12:30 pm Spring Ohigan seminar with Rev. Dr. Duncan Williams, USC

Religion, Race, and American Belonging: A Buddhist Perspective

Is America a Christian nation? Or is America better thought of as a free nation – one based on the principles of religion freedom and equality under the law, regardless of race or national origin? The seminar explores these questions from the perspectives of Buddhism and Asian American history – with a focus on the WWII Japanese American experience – to consider how Buddhists have contributed to religious freedom and the notion of America as a nation of becoming.

Duncan Ryuken Williams is currently Director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture. His forthcoming book is American Sutra: Buddhism and the World War II Japanese American Experience (Harvard University Press, 2019). He has been an ordained Soto Zen Buddhist priest since 1993.

Presented by the SFVHBT Buddhist Education Committee. Everyone is welcome. Please RSVP by email or phone.