Jason Protass
@protass.bsky.social
Assoc. Prof. of Religious Studies at Brown Univeristy; Chinese Buddhist stuff
Pinned
Jason Protass
@protass.bsky.social
· Nov 27
First copies just arrived:
COUNTLESS SANDS: MEDIEVAL BUDDHISTS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS (2025)
The publisher’s website is shipping now
go.hawaii.edu/bXG
COUNTLESS SANDS: MEDIEVAL BUDDHISTS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS (2025)
The publisher’s website is shipping now
go.hawaii.edu/bXG
Reposted by Jason Protass
'we write the best history when the specificity, the novelty, the awe-fulness, of what our sources render up bowls us over with its complexity & its significance. Our research is better when we move only cautiously to understanding...' CWB 'Wonder' AHR 1997. Thanks to @hagenilda.bsky.social
November 27, 2025 at 10:47 PM
'we write the best history when the specificity, the novelty, the awe-fulness, of what our sources render up bowls us over with its complexity & its significance. Our research is better when we move only cautiously to understanding...' CWB 'Wonder' AHR 1997. Thanks to @hagenilda.bsky.social
Reposted by Jason Protass
This is powerful.
An Autobiographical Essay by Caroline Walker Bynum.
'That very summer, with unpacked boxes all around me, I wrote the article that became the title essay of Jesus as Mother and I filed papers to adopt a child as a single parent.'
www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...
An Autobiographical Essay by Caroline Walker Bynum.
'That very summer, with unpacked boxes all around me, I wrote the article that became the title essay of Jesus as Mother and I filed papers to adopt a child as a single parent.'
www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...
November 27, 2025 at 10:28 PM
This is powerful.
An Autobiographical Essay by Caroline Walker Bynum.
'That very summer, with unpacked boxes all around me, I wrote the article that became the title essay of Jesus as Mother and I filed papers to adopt a child as a single parent.'
www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...
An Autobiographical Essay by Caroline Walker Bynum.
'That very summer, with unpacked boxes all around me, I wrote the article that became the title essay of Jesus as Mother and I filed papers to adopt a child as a single parent.'
www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...
Reposted by Jason Protass
🚨 journo job! 🚨
Replace me! - after 13 years at the Guardian and six years on the incredible China team, including five in Taiwan, I’m leaving at the end of this year. I’ll get sentimental about it later but for now: Here’s the job ad. I recommend it!
workwithus.theguardian.com/job-search/e...
Replace me! - after 13 years at the Guardian and six years on the incredible China team, including five in Taiwan, I’m leaving at the end of this year. I’ll get sentimental about it later but for now: Here’s the job ad. I recommend it!
workwithus.theguardian.com/job-search/e...
China Correspondent
Join our team at the Guardian and be a part of a diverse and inclusive global organisation that delivers award-winning, investigative journalism, and holds power to account. Our team of journalists, c...
workwithus.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:37 AM
🚨 journo job! 🚨
Replace me! - after 13 years at the Guardian and six years on the incredible China team, including five in Taiwan, I’m leaving at the end of this year. I’ll get sentimental about it later but for now: Here’s the job ad. I recommend it!
workwithus.theguardian.com/job-search/e...
Replace me! - after 13 years at the Guardian and six years on the incredible China team, including five in Taiwan, I’m leaving at the end of this year. I’ll get sentimental about it later but for now: Here’s the job ad. I recommend it!
workwithus.theguardian.com/job-search/e...
Reposted by Jason Protass
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Reposted by Jason Protass
Looks like they have created a roadmap to reboot the NRC/FLAS/Hays grants? Makes the wave of layoffs that is currently flowing through area studies and language education programs seem especially meaningless: www.state.gov/releases/off...
State Department to Lead Additional International Education Programs Under New Interagency Partnership - United States Department of State
The U.S. Department of State today announced that, under a new interagency partnership, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) will lead several programs previously managed by the Depart...
www.state.gov
November 20, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Looks like they have created a roadmap to reboot the NRC/FLAS/Hays grants? Makes the wave of layoffs that is currently flowing through area studies and language education programs seem especially meaningless: www.state.gov/releases/off...
