Todd T. Lewis (College of the Holy Cross)

Todd T. Lewis
Associate Professor of World Religions
Religions Department
College of the Holy Cross
Box 139-A, 425 Smith Hall
Worcester, MA 01610  USA

phone: 508-793-3436
fax:   508-793-3840
email: tlewis@holycross.edu
url:   http://www.holycross.edu/departments/religiousstudies/tlewis/MasterPage.htm

Description of Work:

Todd Lewis has taught world religions at the College of the Holy Cross, 
primarily Hinduism and Buddhism, since 1990. In 1996, he was promoted 
to Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies. His previous 
academic positions include Rutgers University (1988-89), Carleton College 
(1988), Columbia University (1983-1987), and the University of California, 
Berkeley (1983).
    Professor Lewis is a leading authority on the cultures, religions, and 
peoples of the mid-montaine Himalayan region and the social history of 
Buddhism. His special research focus for over twenty years has been 
Buddhism in the Kathmandu Valley, particularly the traditions found 
among the Newars, the indigenous population of Nepal's most populous 
valley. He speaks both the national language of the country, Nepali, as well 
as the Tibeto-Burman language Nepal Bhasa or Newari that is spoken by 
the Newars. Beginning with his scholarly training at Columbia University 
(where he studied Sanskrit and Pali, earning his Ph.D. in Religion 1984), 
Professor  Lewis' research and teaching has been interdisciplinary, linking 
anthropology and the history of religions. In addition to scholarly books 
and articles published in leading academic journals, Professor Lewis has 
shot, directed, and produced films for classroom use. 
     Since 1982, Dr. Lewis has been a member of the American Academy of 
Religion and in 1992 he became the founding co-chair (1992-1996) of the 
"Tibetan and Himalayan Religions" group, the first AAR unit whose 
members are specialists in the region. He continues to serve on the steering 
committee. Professor Lewis has since 1978 been a member of the Nepal 
Studies Association and from 1989 until the present has been a member of 
its Board of Directors. In addition, he has served since 1993 as an Associate 
Editor of the Association's journal, The Himalayan Research Bulletin, 
editing the Book Reviews section. Professor Lewis is also an active member 
in the Asian Studies Association and the International Association of 
Buddhist Studies. 
	Professor Lewis has been awarded major grants from the National 
Endowment for the Humanities,  the Council of American Overseas 
Research Centers, Fulbright Senior Faculty Research Program, the 
American Philosophical Society Research Fellowship, the American 
Academy of Religion, National Endowment for the Arts,  National 
Geographic, the Social Science Research Council Grant, U.S. Department of 
Education,  Smithsonian Institution, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for 
Anthropological Research. 

PUBLICATIONS
        
BOOKS:

World Religions Today [co-authored with John Esposito and Darrell Fasching]. New 
	York: Oxford University Press, 2002. ["Buddhism," "Hinduism," & "East Asian 
	Religions"]

Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal: Narratives and Rituals of  Newar Buddhism. 	
	Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000.

The Himalayas: A Syllabus of the RegionŐs History, Anthropology and Religion. [with 
	Theodore Riccardi, Jr.] Ann Arbor: Association for Asian Studies Monograph 
	Series, 1995.
        
The Tuladhars of Kathmandu: A Study of Buddhist Tradition in a Newar Merchant 
	Community. Columbia University: Ph.D. Dissertation, 1984. 
        
CHAPTERS IN BOOKS:

"Representations of Buddhism in Undergraduate Teaching: The Centrality of Ritual and 
	Story Narratives,"  in Victor Hori, Richard P. Hayes, eds. Teaching Buddhism in 
	the West: From the Wheel to the Web. Surrey, U.K.: Curzon, 2002.

"Ancient India: Belief and Society" (12-21), "A New Community" (46-55), "The Human 	
	Condition" (58-63), "The Four Noble Truths" (64-71), "The Path of the Buddha" 
	(72-79), "Tantra" (162-173) in  Kevin Trainor, ed. Buddhism: An Illustrated 
	Guide. London: Duncan-Baird Publications and Oxford University Press, 2001. 

"Growing Up Newar Buddhist: Chittadhar Hridaya's Jhi Maca and Its Context," in Al 
	Pach and Debra Skinner eds. Selves in Time and Place: Identities, Experience, 
	and History in  Nepal. Boulder: Rowman and Littlefield Press, 1998, 301-318.

"The Anthropological Study of Buddhist Communities: Historical Precedents and 
	Ethnographic Paradigms," in Steven Glazier ed. Shamanism, Altered States, 
	Healing: Essays in the Anthropology of  Religion. Westport: Greenwood Press, 
	1997, 319-367.
        
"Buddhist Merchants in Kathmandu: The Asan Tol Market and Uray Social 
	Organization," in David Gellner and Declan Quigley eds. Contested Hierarchies: 
	A Collaborative Ethnography of Caste among the Newars of the Kathmandu 
	Valley, Nepal. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, 38-79.

"The Power of Mantra: a Story of the Five Protectors," Chapter 11 of Donald S. Lopez 
	ed. Religions of India in Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, 
	227-234.
        
