The academic study of Buddhism in the United States: A current analysis

This paper presents the results of a survey of 125 scholars in the discipline of Buddhist Studies, conducted during the academic year 1992–3. The results document the age range of the respondents, their gender, the schools at which they earned their academic degrees, their rank, geographic area of expertise, professional societies to which they belong and hold positions of authority in, journals and presses in which they publish, as well as the editorial positions they maintain, citation of grants obtained, and comparative publication data. The survey is presented in a contextual demographic framework relative to the discipline of Religious Studies and is nominally self‐reflective.     

A Research Note on English‐Speaking Buddhists in the United States

Using data from the 2007 Pew Religious Landscape survey (PRLS), which includes over 650 Buddhist respondents (after weighting), this research note examines the usefulness of previously devised typologies for describing the religious and social characteristics of Buddhists in the United States. Existing “two Buddhisms” typologies capture the category breaks of the U.S. Buddhist landscape, with a couple of exceptions: convert Buddhists report higher rates of belief and higher rates of social activity than do those born into the religion. Analysis also shows that three‐group typologics capture additional complexity within the U.S. Buddhist landscape. Examination of the social characteristics of Buddhists in the United States mostly corroborates previous assumptions with one exception, women do not outnumber men.     

Validation of a Buddhist Coping Measure Among Primarily Non‐Asian Buddhists in the United States

Researchers have developed scales to measure religious coping among Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus. However, there is no quantitative measure of religious coping for Buddhists. The present study describes the development and initial validation of a scale of Buddhist coping (BCOPE). Eight hundred sixty participants in the United States completed the BCOPE along with demographic information and scales of adjustment to stress. Construct validity of the BCOPE is demonstrated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, which reveals 14 types of Buddhist coping. BCOPE subscales exhibited criterion validity through significant correlations with outcome measures. The BCOPE has incremental validity, predicting adjustment over and above demographic and global religious measures. The research and practical implications of the BCOPE are discussed.     

The Influence of Classmates on Adolescent Criminal Activities in the United States

This article examines the effect of delinquent peers on an individual’s criminal activity by leveraging quasi-experimental variation in exposure to peers, separating confounding and causal effects. In particular, we examine the role of wider peer networks (i.e., classmates) as a critical source of influence on adolescents’ delinquent behavior. Using a combined instrumental variables/fixed effects methodology, we address important methodological challenges in estimating peer effects. Results suggest that increasing the proportion of peers who engage in criminal activities by 5% will increase the likelihood an individual engages in criminal activities by 3 percentage points.     

美国补充与替代医疗体系的变迁及公众影响力

基于美国对补充与替代医学 (Complementary and Alternative Medicine, CAM) 的政策性文件, 结合美国亚马逊公司旗下产品"亚马逊 (美国) "的CAM图书的种类分布和销量情况, 以及美国公民使用CAM疗法的调查数据, 梳理了美国CAM体系变迁及公众影响力。美国政府对CAM的政策及体系界定经历了数次变迁。中医等传统医学及部分疗法在CAM体系内的归类发生过变化。部分CAM疗法被吸纳入美国医疗卫生保健体系。CAM在美国公众中有着巨大影响力。中医在美国的公众影响力主要在于针灸疗法, 且影响力在CAM疗法中并不突出。     

《魏书·释老志》与初期中国佛教史的研究方法

<魏书·释老志>是中国最早关于佛教历史和思想的全面记载.它的史料价值表现在:(1)它所记载的元魏僧官制度对于研究中国佛教制度的重要性;(2)它是北魏政治与佛教微妙关系的重要资料来源;(3)它所记载的资料对于研究佛教寺院经济的重要性.<魏书·释老志>在思想史方面的重要性表现在:(1)它反映一般常识世界;(2)表现早期教外人士人的佛教知识.最后从<魏书·释老志>与<隋书·经籍志>的比较中可以看出:(1)<隋书·经籍志>有意与儒家划清界限,走出依附中国资源,渐渐独立的趋势;同时,士大夫对于佛教的知识渐渐走出依靠中国知识来想象佛教的水平;其次,<隋书·经籍志>比<魏书·释老志>更像一个全景式、统一文明体立场的叙述,更加全面与完整;另一方面,它的历史叙述渐渐偏向南方佛教;三是佛教知识越来越丰富了.     