Reposted by Jason Protass
ACLS is now accepting applications for Graduate Internships on the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future: summer 2026 opportunities for PhD students studying religion to work with leading nonprofits and apply their research beyond the academy.
Apply by Jan 14, 9 PM ET: https://www.acls.org/GISI
Apply by Jan 14, 9 PM ET: https://www.acls.org/GISI
November 20, 2025 at 7:13 PM
ACLS is now accepting applications for Graduate Internships on the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future: summer 2026 opportunities for PhD students studying religion to work with leading nonprofits and apply their research beyond the academy.
Apply by Jan 14, 9 PM ET: https://www.acls.org/GISI
Apply by Jan 14, 9 PM ET: https://www.acls.org/GISI
Reposted by Jason Protass
Reposted by Jason Protass
Remember: they used thousands of academic books too! If you’re a scholar, check for your books too. This isn’t just novelists and pop writers, it’s academic books too!
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Remember: they used thousands of academic books too! If you’re a scholar, check for your books too. This isn’t just novelists and pop writers, it’s academic books too!
Somehow, somewhere, somewho
November 14, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Somehow, somewhere, somewho
Reposted by Jason Protass
This reminds me of another poem from the Book of Songs《詩經》國風：王風 · 黍離
知我者、謂我心憂，
不知我者、謂我何求。
悠悠蒼天、此何人哉。
Those who know me, whisper I bear sorrows;
Those who don’t know me, ask what I seek.
O distant Heaven, tell me what man (has brought us to this despair).
知我者、謂我心憂，
不知我者、謂我何求。
悠悠蒼天、此何人哉。
Those who know me, whisper I bear sorrows;
Those who don’t know me, ask what I seek.
O distant Heaven, tell me what man (has brought us to this despair).
November 12, 2025 at 5:13 AM
This reminds me of another poem from the Book of Songs《詩經》國風：王風 · 黍離
知我者、謂我心憂，
不知我者、謂我何求。
悠悠蒼天、此何人哉。
Those who know me, whisper I bear sorrows;
Those who don’t know me, ask what I seek.
O distant Heaven, tell me what man (has brought us to this despair).
知我者、謂我心憂，
不知我者、謂我何求。
悠悠蒼天、此何人哉。
Those who know me, whisper I bear sorrows;
Those who don’t know me, ask what I seek.
O distant Heaven, tell me what man (has brought us to this despair).
Reposted by Jason Protass
So this reminds me of one of my favourite WTF moments in heritage bureaucracy, which was the 2018 archaeological excavations just outside the chapel of St Peter at the Tower of London. nobody could decide who, apart from the king, could legally sign off on the project
…so there isn’t some department that is empowered to deal with this stuff that can just override the inevitable objections, I guess? rough, if so
November 5, 2025 at 8:15 PM
So this reminds me of one of my favourite WTF moments in heritage bureaucracy, which was the 2018 archaeological excavations just outside the chapel of St Peter at the Tower of London. nobody could decide who, apart from the king, could legally sign off on the project
MDPI Religions asked me to review what sounds like a very good essay.
Teachers don’t let students submit essays to MDPI. Friends don’t let friends submit essays to MDPI.
Teachers don’t let students submit essays to MDPI. Friends don’t let friends submit essays to MDPI.
November 5, 2025 at 2:09 PM
MDPI Religions asked me to review what sounds like a very good essay.
Teachers don’t let students submit essays to MDPI. Friends don’t let friends submit essays to MDPI.
Teachers don’t let students submit essays to MDPI. Friends don’t let friends submit essays to MDPI.
Reposted by Jason Protass
Oh wow, major work of interest to #MedievalSky #GlobalMiddleAges #EnvironmentalHistory. A new special issue devoted to "Environmental Challenges in Premodern Eurasian and Mediterranean Narratives": journals.uio.no/JAIS/article.... Kudos to the editors for bringing this work so quickly into print!
