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People > Faculty > Vesna Wallace

Current Courses

Spring 2012

RG ST 159N - BUDDHIST LIT IN SAN
T 3:00- 5:50 HSSB 3030

RG ST 257 - SEM BUDDHIST STDS
W 12:00- 2:50 HSSB 3024



Areas of Interest

  • South Asian Buddhism
  • Indian Philosophy
  • Religions of Mongolia




  • Publications

    Recent Publications:

    Vesna Wallace:
    The Kalacakratantra: The Chapter on the Individual Together with the Vimalaprabha.

    Wallace Kalacakrantra

    Vesna Wallace:
    The Inner Kalacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual

    Wallace THe inner Kalacakratantra

     

    Vesna Wallace:
    Translator:A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

    Wallace A Guide to the Bodisattva Way of LIfe




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    W
    Wallace, Vesna
    Ph.D., UC, Berkeley
    Professor of Religious Studies
    South Asian Studies
    HSSB 3065 | vwallace@religion.ucsb.edu


    Department of Religious Studies
    Santa Barbara, CA 93106
    (PH) email only| (FX) 805-893-2059

    Curriculum Vitae | Courses Taught


    Vesna Wallace Image










    Statement:

    The main methodological approach to my field of study will continue to consist of the following: philological and textual study, and philosophical, historical, critical, and comparative analyses of the Buddhist traditions of South Asia, Tibet,and Mongolia.



    Recent Publications:

    Books:

    • The Kalacakratantra: The Chapter on Sadhana together with the Vimalaprabha.
      Tanjur Translation Initiative, Treasury of Buddhist Sciences Series. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, co-published with the Columbia University's Center for Buddhist Studies and Tibet House. 2010. (Annotated translation from Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Mongolian, together with a critical edition of the Mongolian text).
    • The Kalacakratantra: The Chapter on the Individual Together with the Vimalaprabha. Translated from Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Mongolian. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies, Columbia University, 2004.
    • The Inner Kalacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
    • Translator, A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life by Santideva. Translated from Sanskrit and Tibetan by Vesna A. Wallace and B. Alan Wallace. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications,1997.
    • A Textbook for the First Year Intensive Serbo-Croatian. Co-author. Washington DC, State Department, 1988.

    Articles:

    • "The Legalized Violence:" Punitive Measures of Buddhist Khans in Mongolia." In Buddhist Warfare. Edited by Mark Juergensmeyer and Michael Jerryson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
    • "Texts as Deities: Mongols' Rituals of Worshipping Sutras and Rituals of Accomplishing Various Goals by Means of Sutras." In Ritual in Tibetan Buddhism. Edited by José I. Cabezón. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
    • "The Body as a Text and the Text as the Body: A View from the Kalacakratantra's Perspective." In As Long as Space Endures: Essays on the Kalacakra Tantra in Honor of H. H. The Dalai Lama. Edited by Edward A. Arnold. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2009.
    • "Medicine and Astrology in the Healing Arts of the Kalacakratantra." In As Long as Space Endures: Essays on the Kalacakra Tantra in Honor of H. H. The Dalai Lama. Edited by Edward A. Arnold. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2009.
    • "Diverse Aspects of the Mongolian Buddhist Manuscript Culture and Realms of Its Influence." In Buddhist Manuscript Culture: Knowledge, Ritual, and Art. Edited by Steven Berkwitz, Juliane Schober, and Claudia Brown. London: Routledge, 2008.
    • "A Convergence of Medical and Astro-Sciences in Indian Tantric Buddhism: A Case of the Kalacakratantra." In Astro-Medicine: Astrology and Medicine, East and West. Micrologus' Library, 25. Edited by Anna Akasoy, Charles Burnett and Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim. Florence, Italy: Sismel Edzioni del Galluzzo, 2008.
    • "Why is the Bodiless (anaga) Gnostic Body (jnanakaya) Considered a Body?" Journal of Indian Philosophy, Vol. 37, No. 1, February 2009: 45-60.
    • "Mediating the Power of Dharma: The Mongols' Approaches to Reviving Buddhism in Mongolia." The Silk Road Journal, No. 6/1, (2008): 36-45, 2008.
    • "The Provocative Character of the 'Mystical' Discourses on the Absolute Body in Indian Tantric Buddhism," in Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Third Series, Number 6, Fall 2004, issued in 2006: 245-257.
    • “A Generation of Power Through Ritual Protection and Transformation of Identity in Indian Tantric Buddhism,” in Journal of Ritual Studies, Special Issue on “Ritual and the Ritual Expression of Identity in Asia,” Vol. 19, Number 1, 2005: 115-128.
    • "The Methodological Relevance of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship to the Study of Buddhism," in Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections of Contemporary Buddhist Scholars, ed. by John Makransky and Roger Jackson. London: Curzon Press, 1999.
    • "Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Response to the Treatment of Mentally Handicaped Children in Latin America," in Ethics and World Religions: Cross-cultural Case Studies, ed. by Regina, Wentzel, Wolfe and Christine E. Gudorf. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999.
    • "The Buddhist Tantric Medicine in the Kalacakratantra," in The Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, New Series, Nos. 11-12 (1995), pp. 155-174, 1995.
    Book Reviews:
    • “Eva Jane Neumann Friedman, Sacred Geography: Shamanism Among the  Buddhist Peoples of Russia. Bibliotheca Shamanistica, vol. 12. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2004,” in Religion, Vol. 36, Issue 1, 2006.
    • "Walther Heissig and Klaus Sagaster, eds. Gedanke und Wirkung. Festschrift für Nikolaus Poppe zum 90. Geburtstag Asiatische Forschungen: Monographienreihe Zur Geschichte, Kultur und Sprache der Völker Ost-und Zentralasiens, Band 108." Wiesbadden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1989, in Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 50(1), 1992, Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan.

    Instructional and Documentary Films:

    • “Revival of Buddhism in Mongolia: Part 1& Part 2.” Santa Barbara: Erdene Productions, 2004 (Executive Producer, Researcher, and Narrative Writer)
    • “Shaman in the City: Ulaanbaatar, Outer Mongolia.” Santa Barbara: Erdene Productions, 2003 (Executive Producer, Researcher, and Narrative Writer)
    • “Revival of the Traditional Mongolian Culture.” Santa Barbara: Erdene Productions, 2004 (Executive Producer, Researcher, and Narrative Writer)


    Current/Planned Research/Projects:



    Courses Taught:

    All levels of the Sanskrit language; South Asian Buddhism; Ceylon Buddhism; Socially Engaged Buddhism; Religious Traditions of Asia; Hindu, Jaina and Buddhist Ethics.

    Undergraduate:

    • RS 4: Introduction to Buddhism
    • RS 111B: Religions of Mongolia
    • RS 161C: Buddhist Tantric Traditions
    • RS 162A: Indian Philosophy
    • RS 164A: Buddhist Traditions in South Asia
    • RS 164C: Buddhist Ethics
    • RS 193B: Religion and Healing in Global Perspective

    Graduate:

    • RS 202A: Buddhist Literature in Pali
    • RS 206F: Seminar in South Asian Philosophical Traditions
    • RS 207F: Philosophical Literature
    • RS RS 207H: Sanskrit Buddhist Literature
    • RS RS 207I: Jaina Literature in Sanskrit
    • RS RS 216B: Seminar in Theravada Buddhism
    • RS RS 256: Seminar in  Jain Studies