James Robson Tapped As New Asia Center Faculty Director

James Robson recently agreed to serve as the Victor and William Fung Director of the Harvard University Asia Center for a three-year term. Professor Robson is the James C. Kralik and Yunli Lou Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. He specializes in the history of medieval Chinese Buddhism and Daoism, with a focus on sacred geography, local religious history, talismans and Chan/Zen Buddhism. An award-winning author of several books, he has conducted research in China, Taiwan, and Japan, and is currently investigating the confluence of Buddhist monasteries and mental hospitals in Japan. Robson teaches courses in East Asian religions, and in addition to serving as the Director of the Regional Studies East Asia (RSEA) AM Program at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, he is co-editor of T’oung-Pao, the oldest international journal of Sinology.