This fall, the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture presents a series of four guest lectures that examine the ways in which religious ideas and practices take form and the ways in which religious artifacts make meaning. The series brings together scholars of Japanese art and Japanese religions to explore issues in the visuality and materiality of Japanese religious culture and the historical context, ritual use, and social life of objects and images. Individual lectures will deal with such topics as the power of esoteric iconography, the transformations of Buddhist chant, the veneration of texts and inscriptions, and the ritual history of Japanese textiles. Please join us for four special Thursday evenings.

Schedule