Jessica Starling

Jessie Starling joined the faculty of Lewis & Clark in 2013 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Japanese Buddhism at the University of California, Berkeley.  She is also affiliated with the Asian Studies and Gender Studies programs at Lewis & Clark, and teaches courses on the religions of Asia, asceticism, religion and medicine, and ethnographic research methods.

Specialty

Japanese Religions

Academic Credentials

PhD 2012 University of Virginia

MA 2006 University of Virginia

BA 2000 Guilford College

Teaching

Fall 2024 Courses:

RELS 243 Buddhism: Theory, Culture, and Practice
MWF 10:20AM - 11:20AM
Introduction to Buddhist thought and practice. Indian origins, contemporary Theravada Buddhism, emergence of the Mahayana, Buddhism and society in Tibet, Zen and Pure Land traditions of East Asia, and the Western reception of Buddhism. Problems in the study of Buddhism.

RELS 362/462 Zen Buddhism
TTH 11:30AM - 1:00PM
History of Zen Buddhism in China, Korea, Japan, and the U.S. Topics include Zen’s introduction to the West against the backdrop of colonialism and nationalism; satori or enlightenment as an example of mystical experience; and the diverse ritual, material, aesthetic, and monastic forms of Zen throughout East Asia. This course is cross-listed with RELS 362. Students taking this 400-level version will complete a more comprehensive research paper, defending an original thesis and offering critical judgments of relevant arguments and evidence. They will also lead the class in a discussion of a scholarly reading. The course can only be taken once and cannot be repeated at the other level.

Past and future courses:

CORE 120 Japanese Religions

RELS 106 Religion and Medicine

RELS 201 History and Theory of Religious Studies

RELS 242 Religions and Cultures of East Asia

RELS 243 Buddhism: Theory, Culture, and Practice

RELS 357 Ethnographic Approaches to Religion

RELS 359 Asceticism

RELS 362/372 Zen Buddhism

RELS 490 Senior Thesis in Religious Studies

Research

Professor Starling’s research is on Buddhism as lived in modern and contemporary Japan, with a focus on the Jōdo Shinshū and special attention to themes such as gender, family, ethics, emotion and illness. 

A recently published article in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion called “Audience, Authorship, and Agency: Religious Educational Materials for Modern Buddhist Women’s Groups in Japan,” is about Buddhist laywomen’s groups in modern Japan. Her analysis highlights the dynamics of the production of doctrinal materials by male monks in response to the voracious demand of these well-educated and well-organized women’s groups, and suggests that in the absence of female-authored texts, audienceship and readership might be considered as important agentive actions by female adherents.

A second research project engages ethnographic fieldwork to understand contemporary Buddhist responses to stigma and discrimination. Starling profiles Buddhist volunteers who have taken up the cause of leprosy (also known as Hansen’s Disease) awareness and advocacy, working both inside and outside of Buddhist institutions to redress the past and current suffering of Hansen’s Disease patients.

Starling’s past scholarly articles have appeared in the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Eastern Buddhist, Religion Compass, and the Journal of Global Buddhism. Her first monograph, Guardians of the Buddha’s Home: Domestic Religion in the Contemporary Jōdo Shinshū (University of Hawai’i Press, 2019), is an ethnography of temple wives in the True Pure Land Buddhist School (Jōdo Shinshū).  She has received numerous fellowships in support of her research, including grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Japan Foundation, and the American Association of University Women.

Professional Experience

• Co-chair of the Japanese Religions Unit Steering Committee, American Academy of Religion (2020-present)
• H-Japan Book Reviews Editor (2013-2022)
• Editor, Religion Compass, Buddhism Section (2014-2022)