Persian literature used to be visibly worldly when Persian was a lingua franca in a vast space from Balkan to China. With the British colonialism in the India and the rise of nation states in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Persian lost its status and became more national in various contexts. In Iran it only got worsened with sanctions,…[Read more]

This chapter analyses Global Byzantium by situating the medieval empire of New Rome in the history of statehood’s generalisation worldwide. Arguing that statehood remains the implicit mental furniture of History at a macro-civilizational scale, and so more or less at the micro too, the chapter proposes the dual concepts of hegemony and c…[Read more]

Illustrated script of a stage play created by the author, a peace dialogue among an American Christian, an Israeli Jew, a Saudi Arabian Muslim, and a Japanese Buddhist. It draws from the conflict resolution process pioneered by Johan Galtung and practiced in Peace Studies classes taught by the author and others at Osaka Jogakuin University. It…[Read more]

En este artículo sobre teoría narrativa evolucionista releemos y comentamos algunos textos y nociones clave de la teoría de Charles Darwin, en el ‘Origen de las Especies’ y ‘El Origen del Hombre’, a la luz de la sociobiología cognitiva con…[Read more]

[COMPLETE OPEN-ACCESS CURRICULUM INCLUDED] ReDesigning the Future is the second project in the ReImagining the Future series launched by Greenbacker Capital and Global Citizenship Experience Lab School. By asking “how can we design a sustainable future?,” the purpose of this project is to understand the grand challenges we must overcome to achieve…[Read more]

In The Night Watchman (2020), Louise Erdrich continues to blur the lines between history and fiction as she has done in several of her novels. Erdrich introduces the reader to several magical elements that appear to be entirely real: two ghosts, a dog that talks, and an unearthly powwow with Jesus as one of the dancers. The main objective of this…[Read more]

Examines the intersection between Chan Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism during the Southern Song dynasty period (1126-1279) in China.

Examines the intersection between Chan Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism during the Southern Song dynasty period (1126-1279) in China.

This 23-minute presentation at the University of Hyogo in Kobe goes more deeply into the biography of Steve McCarty than appears in his long chapter in the new book A Passion for Japan: A Collection of Personal Narratives. Formative influences discussed include Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, Tibetan yoga, and Zen. Places include Boston, the Taos P…[Read more]