November 3, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Oh wow, major work of interest to #MedievalSky #GlobalMiddleAges #EnvironmentalHistory. A new special issue devoted to "Environmental Challenges in Premodern Eurasian and Mediterranean Narratives": journals.uio.no/JAIS/article.... Kudos to the editors for bringing this work so quickly into print!
A colleague is teaching a course on internet and digital religion.
She asked about essays she could teach on internet / digital religion in Asia?
I thought of, eg, those Thai “cryptoamulets” that were popular a few years ago?
Was just reading about the mainstreaming of Etsy Witches in the US.
She asked about essays she could teach on internet / digital religion in Asia?
I thought of, eg, those Thai “cryptoamulets” that were popular a few years ago?
Was just reading about the mainstreaming of Etsy Witches in the US.
November 2, 2025 at 11:18 AM
A colleague is teaching a course on internet and digital religion.
She asked about essays she could teach on internet / digital religion in Asia?
I thought of, eg, those Thai “cryptoamulets” that were popular a few years ago?
Was just reading about the mainstreaming of Etsy Witches in the US.
She asked about essays she could teach on internet / digital religion in Asia?
I thought of, eg, those Thai “cryptoamulets” that were popular a few years ago?
Was just reading about the mainstreaming of Etsy Witches in the US.
Thinking about 生態詩學 as a misprision-ing translation for “ecopoetics.”
Is ecopoetics about “life”? Is a focus on biota be “bio-poetics”?
How to emphasize “the environment” in the more-than-human natural world?
Anyway, thinking about:
環境史與生態詩學之間
(Whats between environmental history and ecopoetics)
Is ecopoetics about “life”? Is a focus on biota be “bio-poetics”?
How to emphasize “the environment” in the more-than-human natural world?
Anyway, thinking about:
環境史與生態詩學之間
(Whats between environmental history and ecopoetics)
November 1, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Thinking about 生態詩學 as a misprision-ing translation for “ecopoetics.”
Is ecopoetics about “life”? Is a focus on biota be “bio-poetics”?
How to emphasize “the environment” in the more-than-human natural world?
Anyway, thinking about:
環境史與生態詩學之間
(Whats between environmental history and ecopoetics)
Is ecopoetics about “life”? Is a focus on biota be “bio-poetics”?
How to emphasize “the environment” in the more-than-human natural world?
Anyway, thinking about:
環境史與生態詩學之間
(Whats between environmental history and ecopoetics)
Reposted by Jason Protass
These terrifying bats are looking forward to #Halloween 🦇🦇🦇😱
Bodl. Library MS. Ashmole 304; 13th century; England, St. Albans; f.47v @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Bodl. Library MS. Ashmole 304; 13th century; England, St. Albans; f.47v @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
October 29, 2025 at 10:06 PM
These terrifying bats are looking forward to #Halloween 🦇🦇🦇😱
Bodl. Library MS. Ashmole 304; 13th century; England, St. Albans; f.47v @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Bodl. Library MS. Ashmole 304; 13th century; England, St. Albans; f.47v @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Reposted by Jason Protass
How did U.S.-led aid transform Taiwan's forests from a site of natural riches to a problem to be solved? 🌳
Come join the Harvard S&T in Asia seminar series for this upcoming talk by historian and geographer Kuang-chi Hung!
Zoom: seow.scholars.harvard.edu/STinAsia
#histstm #histsci #envhist 🧪
Come join the Harvard S&T in Asia seminar series for this upcoming talk by historian and geographer Kuang-chi Hung!
Zoom: seow.scholars.harvard.edu/STinAsia
#histstm #histsci #envhist 🧪
October 27, 2025 at 2:00 PM
How did U.S.-led aid transform Taiwan's forests from a site of natural riches to a problem to be solved? 🌳
Come join the Harvard S&T in Asia seminar series for this upcoming talk by historian and geographer Kuang-chi Hung!
Zoom: seow.scholars.harvard.edu/STinAsia
#histstm #histsci #envhist 🧪
Come join the Harvard S&T in Asia seminar series for this upcoming talk by historian and geographer Kuang-chi Hung!
