Department of Religion
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore, PA 19081

Phone: 
Office - (610) 690-6863
Home - (610) 543-2459

Email: dsweare1@swarthmore.edu
 

Fax: 610-328-7687 

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS

• Charles & Harriet Cox McDowell Professor of Religion, 1992-present
  
• Eugene M. Lang Research Professor, Swarthmore College, 1987-1992
  
• Chairperson, Dept. of Religion, Swarthmore College, 1986-1991
  
• Prof., Swarthmore College, 1975-present (Acting Chairperson, 1979-80, 1992-93, Spring 1997, 1999-2000)
  
• Assoc. Prof., Swarthmore College, 1970-75 (Acting Chairperson, 1973-74)
  
• Acting Assoc. Prof., University of Pennsyvania, 1970-72
  
• Ass't. Prof., Oberlin College, 1965-70

• Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2002-2004
• Hershey Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies, Harvard University, 2000-2001
• Brown University, "Justice and Compassion in Buddhism and Christianity," Summer, 1996. NEH Summer Seminar for college teachers co-taught with Professor John P. Reeder
• Numata Distinguished Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of Hawaii, Fall Term, 1993-94
• Adjunct Professor of Religion, Temple University, (1992-present)
• Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, (1979-1993)

• Princeton University, Ph.D., 1967; M.A., 1965; A.B., 1956 (Cum Laude)
• Yale University Divinity School, S.T.M., 1963; B.D., 1962

• Fulbright (CIES) Senior Research Fellowship for a study of the Buddha Image Consecration Ceremony, Northern Thailand, 1989-90
• Guggenheim Fellowship, 1994; Fulbright-Hayes Research Fellowship, 1994. A study of Sacred Mountain Traditions in Thailand and SE Asia.
• National Endowment for the Humanities, Fellowship for College Teachers, 1998-99. To complete the monograph on Sacred Mountain Traditions in Thailand and SE Asia
• Henry Luce Foundation, 2001-2004, in support of a study of Christian Identity in Buddhist Thailand. During this period I shall teach in the Fall at Swarthmore and work on this project the remainder of the year.

• Association for Asian Studies, Board of Directors and Southeast Asia Council, 1977-80; Nominating Committee, 1979-80
• American Academy of Religion (Vice-President, Middle Atlantic Region, 1971-72)
• American Society for the Study of Religion
• Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies (Board of Directors, 1994-1998)
• Forum for Religion and Ecology (Board of Advisors, 1998-present)
• Religious Pluralism Project (Board of Advisors, 1998-present)
• Assistant Editor, Journal of Asian Studies, 1978-80
• Editorial Board, Journal of Religious Ethics, 1978-1993
• Editorial Board, Crossroads. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 1988-present.
• Consulting Editor, Buddhist-Christian Studies, 1981-present.
• Book Review Editor for Southeast Asia, Religious Studies Review, 1985-1993.
• Editorial Board, Curzon Press, "Critical Studies in Buddhism," 2000-present
• Editorial Board, Journal of Religious Ethics, 1978-1993, 2002-

Books

2004	Becoming the Buddha: The Ritual of Image Consecration in Thailand. Princeton University Press
2004	Sacred Mountains of Northern Thailand and Their Legends. Sommai Premchit and Phaitun Dokbuakaew. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books
2000	The State of Budhist Studies in the World, 1972-1997. , eds. Donald K. Swearer and Somparn Promta Bangkok: Center for Buddhist Studies, Chulalongkorn University
1998	The Legend of Queen Cama. Camadevivamsa [with Sommai Premchit]  Albany: State University of New York Press.
1997	Secrets of the Lotus: Studies in Buddhist Meditation. Delhi: Sunil Gupta. Indian edition of the 1971 Macmillan publication with a new introduction.
1995	The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Articles, Book Chapters, Encyclopedia Entries .

