My research interests include women in Buddhism, death and identity, Buddhist feminist ethics, Buddhism and bioethics, Buddhist social ethics, and Buddhist transnationalism. My aim is to integrate scholarship and social activism through Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women, Sakyadhita Hawai‘i, and Jamyang Foundation, a nonprofit that supports education programs for girls and women in the Indian Himalayas, Bangladesh, and other developing countries.
Education
Ph.D. Comparative Philosophy, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
M.A. Asian Religion, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
M.A. Asian Studies, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
B.A. Oriental Languages, University of California at Berkeley, Phi Kappa Phi
Awards
2023 Numata Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
2014–2015 Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Award, “Buddhist Women of Indonesia: Multiple Subaltern Narratives” Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2009–2010 Fulbright Research Scholar, “Buddhist Social Ethics in South Asia,” Nepal and Bangladesh
Books
Women in Buddhist Traditions. New York University Press, 2020.
(Ed.) Buddhist Feminisms and Femininities. State University of New York Press, 2019.
(Ed.) Eminent Buddhist Women. State University of New York Press, 2014.
Into the Jaws of Yama, Lord of Death: Buddhism, Bioethics, and Death. State University of New York Press, 2006.
(Ed.) Buddhist Women and Social Justice: Ideals, Challenges, and Achievements. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2004.
(Ed.) Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming Against the Stream. Surrey, England: Curzon Press, 2000.
Courses Offered
REL 394 On Death and Dying
REL 475 Seminar on Tibetan Buddhism
Sakamaki Hall A-407
Email: tsomo@hawaii.edu