faculty display > Master of Liberal Studies > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Lori Rachelle Meeks

Associate Professor of Religion and East Asian Languages and Cultures

Contact Information
E-mail: meeks@email.usc.edu
Phone: (323) 719-0984
Office: ACB 234

Education
Ph.D. East Asian Religions, Princeton University, 2003
B.A. Religion, Columbia University, 1998

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History
Postdoctoral Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science , 2006-2007
Stanford Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, 2003-2004

Description of Research
Summary Statement of Research Interests
I am interested in the social, cultural, and intellectual histories of Japanese Buddhism. Much of my work has focused, in particular, on clarifying the roles of women as consumers and practitioners of Buddhism in the Heian and Kamakura periods (roughly ninth through early fourteenth centuries). My research has also attempted to shed light on the ways in which gender is handled in Buddhist texts, on the roles that Buddhist texts played in the dissemination of gendered ideology, and on popular responses to doctrinal discussions of sex and gender. Other interests include the social history of monasticism and the role of the arts in Buddhist practice.

Research Specialties
Women, Gender, and Religion; Religious and Social History of Japan; Women’s History in East Asia; Buddhist Literature and Philosophy; Buddhist Monasticism; Japanese Literature and Culture

Funded Research
USC Funding
Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Gender, Buddhism, and Popular Culture in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan: This work seeks to identify the social and historical processes by which certain aspects of Buddhist doctrine related to gender were transmitted to and popularized among ordinary people in Japan. , $25,000, 07/2008-07/2009

Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions
Center for the Study of Women, Buddhism, and Culture (Kyoto, Japan),http://www.chusei-nihon.net/

Publications
Book
Meeks, L. R. (2010). Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern Japan / / Reviews: Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 37/2 (2010), Religious Studies Review 36/4 (2010), American Historical Review 116.2 (2011), Monumenta Nipponica 66.1 (2011), The Journal of Asian Studies 70.3 (2011), Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 54 (2011) //. Honolulu, HI: Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism (University of Hawai'i Press). Winner of the 2012 John Whitney Hall Prize
James Benn, James Robson, and Lori Meeks (Ed.). (2009). Buddhist Monasticism in East Asia: Places of Practice. London: Routledge. Routledge Link

Book Chapter
Meeks, L. R. (2010). "Amadera ni okeru seikatsu o saiko suru: Girei, shinko, shakai seikatsu no ba toshite no chusei no Hokkeji" (Reconsidering life in the nunnery: Ritual, devotion, and social life at medieval Hokkeji), trans. Tomoko Kitagawa, in Lucia Dolce and Matsumoto Ikuyo, eds., Girei no chikara (The power of ritual). pp. 207-228. Kyoto: Hozokan. on Amazon Japan
Meeks, L. R. (2009). "Chuguji Imperial Convent" (with Monica Bethe) and "Hokkeji Imperial Convent," with Japanese trans. by the Center for Intercultural Communication. pp. 40-53. (Tokyo: Sankei Shinbunsha, 2009): Amamonzeki--A Hidden Heritage: Treasures of the Japanese Imperial Convents (exhibition catalogue). This book was recently mentioned in The New York Times.
Meeks, L. R. (2008). "Chuguji and Female Monasticism in the Age of Shotoku," in Dorothy Wong, ed., Horyuji Reconsidered. pp. 237-262. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Journal Article
Meeks, L. R. (2011). "The Disappearing Medium: Reassessing the Place of Miko in the Religious Landscape of Premodern Japan". History of Religions (University of Chicago Press). Vol. 51 (1), pp. 208-260. Link to History of Religions
Meeks, L. R. (2010). "Buddhist Renunciation and the Female Life Cycle: Understanding Nunhood in Heian and Kamakura Japan". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. Vol. 70.1 (June 2010), pp. 1-59. Available through Project Muse
Meeks, L. R. (2009). "Vows for the Masses: Eison and the Popular Expansion of Precept-Conferral Ceremonies in Premodern Japan". Numen. Vol. 56 (1 (Jan. 2009)), pp. 1-43. Link to Numen
Meeks, L. R. (2007). "In Her Likeness: Female Divinity and Leadership at Medieval Chuguji". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. Vol. 34 (34/2), pp. 351-392.. Link to PDF
Meeks, L. R. (2007). "Amerika ni okeru Nihon Bukkyogaku no shomondai: Bukkyo to wa nanika" ("What Counts as ‘Buddhism’?: Problems in the Study of Japanese Buddhism in the United States") (in Japanese). Higashi Ajia hikaku bunka kenkyu (Journal of the International Association for Comparative Studies of East Asian Culture)/Kasamashoin. Vol. Vol. 6 (June 2007), pp. pp. 29-39.
Meeks, L. R. (2006). "Reconfiguring Ritual Authenticity: The Ordination Traditions of Aristocratic Women in Premodern Japan". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies/Nanzan University. Vol. 33/1, pp. 51-74. Link to PDF

