Department Head
Dr. Welter is Professor and Head in the Department of East Asian Studies. He has established a reputation as a leading expert in the academic study of Chan (Zen) Buddhist texts and Chinese Buddhism during the transition from the Tang (late medieval) to the Song (early modern) dynasties (9th-11th centuries). His areas of specialty include Chan/Zen Buddhism; East Asian Buddhism & Culture; Buddhist-State Relations; Literati Buddhism; and Chinese and Japanese Intellectual History.
He is currently leading a project funded by the Khyentse Foundation on Buddhist Culture in the Hangzhou Region of China and its impact throughout East Asia.
Currently Teaching
RELI 241 – Introduction to Chinese Religions
The course is a comprehensive historical survey of the main religious traditions in China, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and popular religion. Through lectures, discussions, and reading of select primary and secondary sources, we will explore the formulations and subsequent transformations of key beliefs, doctrines, practices, and institutions that characterized specific religious traditions. We will also examine the patterns of interaction among different traditions, as well as the general character of religious life in both traditional and modern China.