Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · 14d

Link to program: asiacenter.harvard.edu/events/illum...

9am-9:30amWelcome James Robson (Harvard University)Introduction and Eulogy Robert E. Buswell Jr. (University of California, Los Angeles)9:30am-10:45am Sudden and Gradual T. Griffith Foulk (Sarah Lawre...

asiacenter.harvard.edu

Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · 14d

The Kuroda Institute is pleased to announce a symposium on Nov 21 to honor Peter Gregory—use the QR to access the full program

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Reposted by Natasha Heller

Frederick Ranallo-Higgins @fmr-h.bsky.social · Aug 11

Franz Metcalf @franzmetcalf.bsky.social reviews Natasha Heller's @nlheller.bsky.social new book on Buddhist picture books for children.

"These books become the material form of modern family Buddhism, giving rise to new practices rooted not in the temple but in the home."

Accessible Link

How to Raise a Little Bodhisattva

In Taiwan, a new generation of children’s books quietly transforms Buddhist family life.

tricycle.org

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Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · Aug 6

My review of Don Lopez’s amazing new history of Buddhism

The TLS @thetls.bsky.social · Aug 5

The history of Buddhism presents unique challenges. The first is that Buddhist texts imagine a timeline that stretches backwards and forwards in almost'Self can be both illusory and deeply felt.'

Natasha Heller on a single-volume 2,500-year history
www.the-tls.com/religion/bu...

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Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · Aug 2

State Sen. Creigh Deeds asks the BOV: “What is your understanding of the importance of shared governance in a university? What is your understanding of the significance of having lost the confidence of the people who educate students in that university?” www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

Virginia General Assembly demands answers about Ryan's resignation in Aug. 1 letter

In a 10-page letter obtained by The Cavalier Daily, State Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, demanded written responses and documentation from University Rector Rachel Sheridan and University Vice ...

www.cavalierdaily.com

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Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · Aug 1

A simple idea: faculty should be represented in the search for UVa’s next president: www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

www.cavalierdaily.com

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Reposted by Natasha Heller

Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · Aug 1

To be clear, the Olympic swimmer is not the problem. www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

4 RELIGIOUS STUDIES FACULTY: Where are the humanities professors?

Lawyers, financiers, teachers, students and, yes, Olympic swimmers belong on the search committee. But, surely, faculty members who carry out a core mission of the University belong there, too.

www.cavalierdaily.com

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Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · Jul 24

You are far more optimistic than I am that “books” and “dissertations” will still exist a thousand years from now, and in any case I erased it

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Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · Jul 24

I am annoyed by people who write in library books but especially astounded by this—at least it is not in pen!

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Contingent Magazine @contingent-mag.bsky.social · Jul 8

We're pairing up contingent historians with contingent scholars in other fields for a face off! Click through to learn more and let us know if you want to participate.

Face/Off

Lots of scholars from different disciplines study and write about things that happened in the past. So what, if anything, makes history a separate and coherent discipline? While Contingent is a histor...

contingentmagazine.org

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Reposted by Natasha Heller

Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · Jun 30

The title is a little misleading, but this is a clear explanation of what’s happened at UVa. TLDR: the people appointed or elected to represent the University are in fact its opponents. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/o...

Opinion | What the University of Virginia Should Have Done

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Natasha Heller

Medievalist.net @medievalists.bsky.social · Jun 21

Polo Buddies and Rental Cabs: The Donkeys of Tang China and Their Poetic Destinies www.medievalists.net/2022/06/donk... #MedievalChina

Polo Buddies and Rental Cabs: The Donkeys of Tang China and Their Poetic Destinies - Medievalists.net

The humble donkey was a constant presence across Tang China and a regular feature in the day-to-day business of people from all walks of life. How were these animals remembered by writers of the time?

www.medievalists.net

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Reposted by Natasha Heller

Maya Sen @mayasen.bsky.social · Jun 3

More polling just dropped -- by a pretty huge margin Americans think that having international students at US universities is good for the country, not bad -- 56% to 14% (+42)

and for 18-29 YOs, nearly 1/2 say international students are "very good"

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · May 28

This policy, which is so real it was published on the State Department's actual website and not its Substack, is about as bad a policy as one could imagine for American national security and prosperity. The Rubio of 4 months ago would call it insane. Which it is.

www.state.gov/releases/off...

