Benjamin James Nourse
Assistant Professor, Buddhist Studies
What I do
I am an Assistant Professor in Buddhist Studies in the Religious Studies department teaching an assortment of courses on Buddhism and Asian Religions.Professional Biography
I received my BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I studied Chinese literature and politics and began my training in Tibetan and Buddhist Studies. After graduating, I eventually found my way to Charlottesville, Virginia, where I worked for the Tibetan and Himalayan Library and pursued graduate work at the University of Virginia, culminating in a PhD in Religious Studies with a focus on Tibetan and Chinese religions. I have lived and conducted research in India, Nepal, and China, including as a Fulbright-Hays Fellow in China in 2010-11. I have also been a Florence Tan Moeson Fellow at the Asian Division of the Library of Congress and an E. Ph. Goldschmidt Fellow at the Rare Book School and have received grants from the University of Wisconsin Libraries and the Jefferson Trust. I am currently Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography at the Rare Book School.
Degree(s)
- Ph.D., Religious Studies, University of Virginia, 2014
- MA, Religious Studies, University of Virginia, 2009
- BA, Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2002
Professional Affiliations
- American Academy of Religion
- Association for Asian Studies
- International Association for Tibetan Studies
- Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography
Research
I am a historian of religion with a particular focus on Buddhism as it developed in Tibet and China. My first book, The Power of Publishing in Early Modern Tibetan Buddhism (Lexington Books, 2025), explores the growth and impact of Tibetan woodblock publishing from the seventeenth through eighteenth centuries. I am also working on a study of Chinese and Tibetan manuscripts of the Heart Sūtra recovered at Dunhuang. I have been active in promoting the study of Tibetan book history through the hosting of conferences such as The Symposium on the Tibetan Book (University of Virginia, 2014) and Buddhist Book Cultures (University of Denver, 2017) as well as teaching a course at the Rare Book School on the history and culture of Tibetan books. Recently, I have also begun to engage in research on the history of Buddhism in the US, especially in Colorado.
Featured Publications
Nourse, Benjamin James. “Makzor Gönpo And The Choné Kangyur.” In Sources Of Tibetan Tradition. edited by Kurtis R. Schaeffer, Gray Tuttle, and Matthew T. Kapstein. 596-600 New York, NY, USA: Columbia University Press. 2013.
Presentations
Nourse, Benjamin James. “Buddhism In Colorado: Moving Beyond 'Two Buddhisms'” Rocky Mountain-Great Plains Aar-Rbs Regional Meeting, Denver, CO, Rocky Mountain-Great Plains AAR-RBS; University of Denver, 2025.
Nourse, Benjamin James. “Tibetan Woodblock Printing: Craft, Craftspeople, Networks, And Identity In 17Th And 18Th-Century Inner Asia” Annual Conference On South Asia, Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2024.
Nourse, Benjamin James. “Tibetan Buddhist Concertina-Fold Books In Qing-Era Beijing” International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds, 2023.
Nourse, Benjamin James. “Editing The Heart Sutra: Challenges And Prospects For Working With The Multiple Versions Found At Dunhuang” Colloquium On Textual Editing, Yale University, 2023.
Nourse, Benjamin James. “The Early History And Publications Of The Derge Printing House” Shang Shung Institute Uk Lecture Series, London, England, Shang Shung Institute UK, 2022.
Nourse, Benjamin James. “Where Was The Dalai Lama's Printing House? [Canceled]” Bibliography Week 2022, Zoom, Bibliographical Society of America, 2022.
Nourse, Benjamin James. “In Search Of Beijing's Tibetan Buddhist Past: Religious Spaces, Memory, And Identity In Modern Beijing” Rocky Mountain/Great Plains Aar-Sbl Meeting 2022, Denver, CO, Rocky Mountain/Great Plains AAR-SBL, 2022.
Nourse, Benjamin James. “Giving Voice To The Word: Reading Practices In Tibetan Buddhism” Fifteenth Seminar Of The International Association For Tibetan Studies, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris, France, 2019.
Nourse, Benjamin James. “'Unending Religious Merit': Publishing And Disseminating A Ritual Text By The Dalai Lama In Qing Beijing” From The Silk To The Book Road(S): Networks Of Commerce, Artifacts, And Books Between Central And East Asia, Berkeley, CA, Buddhist Studies Forum at the University of British Columbia, Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, 2018.
Nourse, Benjamin James. “The Dalai Lamas, Book Production, And The Creation Of A Buddhist State” States Of The Book Symposium, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, Department of English, United States Military Academy, 2016.
