Religious Studies Professor Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship

Todd Lewis, professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, has recently been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a prestigious annual award that funds travel and research in the arts, humanities and science. Lewis, who joined the Holy Cross faculty in 1990, was one of 180 recipients selected from an international pool of nearly 3,000 applicants.

The Guggenheim Fellowship competition is in its 87th year. Awards are given to a diverse group of applicants, based on their accomplishments and the promise of the research they propose to undertake.  A Buddhism scholar, Lewis won for his proposed project, titled “The Enculturation of Buddhist Teachings: Traditional and Modern Vernacular Literature for Children,” which will include the collection, translation and analysis of vernacular Buddhist literature in both traditional and modern Buddhist communities across Asia.  The chief goal of the project is to document and analyze the enculturation of children into the Buddhist world view, a virtually unexplored field in Buddhist studies. Lewis’ research will take him to Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, and Vietnam.

Since its establishment, the Guggenheim Foundation has granted fellowships to more than 17,000 individuals, including several who went on to win Nobel and Pulitzer prizes.  Since 1995, five members of the Holy Cross faculty have received the award, including Lewis; Sarah Stanbury, professor of English (2010); Leila Philip, associate professor of English (2007); Robert ParkeHarrison, professor of visual arts (1999); and Osvaldo Golijov, professor of music (1995).

“Todd joins a growing line of distinguished Guggenheim laureates at Holy Cross,” commented Timothy Austin, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College. “For him, as for his colleagues who received their awards in prior years, this recognition caps a career already marked by many honors—including, in his case, a series of extremely successful grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. We are justifiably proud that women and men of this caliber routinely offer courses in their fields to our undergraduate students.”

Lewis is one of the world’s leading authorities on the religions of the mid-montaine Himalayan region and the social history of Buddhism. In addition to scholarly books and articles published in leading academic journals, he has shot, directed and produced films for classroom use and co-authored a textbook, World Religions Today (Oxford University Press, 2005), which is widely used in college courses.  In 2009, he published a translation of the Sugata Saurabha, the landmark epic poem based on Buddha’s life, and was named editor of a forthcoming book series, The Buddhist World Today.  Over the past 10 years, he has become one of the leading academics involved nationwide in the continuing education of K-12 teachers on the cultures and religions of Asia.

Lewis received his Ph.D. and M.A. from Columbia University and his B.A. from Rutgers University.  He has also been a research associate in the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Harvard University since 1999.  He resides in Holden, Mass.