"The Story of the Horn-Blowing" and "The Tale of Simhala the Caravan Leader," for 
	Donald S. Lopez, ed. Buddhism in Practice. Princeton University Press, 1995, 
	151-169  and 328-335.
                
"The Use of Visual Media in the Study of Religious Belief and Practice" [with Christine 
	Greenway] in Steven Glazier ed. Anthropology and Religion: Theoretical, 
	Methodological, and Confessional Essays.  Stephen D. Glazier and Charles A. 
	Flowerday, editors. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, Forthcoming in 2002.

"Buddhism: The Politics Of Compassionate Rule" in Jacob Neusner, ed. God's Rule: The 
	Politics of World Religions. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 
	Forthcoming in 2002.

JOURNAL ARTICLES AND PUBLISHED CONFERENCE PAPERS:
        
"Sukhavati Traditions in Newar Buddhism," South Asia Research 16 (1), 1996, 1-30.

"Patterns of Religious Belief in a Buddhist Merchant Community, Nepal,"  Asian 
	Folklore Studies 55 (2), 1996, 237-270.

"Notes on the Uray and the Modernization of Newar Buddhism," Contributions to 
	Nepalese Studies 23 (1), 1996, 109-117.
        
"A Chronology of Newar-Tibetan Relations in the Kathmandu Valley," in Siegfried 
	Lienhard ed. Change and Continuity: Studies in the Nepalese Culture of the 
	Kathmandu Valley. (Torino: Edizioni Dell'orso, 1996), 149-166.

"Nepala Mahayana Bauddha Dharmaya Punarutthana Nimti Chamha Shiksharthirya 
	Bicar," (In Newari: "On the Revival of Newar Mahayana Buddhism: One 
	Scholar's Reflections"), Nhasala 25, 1995, 57-76.

"The Nepal Jana Jivan Kriya Paddhati, a Modern Newar Guide for Vajrayana Life-
	Cycle Rites," Indo-Iranian Journal 37, 1994, 1-46.        

"Contributions to the History of Buddhist Ritualism: A Mahayana Avadana on Stupa 
	Veneration from the Kathmandu Valley," Journal of Asian History 28 (1), 1994, 1-38.

"The Himalayan Frontier in Comparative Perspective: Considerations Regarding 
	Buddhism and Hinduism in Diaspora," Himalayan Research Bulletin XIV, 1994 (1-
	2), 25-46. 
        
"Newar Buddhist Samyak Festival: a Photo Essay," Religious Studies News, May 1994.
  
"Newar-Tibetan Trade and the Domestication of the Simhalasarthabahu Avadana," 
	History of Religions 33 (2), 1993, 135-160.

"Contributions to the Study of Popular Buddhism: The Newar Buddhist Festival of Gumla 
	Dharma," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 16, 1993, 7-52.

"Himalayan Frontier Trade: Newar Diaspora Merchants and Buddhism," in Martin Brauen 
	ed. Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalayas (Zurich: Volkerkundemuseum,  
	1993), 165-178.

"Newars and Tibetans in the Kathmandu Valley: Ethnic Boundaries and Religious 
	History" Journal of Asian and African Studies 38, 1989, 31-57. 

"Mahayana Vratas in Newar Buddhism," The Journal of the International Association 
	of Buddhist Studies 12 (1), 1989, 109-138.          

"Childhood and Newar Tradition: Chittadhar Hridaya's Jhi Maca," Asian Folklore 
	Studies XLVIII (2), 1989, 195-210. 
        
"Newars and Tibetans in the Kathmandu Valley: Three New Translations from Tibetan 
	Sources," [with Lozang Jamspal], Journal of Asian and African Studies 36, 1988, 
	187-211.

"Contributions to the History of Nepal: Eastern Newar Diaspora Settlements," [with 
	D.R.  Shakya], Contributions to Nepalese Studies 15 (1), 1988, 25-65.  
        
"Sarvajanik Svasthya, Tvah.bahah va Bauddha Niti" (In Newari: "Public Health, 
	Community, Buddhist Ethics,") Nhasala, 1987, 15-19.
             
"Nepal" Amnesty International Voice 5 (1), 1986, 15-16.
        
"The Anthropology of Development in Nepal," Contributions to Nepalese Studies 13 (2), 
	1986, 167-180. [Excerpted in Himal, 1987] 
        
"Hyu Pah.ya Jah./ Nevah. Samskritiya Sah" (In Newari: "Finding the Past in Newar 
	Tradition") Nhasala, 1981, 30-33. 

"Nevah. Bauddha va Hindu Saha Astitvay Chapulu" (In Newari: "On Hindu-Buddhist 
	Relations"), Nhasala, 1980, 74-76.

FILM and VIDEO PRODUCTIONS:
      
Educational Productions:
"Celestial Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara: Karunamaya in Newar Buddhism," (1996: 10 minutes)
"Buddhist Rituals and Burmese Stupas" (1995: 12 minutes)
"Daruma-san: Annual Rituals of Amulet Renewal" (1994: 14 minutes)
"Images from a Daruma-san Exhibition" (1994: 10 minutes)
        
Research Productions:
"The Samyaka Festival of 1980" (1992: 32 minutes)    
"The Samyaka Festival of 1993" (1994: 34 minutes)