The administration of Donald Trump 2.0 made it clear early on that aside from public servants in the civil service, an archenemy of Trump’s was going to be higher education, particularly institutions that the government felt was too “left-leaning.” This would include humanities and arts, whether at Ivy League institutions. With the Department of Education now targeted for closure, and (as the US politics website Politico reports) some of the most venerable American universities stare down the barrel of Trump’s sweeping attacks, from freezing and cutting funding to attacking student activism: “A growing number of institutions are initiating hiring freezes, rescinding graduate admissions offers and pausing construction, which may be costly to fire up again even if Congress or a new administration reopens the spigot of cash.” (Politico) The unintended consequences of these cuts for Buddhist Studies will be potentially profound, and ultimately negative.
I spoke to historian Prof. Jack Chia, who is Foo Hai Fellow in Buddhist Studies and an Associate Professor of History at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He has a strong bond with the US, having done his PhD at Cornell University, and regularly communicates and works with his colleagues in Buddhist Studies. He was also a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley’s Numata Center for Buddhist Studies. He met many of those colleagues during his recent trip to take part in the annual conference of the Association of Asian studies (AAS) at Columbus, Ohio. I understand that the atmosphere was different to past meetings. Among many American-based scholars, the mood was grim, especially since the AAS symposium unfolded while the news of Trump’s decisions was circulating. Chia outlined what exactly what was at stake to me.
“First, the funding freeze on FLAS, Fulbright, and study-abroad programs drastically reduces opportunities for students to gain language proficiency and conduct international research essential to Buddhist Studies,” said Chia. This severe limitation on access to primary sources, fieldwork, and cultural immersion undermines the foundational training required for scholars in the field. Ultimately, the lack of funding threatens to weaken the pipeline of future graduate students and diminish the global scope of Buddhist Studies in the US.”
The arts and humanities have always been in a precarious position, relying on a combination of government funding and private donations to sustain the operations of Buddhist Studies centers, as well as the larger faculties they are typically under. Chia sees the ongoing and impending attacks as interconnected, even if they do not explicitly target Buddhist Studies (which is a relatively small and traditionally non-politicized corner of academia).
Take, for example, the potential cut to the Title VI National Resource Centers (NRC) program, which provides grants to establish, strengthen, and operate language and area studies centers. “This potential cut will further weaken language training. Without NRC support, fewer universities will be able to offer specialized language courses in critical Asian languages, making it even more difficult for students to develop the linguistic skills necessary for advanced research, not only in Buddhist Studies but in Asian Studies more broadly,” said Chia.
It is not just the students and faculty living in the US who are at risk: “travel ban” policies that restrict the entry of international students from up to 43 countries into the US could adversely affect academic programs across the board. Over the long term and taken together, it is almost certain that these policies will have a chilling effect on the attraction of studying and contributing to the humanities in the US. As Chia noted, “These policies will have a broader negative impact on higher education in the US, affecting both private universities but especially public institutions with limited endowments, which rely heavily on federal funding to sustain language and area studies programs.”
Perhaps it is expecting too much for the Trump administration to understand the value and importance of critical examination of one of the world’s great spiritual traditions. Since the beauty and inspiration of Dharma values seem irrelevant to the mercurial, imperial, and tempestuous priorities of politicians, I venture to suggest that the situation is more serious than many believe. The prospective decimation of an acclaimed scholarly tradition to which American contributions have been considerable, through publications, conferences, and findings down the decades, will be tragic.
See more
Universities are caving to Trump with a stunning speed and scope
Yale professors warn international students new Trump travel ban may be imminent (The Guardian)
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