A summary preview of two chapters, Laurie Cassidy's “The Tranquil Meditator” and Carol J. Moeller's “’bell hooks Made Me a Buddhist’: Liberatory Cross-Cultural Learning—Or Is This Just Another Case of How White People Steal Everything?” from the book, Buddhism and Whiteness: Critical Reflections. From a series of lectures by Dr Frances Garrett from a University of Toronto course that surveys historical, cultural, and textual contexts for Buddhist meditation, with a focus on the role of race in the history of Buddhist meditation in North America. We examine how Buddhist meditation practices including mindfulness have been shaped by, and even contributed to, forces like colonialism, orientalism, capitalism, and white supremacy in the last hundred years or so in North America.

Footnotes on "Religion and Ethnicity in Canada"

Footnotes is a series of short lectures or conversations on research in the field of Buddhist Studies. Created by Frances Garrett, a professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Toronto, with co-host Tony Scott, most episodes are summaries or discussions of articles or book chapters from academic work in the field, with some episodes featuring guest lectures or guest hosts from events and courses at the University of Toronto. We aim to make Buddhist Studies research freely accessible to students and the public.

Footnotes was made possible by a grant from eCampusOntario and also receives support from the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Toronto. Audio editing has been done by Jesse Whitty and Frances Garrett.