Jeffrey Samuels
Biographic Data
| ID | 3620228 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jeffrey Samuels |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jeffrey |
| FAMILY NAME | Samuels |
| SIGNATURE | SAMUELS J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Western Kentucky University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7480-6806 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 61 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
An Environmental and Climate History of the Roman Expansion in Italy
A first synthesis of available data for the period of Rome's expansion in Italy (about 400-29 b.c.e.) shows the role of climate and environment in early Roman imperialism. Although global indices suggest a warmer phase with relatively few short-term climate events occuring around the same time as the expansion, local data emphasize the highly variable timing and expression of these trends. This variability casts doubt on ideas of a unitary, histo…
Reimagining urban success
The ancient city of Gabii-an Italian polity of the first millennium BC and a peer to early Rome-has often been presented as an example of urban decline, a counterpoint to Rome's rise from a collection of hilltop huts to a Mediterranean hegemon. Here the authors draw on the results from recent excavations at Gabii that challenge such simplistic models of urban history. Diachronic evidence documenting activity at the site over the course of 1400 ye…
A Changing Cityscape in Central Italy
Excavations carried out at the Latin city of Gabii between 2012 and 2018 have contributed new data to a number of debates around the emergence, lived experience, maintenance, decline, and resilience of cities. Gabii’s urban trajectories demonstrate both seemingly familiar forms of urbanism and, on closer study, many locally circumscribed elements. Specifically, the Gabii Project excavations have uncovered an early Iron Age (8th–5th centuries b.c.…
Narada Thero
Figures of Buddhist Modernity in Asia
This book introduces contemporary Buddhists from across Asia and from various walks of life. Eschewing traditional hagiographies, the editors have collected sixty-six profiles of individuals who would be excluded from most Buddhist histories and ethnographies. In addition to monks and nuns, readers will encounter artists, psychologists, social workers, part-time priests, healers, and librarians as well as charlatans, hucksters, profiteers, and ra…
Contemporary Buddhism in Malaysia
This chapter examines Buddhism in Malaysia, from its early history through the contemporary period. It investigates the factors that contributed to the migration and continued presence of Chinese, Thai, Burmese, and Sri Lankan Buddhists to peninsular Malaysia, as well as the causes that led to the founding of their own familiar places of worship. Turning more specifically to the postcolonial period, this chapter explores the intersection of polit…
A Camel Driver in the Achaemenid Persian Empire
This paper applies social network analysis in a study of the Persepolis Fortification archive to gain a more holistic picture of life in Achaemenid Persepolis. In particular, the paper focuses on translating the data from the archive into a series of network relations and visualizations and then identifying and examining a group of influential non-elites. These data allow for a particularly thorough examination of non-elite social, economic, and …
Buddhist Disaster Relief
Monks, Networks, and the Politics of ReligionSri Lankan Buddhist (Theravada) temples in Malaysia have only recently begun actively engaging in international disaster relief.This article explores the reasons for this emerging example of religious relief by examining the diasporic history of social welfare engagements by these temples and their interactions with initiatives by Chinese organizations and other religious aid providers in Malaysia.In d…
‘Forget not your old country’
This article examines various linkages through which Sri Lankan diaspora communities in Malaysia sought and still seek meaning. Taking my cue from Engseng Ho’s work on the Hadrami in which he notes how absence shapes diasporic experiences, I investigate the constructive role that feelings of loss have played in the imagining and reimagining of the Sri Lankan community’s identity in Malaysia. More specifically, this article considers the role that…
Attracting the Heart
Is Merit in the Milk Powder? Pursuing Puñña in contemporary Sri Lanka
This article examines merit making in contemporary Sri Lankan practice. Exploring the role of emotions, most generally defined as "happiness in the heart/mind," in this important Buddhist activity, this article seeks not only to move beyond a more mechanical view of merit making as generalized exchange, but also to introduce an affective quality to the notion of intention (cetanā). Finally, this article questions the tendency to judge Buddhist be…
Buddhism and Caste in India and Sri Lanka
This article examines the place of caste in Buddhism in India and Sri Lanka. In addition to suggesting a way of reconciling divergent attitudes toward caste in the Pali canon and several Sanskrit texts, this article explores the role that caste has played in the creation of new monastic lineages in eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century Sri Lanka, as well as its role in monastic patronage and temple building in contemporary Sri Lanka
