CONTRIBUTOR:
Mahinda Deegalle
AFFILIATION:
TITLE:
Reader in Study of Religions, Philosophies and Ethics
DEPARTMENT:
Religions, Philosophies and Ethics
INSTITUTION:
Bath Spa University
BIOGRAPHY:
Mahinda Deegalle is Professor in the Study of Religions, Philosophies and Ethics at the College of Liberal Arts, Bath Spa University, United Kingdom. Dr Deegalle is a graduate of University of Peradeniya, Harvard University and The University of Chicago. He has held Numata Visiting Professorship in Buddhist Studies at McGill University, Canada and NEH Professorship in Humanities at Colgate University, USA. He has conducted post-doctoral research at Kyoto University, Aichi Gakuin University and International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies, Japan under the auspices of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai. He is the author of Popularizing Buddhism: Preaching as Performance in Sri Lanka (SUNY 2006) and editor of Buddhism, Conflict and Violence in Modern Sri Lanka (Routledge 2006), Dharma to the UK (World Buddhist Foundation 2008), Vesak, Peace and Harmony: Thinking of Buddhist Heritage (Nagananda International Buddhist University 2015) and co-editor of Pali Buddhism (Curzon 1996). He was the former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Buddhist-Christian Studies. He regularly appears in the BBC1 The Big Questions, BBC World Service, Aljazeera and Buddhist TV programmes. He has conducted fieldwork in Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea and China. His research concentrates on minority issues, ethics of war and violence, religious extremism, Buddhism and politics and preaching traditions.