Religion and Ecology Subject of October 3 Lecture 

SALISBURY, MD--Are ecological practices inherent in religion? Is there such a thing as Buddhist or Hindu ecology? On Wednesday, October 3, two experts on Asian religions will discuss these issues at Salisbury University, as part of its Asian series. The dialogue is at 7 p.m. in the Wicomico Room of the Guerrieri University Center. Admission is free and the public is invited.

In this talk, Professors Duncan Williams of Trinity College (Hartford, CT) and Deepak Sarma of Salisbury University will examine the different perspectives on the environment and activities of members of the two religious traditions. Dr. Williams, a practicing Buddhist, is considered one of the leading experts on Buddhism and ecology. Sarma, a Hindu, is an expert on Hinduism and Indian philosophy.

Born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and British father, Williams grew up in Japan and England until age 17, when he moved to the U.S. to attend college. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in June 2000 and teaches Japanese religions and culture at Trinity. He has also been ordained since 1993 as a Buddhist priest in the Japanese Zen tradition and served as Buddhist chaplain at Harvard University from 1994-96. He is editor of three volumes on Buddhism and has also translated three Japanese works on Buddhism into English. The author of several articles, his interests range from Buddhism and ecology to Buddhism in Japanese-American interment camps during World War II.

Professor Deepak Sarma has been trained as a comparative philosopher of religion at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. His interests and research concern most broadly Hinduism and more specifically Madhva Vedanta, a 13th century school of Indian philosophy. His dissertation, "Exclusivist Strategies in Madhva Vedanta," examined the ways that Madhva pedagogical institutions restricted admission and, therefore, training to become experts in Madhva philosophy. Selected portions of his dissertation have been published as articles in refereed journals, including the Journal of Indian Philosophy and the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. He is currently editing his dissertation into book form.

The Buddhist-Hindu dialogue is sponsored by the SU Office of Cultural Affairs and Museum Studies. For more information call 410543-6271 or visit the SU Web site at www.salsibury.edu.