Monastic Patronage and Temple Building in Contemporary Sri Lanka
The current article examines temple building and shifting monastic patronage in twentieth and twenty-first century Sri Lanka. Drawing heavily on fieldwork conducted in two separate upcountry villages over the past five years, the author argues that far from passively accepting the failings of local monastics, lay Buddhists are actively and directly involved in shaping their own religious experiences. In examining closely numerous conversations ce…
Toward an Action-Oriented Pedagogy
By examining the role that texts play in the early training of Buddhist novices, this article supplements a growing collection of literature examining the role of “canon” in the Theravāda tradition. Drawing on fieldwork recently conducted in Sri Lanka, this article maintains that the majority of young newcomers to the monastic community or sangha learn about monastic behavior and practices less through learning the content of particular texts and…
Toward an Action-Oriented Pedagogy
By examining the role that texts play in the early training of Buddhist novices, this article supplements a growing collection of literature examining the role of “canon” in the Theravāda tradition. Drawing on fieldwork recently conducted in Sri Lanka, this article maintains that the majority of young newcomers to the monastic community or sangha learn about monastic behavior and practices less through learning the content of particular texts and…
Breaking the Ethnographer's Frames
This article assesses the use of auto-driven photo elicitation among children Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka. Comparing the data previously collected from word-only interviews with the data collected from auto-driven photo-elicited interviews, the author discusses how the latter field method tended to evoke greater descriptions from the research participants, how the descriptions were more emotionally charged than word-only descriptions, and how the…
Views of Householders and Lay Disciples in theSutta Pitaka
Many scholars have argued that early Buddhism was primarily an ‘other‐worldly’ religion focusing on ascetics and monastics. In their view, the laity does not figure prominently, it was only centuries later that the laity's involvement became more noticeable. By examining references to householders (gahapati) and lay disciples (upāsaka) in the Sutta Pitaka section of the Pāli canon, this article challenges the view that the role of the laity prima…
The Bodhisattva Ideal in Theravada Buddhist Theory and Practice
In the academic study of Buddhism the terms" Mahayana" and "Hinayana" are often set in contradiction to each other, and the two vehicles are described as having different aspirations, teachings, and practices. The distinctions made between the Mahayana and the Hinayana, how-ever, force the schools into neat, isolated, and independent categories that often undermine the complexities that exist concerning their beliefs, ideologies, and practices
Breaking the Ethnographer's Frames
This article assesses the use of auto-driven photo elicitation among children Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka. Comparing the data previously collected from word-only interviews with the data collected from auto-driven photo-elicited interviews, the author discusses how the latter field method tended to evoke greater descriptions from the research participants, how the descriptions were more emotionally charged than word-only descriptions, and how the…
An Environmental and Climate History of the Roman Expansion in Italy
A first synthesis of available data for the period of Rome's expansion in Italy (about 400-29 b.c.e.) shows the role of climate and environment in early Roman imperialism. Although global indices suggest a warmer phase with relatively few short-term climate events occuring around the same time as the expansion, local data emphasize the highly variable timing and expression of these trends. This variability casts doubt on ideas of a unitary, histo…
Buddhism and Caste in India and Sri Lanka
This article examines the place of caste in Buddhism in India and Sri Lanka. In addition to suggesting a way of reconciling divergent attitudes toward caste in the Pali canon and several Sanskrit texts, this article explores the role that caste has played in the creation of new monastic lineages in eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century Sri Lanka, as well as its role in monastic patronage and temple building in contemporary Sri Lanka
Monastic Patronage and Temple Building in Contemporary Sri Lanka
The current article examines temple building and shifting monastic patronage in twentieth and twenty-first century Sri Lanka. Drawing heavily on fieldwork conducted in two separate upcountry villages over the past five years, the author argues that far from passively accepting the failings of local monastics, lay Buddhists are actively and directly involved in shaping their own religious experiences. In examining closely numerous conversations ce…
Buddhist Disaster Relief