Proceedings
Meeks, L. R. (2009). "Comments on Panel No. 1, ‘Religion and Gender,’" a formal response to papers by Katsuura Noriko, Ushiyama Yoshiyuki, and Takagi Tadashi, presented at the Harvard Conference "Beyond Buddhology," with Japanese trans. by Ryuichi Abé. pp. 26-36. Kyoto. Yoshiko Oka, ed., Amadera monjo chosa no seika o kiban toshita Nihon no josei to Bukkyo no sogo kenkyu II, published by Kyowa Insatsu.
Meeks, L. R. (2007). "Images of Women and Nuns in Chinkai's _Bodaishinshu_" (in Japanese). 113 (56.1). pp. 20-23. Tokyo. Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies. Link to PDF (in Japanese--click CiNii PDF box in upper right-hand corner)
Meeks, L. R., Nishiguchi, J. (2006). "Bukkyo dento no sabetsu teki na joseikan o saketa chusei Shingon Ritsu-shu no bikuni o megutte". pp. p. 19-21. Kyowa Insatsu, Kyoto, Japan. Amadera monjo chosa no seika o kiban toshita Nihon no josei to bukkyo no sogo kenkyu/Yoshiko Oka (Otemae Daigaku), ed..

Advisement


Other Advisement or Time Devoted to Students
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Religion, 2011-2012

New Courses Developed
Japanese Religions, Religion, REL 332, 2009-2010
Religion and Politics in East Asia, Religion, EALC, and IR (RIGG), First offered through the RIGG (Religion, Identity, and Global Governance) program in the spring of 2010., 2009-2010
Women's Lives in Premodern Japanese Literature, EALC 427, 2007-2008
Introduction to Buddhist Literature, REL 134 (Spring 2008), This course takes as its primary focus works of Buddhist literature written in a variety of genres—sutras, sermons, debates, hagiography, autobiography, poetry, miracle tales, and fiction. The readings and lectures introduce the basic teachings and concerns that link Buddhist traditions across time and space, while, at the same time, emphasizing the diverse ways in which different cultures and societies have responded to, interpreted, and contributed to Buddhist ideas and practices., 2007-2008
Readings in Japanese Buddhist Texts, REL 599, This course aims to introduce students to the major genres of premodern Japanese Buddhist literature. We will read doctrinal works (sutras, commentaries, and treatises); popular and oral Buddhist literature (sermons, engi, and setsuwa); and prayers (ganmon) written by devotees. This survey-style approach will familiarize students with the textual range of Buddhist discourse in premodern Japan. The course also seeks to equip students with the following: (1) bibliographic skills necessary for work with Buddhist texts; (2) mastery of fundamental Buddhist terms, concepts, and debates; and (3) greater proficiency in the reading of classical Japanese texts. (Advanced language skills required.), 2007-2008
Women and Gender in Japanese Religions, REL 499, Spring 2006
Ethics and Morality in Buddhist Literature, ARLT 100g, Fall 2005

Honors and Awards
American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship Recipient, "How Buddhist Views of the Female Body Entered Popular Discourse: Tracing Ideological Change in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan", Spring 2011
USC or School/Dept Award for Teaching, GE Teaching Award, 2005-2006

Service to the University
Other Service to the University
Co-Organizer, with Lisa Bitel, CRCC Interdisciplinary Research Group Annual Seminar, "Gender, Sex, Religion, and Politics: Why the Past Matters Today" See http://crcc.usc.edu/initiatives/irg/seminar.html, 03/2010-05/2011
Organizer, 2010 USC College Kambun Workshop: http://college.usc.edu/news/stories/808/usc-college-kambun-workshop-draws-grad-students-nationwide/, 2009-2010

Service to the Profession
Editorships and Editorial Boards
Editorial Board, Japanese Religious Traditions Section, Religion Compass, 2007-
Member, Editorial Board, Buddhism Section, Oxford Bibliographies Online, 2009-2011

Professional Offices
Co-Chair, Buddhism Section, American Academy of Religion (AAR), 2011-
President, Society for the Study of Japanese Religions (SSJR), 2011-
Steering Committee, Buddhism Section, American Academy of Religion (AAR), 2007-2010

Professional Memberships
European Association of Japanese Studies (EAJS), 06/2008-
Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Japanese Buddhism, 2007-
Japanese Association for Indian and Buddhist Studies, 2006-
Center for the Study of Women, Buddhism, and Cultural History (Kyoto, Japan), 2005-
International Association for Buddhist Studies (IABS), 2004-
American Academy of Religion (AAR), 2002-
Society for the Study of Japanese Religions (SSJR), 2002-
Association for Asian Studies (AAS), 1999-


Faculty may update their profile by visiting https://mydornsife.usc.edu.