Lili Zhang
Curriculum Vitae
Contact Address:
1201 Wesleyan Street
Texas Wesleyan University
Fort Worth, TX 76021
Email: lzhang@txwes.edu
Work phone: 817-531-4823
Education:
PH.D., Department of Comparative Literature, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 2005.
Dissertation: The Cultivation of the Self: Critique of Technical Practice within and without Chinese
Chan Buddhism
Advisor: Dalia Judovitz, NEH Professor of Critical Theory
M.Phil., Department of Religious Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 2001.
M.A.T.S., Theological Studies, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL, 1997.
M.A., Buddhist Studies, Department of Philosophy, People’s University of China, Beijing, China, 1996.
B.A., Department of Philosophy, Beijing University, Beijing, China, 1991.
Academic Employment History:
2011-today
2006- 2011
2004-2005
Assistant professor, Department of Religion, Texas Wesleyan University (Fort Worth, TX)
Assistant professor, Department of Religious Studies, Nazareth College (Rochester, NY)
The Andrew W. Mellon instructor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Dillard
University (New Orleans, LA)
Instructor, Department of Comparative Literature, Emory University (Atlanta, GA)
Instructor, Department of Religious Studies, Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY)
Teaching assistant, Department of Religious Studies, Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY)
2001-2004
1999-2000
1997-1999
Current Areas of Scholarly Interests:
Primary
Secondary
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Comparative Religion
Chinese Religions and Philosophy
Buddhism and Daoism
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Critical theory and religion
Religion and gender; Religion and ethics
Honors & Awards:
The Women’s Club Scholarship Award (2005)
The Andrew W. Mellon Atlanta/New Orleans Graduate Teaching Fellowship (2004 - 2005)
Graduate Fellowship, Emory University (2000 - 2003)
Passed M.Phil. Comprehensive Exams with Distinction, Syracuse University (2001)
Graduate Assistantship and University Scholarship, Syracuse University (1997 - 2000)
Cross-Cultural Dialogue Fellowship, McCormick Theological Seminary (1996)
Buddhism and Chinese Culture Fellowship, People’s University of China (1993 -1996)
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Courses taught:
Texas Wesleyan University, Texas
REL 1321 Introductory Studies to World’s Religions
REL 1322 Ways of Being Religious
REL 2321 Introduction to Asian Religions
REL 3322 The Buddha and his teachings
Nazareth College, New York
RES 103: Exploring Religion East
RES 230: Buddhism
RES 250: Confucianism
RES 251: Chinese Folk Religion
RES 251: Religions of China
RES 252: Daoism
RES 350: Zen and Millitarism
RES 334: Sex, Love and the Body in World Religions
RES 336: Journeys into Emptiness
RES 363: Chinese religions and Performing Arts
LIT 206: Discovering the World Literatures
Dillard University, New Orleans, LA
PHI 402: Philosophy of Religion
REL 309: World Religions
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
CPLT333: The Notion of Emptiness: Comparative Study Western and Eastern Literatures
and Philosophy
CPLT 203: Chinese Philosophy and Poetry
CPLT110: Introduction to Literature: Critique of Love
Emory Chinese Academy, Atlanta, GA
Chinese Modern Language
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
REL300: Introduction to Chinese Religions (Spring 2000)
Professional Membership:
American Academy of Religion, 2001 – present.
Publications:
Book
Lili Zhang. Buddhist Logic (Taiwan: Foguang shan wen jiao ji jin hui, 2001)
Articles and Book Chapters
Lili Zhang. “Eastern Religion on American Soil.” Religion in America: A Comprehensive Guide to
Faith, Tradition and Culture. Ed. By Harold Rabinowitz, Greg Tobin, and Jane Smith, Sterling
Publishing Company, November, 2009
Lili Zhang. “The Paradox of Non-Self in Primitive Buddhism,” Wutai Shan, Vol. 24, Issue 3,
October 1994, pp. 24-27.
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Encyclopedia Entry
Lili Zhang. “Buddhism” Encyclopedia of Postmodernism, edited by Victor E. Taylor and Charles E.
Winquist, pp. 43-44. (NY: Routledge, 2000)
Presentations (Invited/Peer reviewed):
“The Mao Cult” presented in the AAR Southwestern Regional Conference in March 8, 2014.
“A Critical Reflection on the Pedagogical Role of Contemplation” scheduled for the presentation in
the AAR Southwestern Regional Conference in March 15, 2013.
“Religious Studies in American Institutions of Higher Education.” Invited to speak at the Huadong
Normal University, Shanghai, June 20, 2010.
“A Historical Approach to Confucianism,” presented in “New Directions in Chinese
Philosophy: In Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Department of Philosophy, CUHK and
the Centenary of Tang Chun-I,” Hong Kong, China (May, 2009)
“Self-cultivation in Chinese religion,” invited speaker in Emory University Woman’s Club,
Atlanta, GA (October, 2006)
“The Notion of Emptiness in the Sudden School,” 8th Annual Harvard East Asia Society Graduate
Student Conference, Boston, MA (March, 2005)
“Sudden Enlightenment in the Platform Sutra,” American Academy of Religion Annual
Conference, San Antonio, TX (November, 2004)
“Being and the Body without Organs: Comparative Studies on Heidegger and Deleuze,” The 11th
Georgia Continental Philosophy Circle Conference, Atlanta, GA (February, 2004)
“The Notion of the Thing in the Late Heidegger,” American Academy of Religion—Northeastern
Regional Meeting, Syracuse, NY (April, 2000)
“The Nature of the Ultimate Reality in Religion: Whitehead’s God, Abraham’s Faith and Buddhist
Non-Self ,” International Conference of Process Thought and the Common Good, Los Angles, CA
(July, 1998)
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