Jeffrey Liu 劉瑋
Jeffrey Liu is a PhD candidate at the Department of East Asian Studies and junior fellow at The Center for Buddhist Studies at The University of Arizona, supervised by Dr. Jiang Wu (Guggenheim Fellow 2023).
​
He is a religious and digital historian in premodern China. Specifically, he investigates societal engagements with Buddhist temples in Hangzhou, a leading religious and cultural center in southern China. In addition, he has an ongoing MS in GIS, focusing on historical geography, digital humanities, and spatial analysis.
​
Jeffrey teaches courses in world history and religion, Asian history and culture, East Asian religion, Chinese Buddhism, and methods in the digital humanities. He also leads GIS labs for the humanities or other initiatives.
Invited Talk
-
“Between Tradition and Innovation: Wu Zhijing’s Wulin Fanzhi and its Place in the Gazetteer Writing Traditions of Late Imperial Hangzhou.” Department of Buddhist Studies, Fo Guang University. Scheduled June 2024.
-
“The Academic Study of Buddhism in North America.” Department of Buddhist Studies, Fo Guang University. Scheduled June 2024.
-
“Social Justice in Higher Education: Redlining Districts.” College of Education, The University of Arizona. January 2024.
-
“Mapping Temple Amalgamation with Historical GIS: A Spatial Interpretation of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang’s Institutional Reform.” Center on Religion and the Global East Webinar Series, Purdue University. September 2023.
-
See my talk here:
-
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
-
“Buddhist Temples in Late Imperial China.” The “What is Asia?” Podcast on YouTube. January 2023.
-
“Searching for Academic Materials in Online Platforms.” Fo Guang University, Department of Buddhist Studies, November 2022.
-
In this talk, the Graduate Student Council invited me to talk about conduct academic search online for undergraduate and graduate students.
-
-
“Coping with Post-Covid Stress in Graduate Studies.” Fo Guang University, Department of Buddhist Studies, May 2021.
-
In this talk, my alma mater invited me back to talk about dealing with mental stress during Covid in a Buddhist sociology course. This was the time that Taiwan had its first government-issued lockdown, and morals are low amongst students. Though the topic being graduate studies, many undergraduates attended this talk and mitigated their stress according to their qualitative feedback.
-
-
“How to identify professional interest in college?” Lingshan Monastery’s Life Exploration Camp, hosted by Department of Buddhist Studies, Fo Guang University, September 2018.
-
Delivered a career-focused speech at Lingshan Monastery’s Life Exploration Camp, guiding undergraduate participants in identifying their professional interests and encouraging English proficiency to enhance competitiveness in the Taiwanese job market.
-
Honors and Awards
-
University of Arizona Graduate College Fellowship (2024)
-
Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies Dissertation Fellowship (2023-2024)
-
Khyentse Foundation Buddhist Studies Doctoral Fellowship (2022-2023)
-
Lingyin Buddhist Studies Doctoral Fellowship (2022-2023)
-
Lingyin Buddhist Studies Best Paper Award (2022)
-
American Association for Chinese Studies (AACS) Travel Grant (2022)
-
University of Arizona Graduate & Professional Student Council Travel Grant (2021)
Education
2019-2024
2022-present
2010-2014
2016-2019
PhD
East Asian Studies
The University of Arizona
MS
Geographic Information System Technology
The University of Arizona
Obtained a PGIST (GIST Graduate Certificate) in 2022
BA
English Bachelor Business Administration
Yuan Ze University
MA
Buddhist Studies
Fo Guang University