8th Symposium on Humanistic Buddhism
Humanistic Buddhist Response to Modern Crises
Fo Guang Shan and Nan Tien Institute
6th – 8th November 2021
Note that all dates and times are in AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight Time), and that all sessions will be offered via Zoom. Sessions that will also be available on-site in the Nan Tien Institute are marked as such.
Symposium Program
6 November (Saturday)
11:30 am to 12:30 pm
Opening Ceremony
Welcome to Country
Video Address by Venerable Master Hsing Yun
Welcome from the President of Nan Tien Institute
Introduction to the Symposium
Introduction of VIPs & speakers
Performance
Closing and Group Photo
1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Keynote Dialogue
Never Waste a Crisis: a human response to disruption
3:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Panel 1: Pre-recorded Presentations
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Panel 1
Creating an Inclusive Society
Moderator: Professor Mario Fernando (University of Wollongong)
Professor Dr Bee Scherer (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
- Caring for the precious human life in its full diversity: Towards reading the dharma for practices of inclusion and celebration
Dr Linus Lancaster (Healdsburg Unified School District and Prison University Project, San Quentin)
- Hopeful Monsters, Fostering Empathy and Compassion Through Arts Education
Leanne Smith (Whitlam Institute, Western Sydney University)
- Engaging Young People in our Democracy
Venerable Miao Guang (Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism)
- Post-COVID-19 Acculturation of Humanistic Buddhism and Development of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order
7 November (Sunday)
8:30 am to 9:30 am
Panel 2: Pre-recorded Presentations
10:00 am to 11:00 am
Panel 2
Working Towards a More Humanistic Society of the Future: Challenges for the Self within Complex Systems
Moderator: Nick Rheinberger (ABC Illawarra)
Emeritus Professor Stephen Hill (University of Wollongong)
- From Self to Our Shared Humanity
Dr Leonard Fisher (University of Bristol)
- Challenges for the Self in an Interconnected World
Dr Peter D Hershock (East-West Center)
- Freedom-of-Attention and the Intelligence Revolution: Buddhist Reflection on Technological Risk and Our Prospects for more Humane Global Futures
Venerable Dr Juewei (Nan Tien Institute)
- Wholeness through Community: A Humanistic Buddhist perspective
12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Panel 3: Pre-recorded Presentations
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Panel 3
Learning from Australian Responses to Modern Crises
Associate Professor Anna Halafoff (Deakin University)
- Buddhism in Australia: Traditional and (ultra)modern adaptations and responses to racism
Tina Ng (Metta Legal and Metta Centre)
- A Buddhist Response to Conflict
Meg Hart (Hart & Mind Associates)
- Bodhisattva in Action – Leadership from the Inside Out for Uncertain Times
3:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Panel 4: Pre-recorded Presentations
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Panel 4
Revaluing Buddhist Adaptations in the Modern World
Dr Jens Reinke (University of the West)
- Humanistic Buddhism under the Global Condition
- Humanistic Buddhism and Ethnographic Research Methods
Dr Melody Chiu (RIHSS, Ministry of Science and Technology)
- Humanistic Buddhism meets Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar and Thailand
- Leveraging Humanistic Buddhism to better prepare for the next crisis
8 November (Monday)
9:30 am to 10:30 am
Panel 5: Pre-recorded Presentations
11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Panel 5
Examining Humanistic Approaches to Health and Wellbeing
Professor Will Tuladhar-Douglas (Situgyan Consulting Ltd.)
- Autism and Buddhism
Professor Malcolm Voyce (Macquarie University)
- Sharing Health-Related Data and Buddhism
Dr Jonathan Page (Nan Tien Institute)
- A Humanistic Buddhist medical approach to Climate Change
Dr. Kwong Chan (Griffith University)
- MaRIS – The Application of Contemplative Pedagogy in Medical Education
12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
Panel 6
Putting Compassion into Action
Dr Iain Sinclair (Nan Tien Institute)
- Worldly altruism versus megacompassion: Divergent ideals of benevolence and their implications
Dr Sue Sumskis (Nan Tien Institute)
- Compassion in the face of crisis in the first responder workforce
Jane Wang (Nan Tien Institute)
- “Don’t Lose Your Bodhicitta”: Compassionate Responses to Gender Violence
Dr Nadine Levy (Nan Tien Institute)
- Compassionate pedagogy in health and social education
2:30 pm to 3:30 pm
General Discussion and Closing Ceremony
General Discussion and Feedback
Closing Remarks
Transfer of Merits
Survey