Overview
Ben Van Overmeire is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Duke Kunshan University and a scholar of Zen Buddhism. He is the author of American Koan: Imagining Zen and Self in Autobiographical Literature (2024), which was shortlisted for the American Academy of Religion "Religion and the Arts" book award. He is currently writing a book on the Buddhist imagination of outer space. He is also co-editing a volume of Chinese astroculture. Learn more at benvanovermeire.wordpress.com.
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Duke Kunshan University
·
2019 - Present
DKU Faculty
Recent Scholarly Works
American koan: Imagining Zen and self in autobiographical literature
Book · October 17, 2024 How American Buddhists use Zen riddles to imagine who they are The koan is one of the most recognizable East-Asian spiritual exercises-a thought experiment in the form of a riddle or puzzle that Zen Buddhists employ to become enlightened. Well-known exampl ... CiteZen Buddhism in America
Book section · May 22, 2024 Full text CiteEnlightenment in the Dark Forest: Chan/Zen in Cixin Liu’s Three Body Trilogy
Journal article Journal of Chinese Philosophy · January 1, 2024 This article explores the Chan/Zen Buddhist elements in Cixin Liu’s Three Body science fiction trilogy, particularly through the character of Luo Ji 羅輯. By exploring these references, the provocative moral and political philosophy articulated in the books ... Full text CiteEducation
University of California, San Diego ·
2016
Ph.D.