In this episode we sit down with Kate to celebrate the launch of Buddhist Studies Online. We learn about her story, her background in academia and Buddhism, travels in Asia, how she first met Seth as grad students at Harvard, building course websites for Harvard professors. We discuss her research on pilgrimage and the importance of place and perception within Tibetan Buddhism. Kate gives us a sneak peak at her upcoming online course, BSO 101 | Intro to Buddhism: History, Philosophy, and Practice. We discuss historical Buddha, the 4 Noble truths, common misperceptions about Buddhism, and much more.
Speaker Bio
Kate Hartmann is a scholar of Buddhism and professor of Buddhist studies. She received her PhD in Buddhist Studies from Harvard University in 2021. Her research explores the theory and practice of Tibetan pilgrimage to holy mountains, and focuses on the goal of transforming perception. She also holds an MA in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago, and a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia. She is currently Assistant Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Wyoming, and is the new Director of Buddhist Studies Online.
As part of her training, Kate has spent extended periods of time living in Asia. She has spent summers backpacking across India, living with Tibetan Buddhist nuns in Ladakh, in Dharamsala working in the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, studying at the Dunhuang caves in China, traveling to Lhasa, and conducting research around Boudha in Nepal. She speaks modern colloquial Tibetan and conducts research in Classical Tibetan and Sanskrit.
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