Events

Jointly organized by Asia Research Institute, and Wan Boo Sow Research Centre for Chinese Culture at the Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore.

CHAIRPERSON

Prof Kenneth Dean, Asia Research Institute, and Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

Confucianism has taken a strong hold in East Asia for centuries, leaving distinct legacies in Korea and Japan. But it has also been having a significant impact in Southeast Asia, especially in Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In the turn towards the 21st century, we see new developments not only in countries where Confucianism has previously left strong impressions, but also in other parts of the world, such as the United States. Based primarily on ethnographic data, this talk focuses on the most recent developments of Confucianism as religious and ritual traditions in diverse societies, shedding light on their impact on how we understand what it means to be a Confucian as well as how we understand global issues such as religious identity.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Anna Sun is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Duke University. She earned her PhD in sociology from Princeton and her BA from Berkeley. Her first book, Confucianism as a World Religion: Contested Histories and Contemporary Realities (Princeton University Press, 2013), received the “Distinguished Book Award” in sociology of religion from the American Sociological Association and the “Best First Book in the History of Religion Award” from the American Academy of Religion. Sun’s most recent book is Situating Spirituality: Context, Practice, and Power (co-edited), published by Oxford University Press in 2021. She is the editor of two special journal issues: Empirical Studies of Contemporary Confucian Practice in Asia and Beyond (2022) and Confucianism and Daoism: From Max Weber to the Present (2020). Sun’s current book project is The Social Life of Prayer, a book manuscript addressing conceptual issues in the study of contemporary religious practice based on her ethnographic research in China over the past decade.

REGISTRATION

Registration is closed. Please write to aritm@nus.edu.sg if you would like to attend the seminar.