2003	"Theravada Buddhist Societies," in Global Religion. A Handbook, ed. Mark Juergensmeer. Oxford: Oxford University Press
2003	"Aniconism vs. Iconism in Thai Buddhism," in Buddhism and Modernity, ed. Steven Heine and Charles Prbish. Oxford: Oxford University Press
2003	"In the Presence of the Buddha," in Approaching the Dhamma: Buddhist Texts and Practices in South and Southeast Asia, ed. Anne M. Blackburn & Jeffrey Samuels. Seattle: PBS Pariyatti Editions, pp. 91-104
2003	"Buddhism and Abortion," in Socially Engaged Spirtuality: Essays in Honor of Sulak Sivaraksa on His 70th Birthday, ed. David W. Chappell. Bangkok: Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation
2002	"Phra Dhammapitaka on Buddhism and Abortion," Pannya (Knowledge), 10, no. 47 (Feb-Mar, 2002), pp. 47-51 (Pt. I), 10, 48 (Mar-May, 2002), pp. 51-57 (Pt. II)
2001	2001 "Principles and Poetry, Places and Stories: The Resources of Buddhist  Ecology, " Daedalus, 30, no. 4 (Fall, 2001), 225-241
2000	"Introduction: Issues and Themes in International Buddhist Studies," in The State of Buddhist Studies in the World, 1972-1997, eds. Donald K. Swearer and Somparn Promta. Bangkok: Center for Buddhist Studies, Chulalongkorn University, pp. Viii-xxv.  "Buddhadasa," in Encyclopedia of Monasticism, ed. William M. Johnston  and Claire Rankin. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers "Creating and Disseminating the Sacred," in The Life of Buddhism, ed.  Frank E. Reynolds & Jason A. Carbine. Berkeley: University of  California Press, 26-43.
1999	"Dhammapitaka on Monks and the Forest," in Socially Engaged Buddhism for the New Millenium: Essays in Honor of the Ven. Phra Dhammapitaka Bangkok: Santhirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation and Foundation for Children, pp. 459-469. "Center and Periphery: Buddhism and Politics in Modern Thailand," Buddhism and Politics in Modern Asia, ed. Ian Harris. London: Pinter-Cassell, 1999), pp. 194-228. "Buddha Loves Me This I Know, For the Dhamma Tells Me So," Journal of Buddhist-Christian Studies, 19 (1999), 113-120
1998	"Buddhist Virtue, Voluntary Poverty, and Extensive Benevolence," Journal of Religious Ethics, 26:1 (Spring, 1998), 71-103 "Buddhism and Ecology: Challenge and Promise," Earth Ethics 10:1pp. 19-22. 1999 "
1997	"The Worldliness of Buddhism," The Wilson Quarterly (Spring), pp. 81-93. "Buddhist Views on Mission and Dialogue: A Response," Journal of Buddhist-Christian Studies, 17, (1997), pp. 114-117. "The Hermeneutics of Buddhist Ecology in Contemporary Thailand: Buddhadasa and  Dhammapitaka," in Buddhism and Ecology, eds. Mary Ellen Tucker and Duncan Williams. Cambridge: Harvard University,Press, pp. 21-44.  "Rights Because of Intrinsic Nature or Responsibilities Because of Mutual Interdependence?." In Buddhist Perspectives on the Earth Charter. Cambridge: Boston Research Center, pp. 87-91.
1996	"Bhikkhu Buddhadasa's Interpretation of the Buddha," Journal of the American Academy of Religion, LXIV/2 (Fall, 1996), pp. 91-114 "Green Theology and Democratic Ecology," Religion & Values in Public Life (Harvard Divinity School), vol. 4, no. 4 (Summer, 1996), pp.15-16.
1995	Hypostasizing the Buddha: Buddha Image Consecration in Northern Thailand," History of Religions, Feb., 1995, pp. 263-280 Buddhism in Practice, ed. Donald Lopez Jr. Princeton: Princeton University Press (1)"The Seven Abhidhamma Books Summarized" [Abhidhamma Ruam]  (2)"Consecrating the Buddha" [Buddha Abhiseka] (3)"Bimba's Lament" [Bimba Bilap] (4)"Meditation' [Bhavana] by Bhikkhu Paññavamsa (5)"True Giving" [Hai Dana Thi Mai Sia Ngen] by Bhikkhu Buddhadasa

Email: dsweare1@swarthmore.edu