Visiting Research Fellow 2013
Professor of Religious Studies (Taoism), The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

Stephen Eskildsen studied social studies at International Christian University in Tokyo (Japan). After that he did his graduate and postgraduate studies in asian studies at University of British Columbia (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada). From 1994 to 1998 he gained experiences as an assistant professor within the department of religious studies at the University of Saskatchewan and held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 1998 though, he joined in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (Chattanooga, USA), where he was finally promoted to North Callahan Distinguished Professor in Fall 2012.

Stephen Eskildsen fields of expertise covers Buddhism and Nestorianism, but his primary area of interest is the Taoist religion. During his fellowship with us, Stephen Eskildsen will be working on a book project preliminarily entitled “From the Old Master to the Dragon Gate: Taoism and the Effects of Serenity”.

Education

• Ph.D., Asian Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 1994
• M.A., Asian Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 1989
• B.A., Social Sciences, International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan, 1986

KHK Fellowship

Duration: May 2013 to March 2014
Project: Taoism, Meditation and the Wonders of Serenity. From Latter Han to Tan