Sara Ann Swenson, Department of Religion, Syracuse University

The Medicine Buddha: Social Services, Religion and Privatization in Vietnam

Vietnam has seen a flood of economic and cultural changes in recent decades. Sara Swenson’s ethnographic research explores how Buddhist nuns and lay members have engaged in social service work in response to new government policies. She focuses on the role of religion and Buddhism in modern Vietnam as well as the cultural politics of gender roles in rapidly changing societies.

Sara Ann Swenson is a third year doctoral student in Religion at Syracuse University. She is specializing in transnational Buddhism, gender and religion, and Buddhism in Vietnam. She completed an M.A. at Iliff School of Theology (2012) and B.A. in English and Women's Studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth (2009).

Sponsored by the East Asia Program at the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs