Bernard Faure

Kao Professor of Japanese Religion

Office:
Office Hours:
Phone: (212) 854-8926
Email: bf2159@columbia.edu

Educational Background

PhD: University of Paris (’84)

Classes Taught

RELI GU4513 Buddhism and Neuroscience
EARL GR6500 Topics in East Asian Buddhism
EARL GR9935 Graduate Seminar in Japanese Religion

Research Interests

Gods in Medieval Japan, The Life of the Buddha, Buddhism and Neuroscience

Bernard Faure’s research treats various aspects of East Asian Buddhism, with an emphasis on Chan/Zen and Tantric or esoteric Buddhism. His work, influenced by anthropological history and cultural theory, has focused on topics such as the construction of orthodoxy and heterodoxy, the Buddhist cult of relics, iconography, sexuality and gender. His current research deals with the mythico-ritual system of esoteric Buddhism and its relationships with medieval Japanese religion. He has published a number of books in French and English, and is presently working on a book on Japanese Gods and Demons.

Selected Publications

The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender (Princeton, 2003)

Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism (Princeton, 1996)

The Rhetoric of Immediacy: A Cultural Critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism (Princeton, 1991)

Paul Anderer

Fred and Fannie Mack Professor
Emeritus of Humanities

Office: 414 Kent Hall
Office Hours: F 3:00-5:00 or by appointment
Phone: (212) 854-1525
Email: pja1@columbia.edu

Educational Background

BA: Michigan University (’71)
MA: Chicago University (’72)
PhD: Yale University (’79)

Classes Taught

AHUM UN1400 Colloquium on Major Texts: East Asia
EAAS UN3901 Senior Thesis
JPNS GR8020 Graduate Seminar in Modern Japanese Literature

Research Interests

Japanese fiction, film, and cultural criticism
Asian Humanities

Paul Anderer joined the Columbia faculty in 1980. From 1989 until 1997, he was the chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. He has also served the University as Vice Provost for International Relations, as Associate Vice-President for Academic Planning and Global Initiatives in the Arts and Sciences, and as Acting Dean of the Graduate School. He has written numerous articles exploring the culture of the city (Tokyo) and Japanese modernity. His work has been awarded support from the NEH, the SSRC, and the Fulbright Commission. He is currently writing a book on the black and white films of Kurosawa Akira, in their relationship to the Japanese post-war and to the era of silent film-making.

Selected Publications

Kurosawa’s Rashomon: A Vanished City, a Lost Brother, and the Voice Inside His Iconic Films (Pegasus, 2016)

Literature of the Lost Home: Kobayashi Hideo-Literary Criticism, 1924-1939 (Stanford, 1995)

Other Worlds: Arishima Takeo and the Bounds of Modern Japanese Fiction (Columbia, 1984)