Monks, Networks, and the Politics of ReligionSri Lankan Buddhist (Theravada) temples in Malaysia have only recently begun actively engaging in international disaster relief.This article explores the reasons for this emerging example of religious relief by examining the diasporic history of social welfare engagements by these temples and their interactions with initiatives by Chinese organizations and other religious aid providers in Malaysia.In d…
The Bodhisattva Ideal in Theravada Buddhist Theory and Practice
In the academic study of Buddhism the terms" Mahayana" and "Hinayana" are often set in contradiction to each other, and the two vehicles are described as having different aspirations, teachings, and practices. The distinctions made between the Mahayana and the Hinayana, how-ever, force the schools into neat, isolated, and independent categories that often undermine the complexities that exist concerning their beliefs, ideologies, and practices
Reimagining urban success
The ancient city of Gabii-an Italian polity of the first millennium BC and a peer to early Rome-has often been presented as an example of urban decline, a counterpoint to Rome's rise from a collection of hilltop huts to a Mediterranean hegemon. Here the authors draw on the results from recent excavations at Gabii that challenge such simplistic models of urban history. Diachronic evidence documenting activity at the site over the course of 1400 ye…
A Changing Cityscape in Central Italy
Excavations carried out at the Latin city of Gabii between 2012 and 2018 have contributed new data to a number of debates around the emergence, lived experience, maintenance, decline, and resilience of cities. Gabii’s urban trajectories demonstrate both seemingly familiar forms of urbanism and, on closer study, many locally circumscribed elements. Specifically, the Gabii Project excavations have uncovered an early Iron Age (8th–5th centuries b.c.…
Views of Householders and Lay Disciples in theSutta Pitaka
Many scholars have argued that early Buddhism was primarily an ‘other‐worldly’ religion focusing on ascetics and monastics. In their view, the laity does not figure prominently, it was only centuries later that the laity's involvement became more noticeable. By examining references to householders (gahapati) and lay disciples (upāsaka) in the Sutta Pitaka section of the Pāli canon, this article challenges the view that the role of the laity prima…
The Bodhisattva Ideal in Theravada Buddhist Theory and Practice
In the academic study of Buddhism the terms" Mahayana" and "Hinayana" are often set in contradiction to each other, and the two vehicles are described as having different aspirations, teachings, and practices. The distinctions made between the Mahayana and the Hinayana, how-ever, force the schools into neat, isolated, and independent categories that often undermine the complexities that exist concerning their beliefs, ideologies, and practices
Views of Householders and Lay Disciples in theSutta Pitaka
Many scholars have argued that early Buddhism was primarily an ‘other‐worldly’ religion focusing on ascetics and monastics. In their view, the laity does not figure prominently, it was only centuries later that the laity's involvement became more noticeable. By examining references to householders (gahapati) and lay disciples (upāsaka) in the Sutta Pitaka section of the Pāli canon, this article challenges the view that the role of the laity prima…
Toward an Action-Oriented Pedagogy
By examining the role that texts play in the early training of Buddhist novices, this article supplements a growing collection of literature examining the role of “canon” in the Theravāda tradition. Drawing on fieldwork recently conducted in Sri Lanka, this article maintains that the majority of young newcomers to the monastic community or sangha learn about monastic behavior and practices less through learning the content of particular texts and…
Toward an Action-Oriented Pedagogy
By examining the role that texts play in the early training of Buddhist novices, this article supplements a growing collection of literature examining the role of “canon” in the Theravāda tradition. Drawing on fieldwork recently conducted in Sri Lanka, this article maintains that the majority of young newcomers to the monastic community or sangha learn about monastic behavior and practices less through learning the content of particular texts and…
Breaking the Ethnographer's Frames
This article assesses the use of auto-driven photo elicitation among children Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka. Comparing the data previously collected from word-only interviews with the data collected from auto-driven photo-elicited interviews, the author discusses how the latter field method tended to evoke greater descriptions from the research participants, how the descriptions were more emotionally charged than word-only descriptions, and how the…
Buddhism and Caste in India and Sri Lanka
This article examines the place of caste in Buddhism in India and Sri Lanka. In addition to suggesting a way of reconciling divergent attitudes toward caste in the Pali canon and several Sanskrit texts, this article explores the role that caste has played in the creation of new monastic lineages in eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century Sri Lanka, as well as its role in monastic patronage and temple building in contemporary Sri Lanka