Zoom: seow.scholars.harvard.edu/STinAsia
#histstm #histsci #envhist 🧪
Reposted by Jason Protass
postdoc in Buddhism:
protestantstheologischeuniversiteit.recruitee.com/o/postdoctor...
#SanskritJobs #PhilosophyJobs
protestantstheologischeuniversiteit.recruitee.com/o/postdoctor...
#SanskritJobs #PhilosophyJobs
Protestantse Theologische Universiteit - postdoctoral scholarship holder in the field of Engaged Buddhism
The Protestant Theological University (PThU) in conjunction with the University of Antwerp have been awarded a Program in the Study of Mysticism (PRISM) research grant from the Templeton Religion Tru
protestantstheologischeuniversiteit.recruitee.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Jason Protass
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for the next two years.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...
www.thecrimson.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:57 PM
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for the next two years.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Jason Protass
check out this amazing piece about Yogācāra relational metaphysics, tif.ssrc.org/2025/10/01/f...
For all intents and purposes (the ecology)
Technology looms large in the contemporary world, and powerful new tools to extract and generate texts using large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, have had a major impact across a...
tif.ssrc.org
October 20, 2025 at 11:12 PM
check out this amazing piece about Yogācāra relational metaphysics, tif.ssrc.org/2025/10/01/f...
Reposted by Jason Protass
My new article, co-authored with Li Yumeng (Fudan university) on new manuscripts collecting Confucius' sayings.
Key take-away from this evidence: the core of earliest narratives about the formation of the Analects are accurate. 👇
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Key take-away from this evidence: the core of earliest narratives about the formation of the Analects are accurate. 👇
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
New Manuscript Evidence on the Formation of the Analects: The Warring States Anhui University *Zhongni Said and the Wangjiazui *Kongzi Said | Early China | Cambridge Core
New Manuscript Evidence on the Formation of the Analects: The Warring States Anhui University *Zhongni Said and the Wangjiazui *Kongzi Said
www.cambridge.org
June 2, 2025 at 12:45 PM
My new article, co-authored with Li Yumeng (Fudan university) on new manuscripts collecting Confucius' sayings.
Key take-away from this evidence: the core of earliest narratives about the formation of the Analects are accurate. 👇
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Key take-away from this evidence: the core of earliest narratives about the formation of the Analects are accurate. 👇
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Jason Protass
October 19, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Jason Protass
You can now pre-order my forthcoming book ‘Fairies: A History’ with a discount code at @waterstones.bsky.social! 📚
Many people think they know what fairies are. Francis Young's book demonstrates that the truth about belief in fairies is far stranger than clichéd images of wings and wands.
Get 25% off @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social's 'Fairies: A History' from Waterstones. Details ⬇️
waterstones.com/book/fairies...
Get 25% off @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social's 'Fairies: A History' from Waterstones. Details ⬇️
waterstones.com/book/fairies...
October 15, 2025 at 9:57 AM
You can now pre-order my forthcoming book ‘Fairies: A History’ with a discount code at @waterstones.bsky.social! 📚
Reposted by Jason Protass
For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I translated the 17th century failson, epicure, and memoirist Zhang Dai's account of the annual Mid-Autumn singing competition on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. www.burninghou.se/p/mid-autumn...
Mid-Autumn, Tiger Hill, Late Ming
"Everyone was perfectly silent, even the mosquitoes."
www.burninghou.se
October 6, 2025 at 5:43 AM
For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I translated the 17th century failson, epicure, and memoirist Zhang Dai's account of the annual Mid-Autumn singing competition on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. www.burninghou.se/p/mid-autumn...
Reposted by Jason Protass
publication day for my *Documents géographiques de Dunhuang*, a social and cultural history of geographical knowledge, and probably one of the only medieval history books published in France during the ephemeral Lecornu government, which you can freely download here: books.openedition.org/cdf/20307
October 6, 2025 at 9:25 AM
publication day for my *Documents géographiques de Dunhuang*, a social and cultural history of geographical knowledge, and probably one of the only medieval history books published in France during the ephemeral Lecornu government, which you can freely download here: books.openedition.org/cdf/20307