Adeana McNicholl

Who Were the Hungry Ghosts, Really? The evolving stories of pretas reveal much about Buddhist views of karma, cosmology, and grief.

A new article from Vanderbilt assistant professor Adeana McNicholl @adeanamcn.bsky.social on Buddhist preta or "hungry ghost" stories. I love this topic and her book!

"These stories are more than simple scare tactics to encourage ethical behavior."

Accessible link

Pls join @adeanamcn.bsky.social & myself as we host Lucinda Ramberg's (Cornell University) lecture:

“We Were Always #Buddhist”: #Dalit Historiography and the Temporality of #Caste (PLEASE SHARE WIDELY)

April 18, 2025
10:00am EDT / 19:30 IST (on MSTeams)
Please register here: tinyurl.com/2y62cswx

Please join @adeanamcn.bsky.social and myself as we host Harsha Gautam (@utaustin.bsky.social) for the 2nd lecture and discussion of our Spring 2025 #Buddhism and #Caste Initiative Lecture Series.

March 21, 2025
10:30am EDT / 20:00 IST (on MSTeams)
Please register here: tinyurl.com/mrdr8e4p

Friends: I'm filing for tenure this semester and I'm collecting proof of impact for my research. If you have taught any of my work, I would really appreciate it if you sent me a copy of the syllabus to include in the file!

NEW QR CODE!

Please join @adeanamcn.bsky.social and myself as we host Prof. Indrani Chatterjee (UVA) for the first lecture and discussion of our Spring 2025 #Buddhism and #Caste Initiative Lecture Series.

February 28, 2025
10am EST / 8:30pm IST (on zoom)
Register here: tinyurl.com/22rvht8f

JOB: Tenure-track position at Spelman College in African American Religions with subfields including (but not limited to) womanist theology/ethics, African religious traditions in the diaspora, queer studies in religion, decolonial studies in religion, and/or science and religion. Deadline: 3/10

Friends, please join @adeanamcn.bsky.social and myself as we host Prof. Indrani Chatterjee (UVA) for the first lecture and discussion of our Spring 2025 #Buddhism and #Caste Initiative Lecture Series.

February 28, 2025
10am EST / 8:30pm IST (on zoom)
Register here: tinyurl.com/22rvht8f

Spring talks as part of @adeanamcn.bsky.social and my new Buddhism and Caste Initiative! (PLEASE SHARE WIDELY)

If you support this critical work, do sign up (if you haven't already) for our 2025 spring speaker series via QR code below! #BuddhismAndCaste

I'm so glad to be able to share that we've created a 5-year seminar at the American Academy of Religion on Buddhism and Caste. Please send in proposals for individual papers as well as panels and roundtables!

Friends: I'm filing for tenure this semester and I'm collecting proof of impact for my research. If you have taught any of my work, I would really appreciate it if you sent me a copy of the syllabus to include in the file!

TODAY: Nov 25, 5PM Friends (esp. #BuddhistStudies!) who will be in San Diego at #SBLAAR24, please join us for a celebration of the publication of @adeanamcn.bsky.social's _Of Ancestors and Ghosts_

Purchase book here: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Location: Hilton Bayfront-Aqua 310B (Third Level)

11. Author meets critics roundtable: Ralph H. Craig III: Dancing in My Dreams: A spiritual biography of Tina Turner. Sunday 12:30-2:30pm with @rhcraig.bsky.social

12. The Anthropology of Buddhism. Sunday 12:30-2:30pm.

Looking forward to presenting this weekend at AAR this weekend alongside some brilliant scholars, such as @nwitkowski.bsky.social, @adeanamcn.bsky.social, and others!

Nov 25, 5PM, Friends who will be in San Diego at #SBLAAR24, please join us for a celebration of the publication of @adeanamcn.bsky.social's _Of Ancestors and Ghosts_

Purchase book here: global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Location: Hilton Bayfront-Aqua 310B (Third Level)

A grey and white cat lounging belly-up on the floor. She has a Charlie Chaplin style mustache (and I will not listen to any claims to the contrary).

Obligatory cat photo for the new followers. She sat in foster care for a year and a half before I met her--people really missed out on this sweet chaos demon.

Reading with admiration @privatechand.bsky.social's new article in CSSH, "Slavery, Mobility, and Identity on the Western Coast of India, Sixteenth–Eighteenth Centuries" - friends in Religious Studies and Buddhist Studies - pls be sure to read!

2024 Annual Meetings of SBL and AAR. Save 40% on new and notable religion and biblical studies titles from OUP.

My #Buddhism book, Of Ancestors and Ghosts, is currently on sale for #SBLAAR24. Use promo code EXAAR24 for 40% off at Oxford University Press: oxford.ly/40uQpHm

I’ve begun a historians of South Asia (broadly defined) starter pack, let me know if you want to be added
go.bsky.app/zUV84F

My #Buddhism book on #hungryghosts is currently on sale on the OUP website! Use code AUFLY30 to save 30%. global.oup.com/academic/product/of-ancestors-and-ghosts-9780197748909

Dear Friends, Prof. Adeana McNicholl @adeanamcn.bsky.social and myself are co-coordinating an exciting NEW project: the Buddhism and Caste Initiative.

If you support this critical work, do sign-up for our first speaker series ('24–'25) via QR code below, and share poster widely!

#BuddhismAndCaste

I am not sure it is worthy of the honour but if it does make it onto a syllabus, please send it to me! I file for tenure in April and need proof of impact

Thank you!

© 2024 The New Books Network, all rights reserved.

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Jessica Zu for the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social this week. You can find the podcast episode here: newbooksnetwork.com/adeana-mcnic...

Now available on Oxford Academic. Of Ancestors and Ghosts: How Preta Narratives Constructed Buddhist Cosmology and Shaped Buddhist Ethics. Available until Oct 31, 2024. Click the link to be directed to the reading.

It's spooky month, so OUP made the first chapter of my #Buddhism book, Of Ancestors and Ghosts, free to read for the month of October. This chapter traces the origin of the #hungryghost and, with it, Buddhist cosmology. Link here: academic.oup.com/book/58038/chapter/477477607

Job alert: Vanderbilt's Asian Studies department is searching for a TT Assistant Professor in Asian American & Asian Diaspora Studies apply.interfolio.com/154998

Thank you!

It's official, Of Ancestors and Ghosts is now released! This #Buddhism book traces the origin of the "hungry" ghost and, with it, Buddhist cosmology. It then turns to what ghosts tell us about karma, ethics, and human embodiment. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

A woman holding a book in one hand and a cat with a mustache in the other. The book is titled Of Ancestors and Ghosts

My book has arrived! And just in time for Nashville's Vietnamese celebration of the ghost festival. It's so cool and surreal to be finally holding this in my hands. (+ obligatory cat, she likes being included)

Yes, I'm really hoping they do a paperback release so there's an affordable version out there. For now, definitely ask libraries to purchase it!

It is... but perhaps local libraries would be willing to order it!