布莱恩Hoffert

My interest in Chinese Philosophy was first kindled in my undergraduate years at the University of Toronto, where I received my Bachelor’s degree as a specialist in East Asian Studies with a major in Philosophy. I then spent a year studying Chinese language and philosophy at the Mandarin Training Center in Taipei before entering the Master’s degree program in Comparative Philosophy at the University of Hawaii. 1993年，我获得了博士学位.D. program in East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, where I worked closely with Professors Tu Wei-ming, 迈克尔·普特, Helen Hardacre and Peter Bol, as well as with two of the most respected scholars of Daoism, Livia Kohn (Boston University) and Harold Roth (Brown University). 在他们的指导下, I broadened my understanding of the historical context in which East Asian thought developed and deepened my perspective on the evolution of Daoism, my primary area of research. I received my doctorate degree from Harvard in March of 2002.

My doctoral dissertation, “庄子: The Evolution of a Taoist Classic,” presented an interdisciplinary perspective on the composition of the 庄子, one of the most important texts in the East Asian intellectual tradition. 更一般的, my research is concerned with various aspects of East Asian thought, especially early Chinese philosophy, 程朱理学, 和日本宗教. 在这方面, I have done extensive research on a number of important topics, such as the harmonious relationship between different traditions of philosophy and religion in both China and Japan, Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming as the catalyst of the Four-Seven Debate, and religious pilgrimage in contemporary Japan. 

I’m extremely passionate about teaching and hope to inspire in my students a lifelong interest in all things East Asian—past, 现在和将来.

课程

HST 165: Introduction to East Asia

HST 261/265: Traditional China/Modern China

HST 330: East Asian Thought

REL 100: Introduction to World Religions

REL 255/260/265: Religions of India/China/Japan

REL 315:佛教

HOI 100: Authority and Freedom