UPDATED: May 5, 2021

Join us on May 11, 2021 at 2 PM Eastern for “Buddhist Chaplaincy in the US: State of the Field.” While Buddhist chaplains have been active in North America for over ten years, no one really knows how many there are, how they are educated, or where they work – until now! This webinar will present the results of a unique survey of Buddhist chaplains. Conducted by a collaborative research team representing Harvard Divinity School, Brandeis University, University of the West, and the Institute of Buddhist Studies, among others, this survey reached over 400 Buddhist chaplains working across the fields of health care, education, prisons, the military, and many other sectors. The findings are intriguing and only serve to raise more questions about the unique contributions Buddhists are making to the profession of chaplaincy, professionalization of Buddhist chaplains, and the role of race and ethnicity in this growing profession. Register (free) here.

The Mapping Buddhist Chaplains in North America Research Survey attempts to answer fundamental questions about Buddhist chaplaincy as a professional field. While institutions such as University of the West, Harvard Divinity School, Institute of Buddhist Studies, Naropa University, among others, have been training and graduating Buddhist chaplains—some for more than a decade—there are no clear data on how many and where Buddhist chaplains are currently working.

A consortium of educators comprising the Buddhist Ministry Working Group (BMWG) first raised the prospects of identifying and addressing concerns about the field of Buddhist Chaplaincy and this project is born from that collaboration. Sponsored by Harvard Divinity School, the Mapping Project was developed by scholars from Harvard Divinity School, University of the West, the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Naropa University, and Rochester Institute of Technology. The research committee also includes other members of the BMWG, both as advisors and research assistants.

The data collected from this research survey will illuminate the basic scope of Buddhist chaplaincy in North America, employment opportunities, educational options, relationships of chaplains to different Buddhist groups, and the needs of chaplains. The hope is that the foundation laid by this survey will fuel further, more nuanced research and advocacy with and for Buddhist chaplains.

CALLING ALL BUDDHIST CHAPLAINS!

If you work, volunteer, or are training for any chaplaincy setting (health care, higher ed, corrections, military—or any other sector) and you self-identify as Buddhist, please complete this survey about your work and background. You can answer anonymously, or you may provide contact information to be included in further research. Either way, your responses are confidential. If you have questions, please email Prof. Cheryl Giles at cgiles@hds.harvard.edu or Rev. Dr. Monica Sanford at mlsccl@rit.edu.