“Mandalas in Japanese Buddhism” lecture by Dr. Mark MacWilliams, professor of Religious Studies

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Tibetan Buddhist Chenrezig Sand Mandala Healing and Compassion in Challenging Times, on display at the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery until November 16, 2024.

Free and open to the public.

Dr. MacWilliams teaches courses in several areas in the field for the department, but his interests lie primarily in Japan. He has conducted research on pilgrimage in Japan — particularly the Chichibu Kannon pilgrimage route. His other areas of study include religion and film, religion and the internet, and “spirituality” and religion in Japanese pop culture as expressed through comic books (manga) and animé.

Recent publications include the book Defining Shinto, ed. and trans. with Okuyama Michiaki (Routledge, 2019); and the publications Bonji Kawazura, “Manifesto,” Translation for Miizukai (a Corporate Judicial Person), Japan, 2022, and “Manga Pilgrimages — Visualizing the Sacred/Sacralizing the Visual in Japanese Junrei,”  in Comics, Culture & Religion — Gods in Frames, edited by Kees de Groot (Bloomsbury Press, 2024).

He received the Ph.D. in History of Religions at the University of Chicago, a M.A. in Religious Studies at Indiana University, and his B.A. at Syracuse University.