New Visa Policies Put America First, Not China - United States Department of State

Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to ...

www.state.gov

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Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · May 7

When you’ve finished it, I’d love a copy of your op-ed to include in a class on Buddhism and the environment

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Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · May 5

Academic friends, how do you think about summer writing? What strategies or resources have been useful for you? What are the biggest challenges?

Reposted by Natasha Heller

Buddhas in the West Material Archive @buddhasinthewest.bsky.social · Apr 25

In 1871, Harper’s Weekly published a wood engraving depicting the interior of a San Francisco Chinese temple, a rare print subject before the 1906 earthquake.

Clues suggest it shows the main hall of Eastern Glory Temple located off Jackson St. on St. Louis Alley. 🧵
🗃️ 📜 #Chinatown

The image is a black and white illustration depicting the interior of a Chinese "joss house" in San Francisco. The scene features an ornate altar with intricate carvings and five icons. Two large hanging lanterns flank the altar and a board inscribed with Chinese characters hangs above. Several figures are present: a man and woman in Western attire accompanied by a child who are observing the scene; a person bowing in front of the altar holding incense; and other individuals standing or walking, dressed in traditional Chinese clothing.

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RNS @rns.org · Apr 26

On this farm and creamery run by Hindu devotees and modeled after a traditional Indian gaushala, both soil and soul are cultivated with God in mind.
religionnews.com/2025/04/25/o...

On a dairy farm run on Hindu principles, cow 'friends' yield milk and higher consciousness

PORT ROYAL, Pennsylvania (RNS) — Hare Krishna farmers produce 'non-violent,' or ahimsa, dairy from cows that are loved and cared for.

religionnews.com

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Reposted by Natasha Heller

Contingent Magazine @contingent-mag.bsky.social · Apr 22

Pitches for this are due Sunday. If you know someone who might want to contribute, please share this with them!

Call For Pitches: The Losses

“But you could go work for the government! Or museums—maybe a non-profit?” Grad students and adjuncts leaving academic history in the United States have often gotten the above advice from well-meaning...

contingentmagazine.org

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Reposted by Natasha Heller

AAUP @aaup.org · Apr 14

Want to brush up on your skills about fighting back against repression and political interference in #highered? Join an online session for the April 17 #DayofActionforHigherEd. Register: www.dayofactionforhighered.org/events

Registration information for the fighting attacks on higher ed in red states workshop.

Registration information for the immigrants rights defense workshop.

Registration information for the Who Rules the Academy (and how to Fight Back) workshop.

Registration for the universities as political battlegrounds workshop.

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Reposted by Natasha Heller

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Apr 4

"This art project is a single grafted tree that produces 40 varieties of apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, and other stone fruits."

what!

www.popsci.com/environment/...

A tree with 40 different fruits planted in Philadelphia

Move over, Liberty Bell.

www.popsci.com

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Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · Mar 26

“The fires gutted the 1,300-year-old Gounsa temple in Uiseong city”

Unofficial BBCNews (World) Bot @bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social · Mar 26

South Korea: at least 18 dead in 'worst' fires in nation's history

The wildfires are threatening cultural sites and "rewriting the record books", according to authorities.

www.bbc.com

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Reposted by Natasha Heller

Maura Elizabeth Cunningham @mauracunningham.bsky.social · Mar 2

"For Western scholars of China, the era before the pandemic now feels like a distant golden age." Yanzhong Huang on the withering of academic engagement with China thanks to domestic factors in both countries, as well as heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Opinion | Restoring Academic Ties With China Is a Matter of U.S. National Security

Decisions on U.S. policy toward China are being made based on diminishing insight into the country’s internal dynamics.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Natasha Heller

Rob Glover @robglover.bsky.social · Mar 1

The Fulbright Foreign Student Program invites graduate students from abroad to come study in the US and guarantees funding for them to do so paid in a monthly stipend. Yesterday, some FFSP scholars received notification that they're only getting a week of their stipend.

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Natasha Heller @nlheller.bsky.social · Feb 13

I love our library

DCMediaGroup @dcmediagroup.us · Feb 12

The University of Virginia has created a website of archived government websites—bookmark it—you’re going to need it later.

guides.lib.virginia.edu/c.php?g=1451...

LibGuides: Government Information Data Rescue: Home

A guide linking to trusted repositories that have rescued U.S. government data

guides.lib.virginia.edu

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