper accepted at the XVIIth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Toronto, Canada.
2017 “The Applicability of Gurudharma Rules for Buddhist Nuns in Contemporary Mainland China”. Paper accepted at the 15th Sakyadhita International Conference, Hong Kong.
2017 “Precepts and Practice in the Current Revival of Chinese Buddhism: A Cross-Straits Perspective”. Paper presented at the conference of “A Secular Age in South, East, and Southeast Asia?”. National University of Singapore, Singapore.
2016 “The Practice of Fasting in Contemporary Chinese Buddhism”. Paper presented at the of “Buddhist Monastic Discipline in China and Beyond”. Università degli Studi di Perugia, Italy.
2015 “The Precept against Money Handling in Contemporary Chinese Buddhism”. Paper presented at the workshop of “Vinaya in China”. Academia Sinica, Taiwan.
2015 “The Precept against Money Handling in Contemporary Chinese Buddhism”. Paper presented at the UKABS Conference, Lancaster, UK
2011 “Rethinking Buddhist Monastic Rules in Contemporary Taiwan and Mainland China: Can one Eat after Midday? Can one Touch Money?” Paper presented at the Sixteenth Congress of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Taipei County, Taiwan

RESEARCH PROJECT
2017-2019 Indian and Chinese Religious Networks in South-East Asia
(under the directorship of Professor Peter van der Veer and Professor Kenneth Dean)
2015-2018 “Vinaya Revival in 20th Century China and Taiwan” founded by Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation (Project Director: Professor Ester Bianchi)

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
Ethnographic area: Taiwan, Mainland China.
Subject concentration: Chinese Buddhism, India vinaya rules, gender, Buddhist ethics, the Bodhisattva rules, the qinggui (rules of purity), Humanistic Buddhism, and politics and Buddhism (China).