Tuesday 28 January 2014

New research project about Buddhist buildings in England


 On Monday, 27 January 2014, 12:24, Caroline Starkey <trs6cf@leeds.ac.uk> wrote:
Dear NBO Members,

Jamie Cresswell very kindly agreed to let us send a message to the NBO 
list about a new research project about Buddhist buildings in England 
that we are currently undertaking at the Centre for Religion and 
Public Life (University of Leeds) with English Heritage.

The aim of the research project is to explore the function, 
significance and meaning of buildings for various Buddhist communities 
in England; the results of which will be written into a report for 
English Heritage (which will be available on their website) as well as 
an academic publication. The research will be completed by September 
2014.

Over the life of the project we plan to visit about 16 different sites 
to do in-depth interviews, and we have also launched, today, our 
online survey.

We would be very grateful if you would be able to complete the survey, 
on behalf of a Buddhist group that you are affiliated with (or, 
alternatively, forward the survey link to someone who you think would 
be more appropriate). The survey need only be completed once per 
building (although an organisation who has multiple buildings can 
complete the survey multiple times). The person completing the survey 
need not be the most senior person in a Buddhist group or 
organisation, but they should have some knowledge of the history of 
their building and its current use.

The survey should take between 15-20 minutes to complete and is 
available at: https://www.survey.leeds.ac.uk/buildingbuddhism_england


We have more information about our project on our blog, which is 
available at: www.buildingbuddhism.wordpress.com

We really appreciate your involvement,

Please don't hesitate to email us with any questions,

Best Wishes

Dr Emma Tomalin and Caroline Starkey

Centre for Religion and Public Life
School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science
Hopewell House, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT
=============
Caroline Starkey Dear all, Thanks for the replies - and for the question, Peter. It's a really interesting one, and something that we have been (and continue to) think about. We are taking a broad definition of the te
To nboinformation@googlegroups.com

Today at 11:31 AM
Dear all,

Thanks for the replies - and for the question, Peter. It's a really 
interesting one, and something that we have been (and continue to) 
think about.

We are taking a broad definition of the term ‘building’ for this 
project, quite deliberately, as already we can already see that there 
are a lot of different ‘Buddhist buildings’ out there, ranging from 
residential houses where small groups might meet, to large monastic 
complexes. For us, ‘Buddhist building’ might also include a notable 
monument as well, or indeed a school.

We think what they have in common here is a community function – a 
place or space where a group of people, large or small, would meet to 
engage in Buddhist practice – e.g. meditation, or talks or community 
activity; and that might be advertised as such to the public. 
However, we are paying particular attention in this project to public 
buildings (as opposed to residential houses where groups might meet) 
as this reflects the priorities of English Heritage in terms of 
listing and protection.

We know the language is complex in this area as well – ‘centre’, 
‘temple’, ‘monastery’, ‘place of worship’, ‘faith building’ have all 
come up – but we do want to be as inclusive as possible, 1. To help 
refine the definition of ‘Buddhist building’ in the English context, 
and 2. So that we can get a good picture of the ‘landscape’ of 
Buddhism in England. It is limited to England at this stage as this is 
English Heritage’s geographical remit.

However, we’d be really interested to hear from anyone who might want 
to refine our broad definition, either to include or exclude certain 
types of buildings - We're very open to on-going conversation. I'd 
also really like to include the idea of refuge too.

With very best wishes,

Caroline and Emma

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