Where to study Buddhism? The best schools are in the US!

Where to Study and Learn Buddhism? Here's a Comprehensive List of Buddhist Studies Programs in the United States

As interest in Buddhism continues to grow worldwide, many people choose to deepen their understanding of this tradition through higher education. If you're considering learning about Buddhism, one of the first things to examine is your motivation for pursuing higher studies in this field.

Is it to complement a Buddhist practice? Is it to pursue a career in academia? Most graduate programs in Buddhism do not replace the faith and practice of Buddhism. Rather, they approach Buddhism from an analytical perspective: history, sociology, philology, philosophy, religious studies, and cultural studies.

Learning Buddhism

There are a number of graduate programs that encourage or support Buddhist practice and scholarship among students. These "practitioner-friendly" programs typically offer one of three possibilities: the opportunity to earn a degree as part of a Buddhist priestly training, courses on Buddhist practice that complement academic studies, or a focus on studying Buddhism from a normative perspective.

However, if you're interested in pursuing an academic career, institutions offering these practice-integrated programs often do not have the same status as secular universities.

In most universities, professors of Buddhist studies tend to be much fewer in number compared to their Christian or Jewish counterparts. Therefore, very few programs can be considered comprehensive: most have strength in a particular geographical or cultural region (South Asia, Tibet, East Asia), a particular tradition (Chan/Zen, Theravada, Tibetan), or a particular approach (philological, historical, apologetic).

While a comprehensive program might be optimal, many graduate students have also succeeded in departments that have strength in a specialized area. In such narrower contexts, working closely with a faculty member whose interests align with yours can compensate for the program's more limited scope.

Most professors of Buddhist studies are affiliated with either a religious studies program or an area studies program (East Asian, South Asian). Religious studies departments typically require coursework and exams in other religious traditions as well as a good grasp of the theoretical literature of religious studies in general. On the other hand, area studies programs focus more on the study of Asian languages (Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan) and on the study of Buddhism in its various historical and cultural contexts.

The following Buddhist studies programs are divided into several categories designed to help you choose the school that best suits your interests and goals. Professors whose names appear in parentheses are not specialists in the study of Buddhism per se, but because their expertise is closely related to Buddhism, they have taught or supervised graduate students in the past.

Comprehensive List of Buddhist Studies Programs in the United States

Practitioner-friendly institutions*.

• CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF INTEGRAL STUDIES

• GRADUATE THEOLOGICAL UNION

• UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST

 

• INSTITUTE OF BUDDHIST STUDIES

 

• NAROPA UNIVERSITY

 

• MAITRIPA COLLEGE

 

• BUDDHIST UNIVERSITY OF DHARMA REALM

 

Most Comprehensive Programs

• HARVARD UNIVERSITY

 

• INDIANA UNIVERSITY

 

• UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

 

• UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA

 

• UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

 

• UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

 

• PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

 

• STANFORD UNIVERSITY

 

• UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

 

• UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

 

• UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA

 

• UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

 

• CORNELL UNIVERSITY

 

Strong Institutions in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies

• HARVARD UNIVERSITY

 

• UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

 

• UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

 

• UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

 

Strong Institutions in Southeast Asian Buddhist Studies

• HARVARD UNIVERSITY

 

• UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

 

Other Noteworthy Programs

 

• COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

 

• UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

 

• RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

 

• FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

If you want to study Buddhism in Paris, no problem, check out this video from the YouTube channel: IEB (Institut d'Etudes Bouddhiques)