美国的创世论与进化论争论：历史与现状

在20世纪这个“科学的世纪”里,尽管由于受主流意识形态的影响在一些国家先后发生了社会性的反科学运动,例如纳粹德国对爱因斯坦相对论的批判、前苏联的“李森科”事件以及中国大陆在“文革”期间对“资产阶级学术权威”的批判等等,但是,在科学最为发达、最崇尚自由和民主的美国却发生几乎贯穿整个20世纪的反进化论运动,并且至今仍未结束。与其他反科学运动不同,美国这场反进化论运动既非出于科学上的无知,也不是主     

Spiritual Consumption in the United States: The Rumi phenomenon

This article deals with the impact of Jalal al-Din al-Rumi's work on the American public. It tackles how his work is taken nowadays out of the Muslim Sufi tradition into an elusive spiritual movement which the author terms the 'New Sufism'. The article studies the differences and similarities between the scholarly approach to the work of Rumi and the 'New Sufism' approach and focuses on four main aspects of this transition. The first treats the idea of human love in its relation to the divine love in both approaches. The second studies the concept of a dancing universe in both views. The third treats the theme of illusion versus reality in the two perspectives. The fourth analyses the differences between Muslim scholars and the 'New Sufism' with regard to the concept of emptiness. In the conclusion the article stresses how the work of Rumi is currently 'used' by the 'New Sufism' to treat depression and sell products, and how Americans in general have a tendency to 'play' with the religious traditions of the world .     

Academic Integrity from China to the United States: The Acculturation Process for Chinese Graduate Students in the United States

The ethics-related beliefs of Chinese international graduate students are heavily influenced by their academic cultural background, and given the nature of that culture, they often face challenges when adapting to the U.S. academic environment. This qualitative study examines Chinese graduate students’ perceptions of the differences between Chinese and American academic integrity practices and the effects of those differences on their ethical practices and adaptations in a graduate program in the United States. Data were collected via semistructured interviews in a public university in the United States. Findings suggest that perceptions of academic integrity in Chinese universities are influenced by Confucian philosophy, collectivist assumptions, and a resultant convenience mind-set. These cultural premises clash with academic expectations in the United States. Participants describe how they, and their Chinese peers, navigate U.S. integrity standards and provide recommendations for ways that U.S. schools can help them better adjust. We expand on those and provide recommendations for university personnel.     

The Influence of Institutional Salience on Political Attitudes and Activism among Catholic Priests in the United States

What motivates clergy political attitudes and behavior? We investigate this using a questions‐as‐treatment randomized experiment focusing on Roman Catholic priests in the United States. Our results suggest substantial utility in using a question frame referencing the distinct institutional expectations that clergy regularly confront. Specifically, when randomly primed to consider the expectations of institutional reference groups, clergy exhibit significantly higher levels of conservatism and report higher levels of political engagement, which is in line with their church's institutional preferences more generally. Our findings underscore the need for experimental methodology to make increased inroads into understanding political outcomes in religious contexts.     

Infanticide/neonaticide: The outlier situation in the United States

Comparing the contemporary situation of neonaticides and infanticides in the United States with other countries reveals two salient factors: (1) The punishment and disposition exacted on women in the United States is often extreme, and (2) The unpredictability of the legal disposition in such cases is pervasive, varying from a homicide conviction to probation. This is partly due, at least initially, to cases being classified under some degree of homicide. Although the focus in this article is on neonaticides, none of the 50 states have any special infanticide or neonaticide statutes in contrast to the majority of other countries. Statutes of 50 other countries are provided in an Appendix A. A review of earlier historical and cultural approaches is given preliminary to discussion of the outlier situation presently existing in the United States.     

The phenomenon of hate crimes in the United States

This review examines the phenomenon of hate crimes in the United States. Findings derived from the FBI data for the period 1996–2008 revealed that the incidence of anti‐racial hate crimes varied among different racial groups, that antireligious hate crimes were committed toward Jews and Muslims more than toward others, and that antisexual orientation hate crimes focused on male homosexuals more than others. Antireligious hate crimes were more likely to be directed against property, whereas anti‐racial and antisexual orientation hate crimes were more likely to be directed against people. We discuss these findings in the light of some relevant theoretical perspectives from social psychology. Potential solutions to hate crimes could be developed by focusing on the most relevant predictive factors.     

The Influence of National Culture on the Perceived Fairness of Grading Procedures: A Comparison of the United States and China

Although the desire to be treated fairly is a fundamental human preference, perceptions of fair treatment can be influenced by cultural beliefs and values. For this article, the author used a scenario-based experimental study to examine students' fairness perceptions of grading procedures in 2 countries with distinct national cultures, China and the United States. The results suggest that culture can influence students' perceptions of the fairness of 2 aspects of procedural justice: voice and interpersonal justice. Chinese students were more likely to value interpersonal justice (i.e., being treated with dignity and respect, and being provided with explanations of grading procedures) and perceived the lack of interpersonal justice as less fair than did U.S. participants. In contrast, U.S. students were more likely to perceive voice (i.e., the opportunity to discuss and appeal a grading decision) as fair. These findings are connected to differences in the cultural values of the United States and China.     

Cancer Metaphors: Taiwan and the United States

The Cancer Metaphors Test, a measure of the imagery of cancer, was administered to a sample of 138 Taiwanese college students and 167 United States college students, equated on age and gender, and presumed not to be different on academic achievement and socioeconomic level. A factor analysis of the Taiwanese protocols replicated the factor structure previously found on the CMT for United States respondents. Significant differences were obtained on two of the four CMT factors, with Taiwanese students scoring higher on both Terminal Pessimism and Future Optimism. Such differences are discussed in terms of differential coping strategies.