The October 24, 2015 presentations by Professor Duncan Ryuken Williams are now available on YouTube. You can play the video right on this page or view it at YouTube.com.

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Dr. Williams provided many insights on “Camp Dharma: Buddhism and the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II.” Some of the most important lessons about American Buddhism may come from the experiences of Japanese American Buddhists during the World War Two, a period when their religious faith and national loyalty were profoundly questioned. This lecture explores the “barrack churches” behind barbed wire, Buddhists in the U.S. military, and the role of Buddhism in Hawai’i and the so-called “free zones,” deriving lessons for contemporary American Buddhism in an increasingly pluralistic American religious landscape.

In his second lecture, “Buddhism’s Middle Way: The Value of Being In-Between,” Professor Williams shared his perspectives on Buddhism’s “Middle Way” and its implications for a society with diverse, mixed ethnic backgrounds. Especially for those multiple ethnic heritages, the challenges of being “in-between” may be addressed through lessons of the Middle Way.

Picture of Prof. Duncan WilliamsAbout the lecturer: Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California and the Director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and previously held the Shinjo Ito Distinguished Chair of Japanese Buddhism at University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of many publications including: The Other Side of Zen: A Social History of Sôtô Zen Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan (Princeton, 2005). He is currently completing a monograph titled, Camp Dharma: Buddhism and the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II (forthcoming, UC Press).

Dr. Alfred Bloom endows the Futaba Lecture Series in honor of his mentor, the late Professor Kenko Futaba, former president of Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan. Dr. Bloom hopes that this lecture series will be a continuing inspiration for the nurturing of American Buddhism.