Monastic Patronage and Temple Building in Contemporary Sri Lanka
The current article examines temple building and shifting monastic patronage in twentieth and twenty-first century Sri Lanka. Drawing heavily on fieldwork conducted in two separate upcountry villages over the past five years, the author argues that far from passively accepting the failings of local monastics, lay Buddhists are actively and directly involved in shaping their own religious experiences. In examining closely numerous conversations ce…
Is Merit in the Milk Powder? Pursuing Puñña in contemporary Sri Lanka
This article examines merit making in contemporary Sri Lankan practice. Exploring the role of emotions, most generally defined as "happiness in the heart/mind," in this important Buddhist activity, this article seeks not only to move beyond a more mechanical view of merit making as generalized exchange, but also to introduce an affective quality to the notion of intention (cetanā). Finally, this article questions the tendency to judge Buddhist be…
Attracting the Heart
‘Forget not your old country’
This article examines various linkages through which Sri Lankan diaspora communities in Malaysia sought and still seek meaning. Taking my cue from Engseng Ho’s work on the Hadrami in which he notes how absence shapes diasporic experiences, I investigate the constructive role that feelings of loss have played in the imagining and reimagining of the Sri Lankan community’s identity in Malaysia. More specifically, this article considers the role that…
Contemporary Buddhism in Malaysia
This chapter examines Buddhism in Malaysia, from its early history through the contemporary period. It investigates the factors that contributed to the migration and continued presence of Chinese, Thai, Burmese, and Sri Lankan Buddhists to peninsular Malaysia, as well as the causes that led to the founding of their own familiar places of worship. Turning more specifically to the postcolonial period, this chapter explores the intersection of polit…
A Camel Driver in the Achaemenid Persian Empire
This paper applies social network analysis in a study of the Persepolis Fortification archive to gain a more holistic picture of life in Achaemenid Persepolis. In particular, the paper focuses on translating the data from the archive into a series of network relations and visualizations and then identifying and examining a group of influential non-elites. These data allow for a particularly thorough examination of non-elite social, economic, and …
Buddhist Disaster Relief
Monks, Networks, and the Politics of ReligionSri Lankan Buddhist (Theravada) temples in Malaysia have only recently begun actively engaging in international disaster relief.This article explores the reasons for this emerging example of religious relief by examining the diasporic history of social welfare engagements by these temples and their interactions with initiatives by Chinese organizations and other religious aid providers in Malaysia.In d…
Narada Thero
Figures of Buddhist Modernity in Asia
This book introduces contemporary Buddhists from across Asia and from various walks of life. Eschewing traditional hagiographies, the editors have collected sixty-six profiles of individuals who would be excluded from most Buddhist histories and ethnographies. In addition to monks and nuns, readers will encounter artists, psychologists, social workers, part-time priests, healers, and librarians as well as charlatans, hucksters, profiteers, and ra…
A Changing Cityscape in Central Italy
Excavations carried out at the Latin city of Gabii between 2012 and 2018 have contributed new data to a number of debates around the emergence, lived experience, maintenance, decline, and resilience of cities. Gabii’s urban trajectories demonstrate both seemingly familiar forms of urbanism and, on closer study, many locally circumscribed elements. Specifically, the Gabii Project excavations have uncovered an early Iron Age (8th–5th centuries b.c.…
Reimagining urban success
The ancient city of Gabii-an Italian polity of the first millennium BC and a peer to early Rome-has often been presented as an example of urban decline, a counterpoint to Rome's rise from a collection of hilltop huts to a Mediterranean hegemon. Here the authors draw on the results from recent excavations at Gabii that challenge such simplistic models of urban history. Diachronic evidence documenting activity at the site over the course of 1400 ye…
An Environmental and Climate History of the Roman Expansion in Italy
A first synthesis of available data for the period of Rome's expansion in Italy (about 400-29 b.c.e.) shows the role of climate and environment in early Roman imperialism. Although global indices suggest a warmer phase with relatively few short-term climate events occuring around the same time as the expansion, local data emphasize the highly variable timing and expression of these trends. This variability casts doubt on ideas of a unitary, histo…
History (12 works) · Political science (11 works) · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography (10 works) · Buddhism (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Art (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Aesthetics (7 works) · Archaeology (7 works)