Daphne Weber Wikipedia, Twitter, Wiki
Daphne Weber Wikipedia, Twitter, Wiki – Daphne Weber, a doctorate candidate in anthropology at Washington State University, is the organization’s first Fulbright-Hays awardee, according to April Seehafer, head of the Distinguished Scholarships Programme.
Daphne Weber Wikipedia, Twitter, Wiki
The Fulbright-Hays is one of the prestigious Fulbright family of prizes and is supported exclusively by Congressional appropriations to the U.S. Department of Education. Foreign language and area studies-focused research and training initiatives are supported through this prize. The Fulbright-Hays: Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad category includes Weber’s grant.
With it, Weber will spend a year interacting and conducting interviews with Thai female monks, or bhikkhuni. For her doctoral dissertation on the therapeutic effects of ordination, she will conduct a thorough investigation. While bhikkhuni are not formally recognised within Southeast Asia’s largely Theravada tradition, female monks are recognised in East Asia, where people mostly practise Mahayana Buddhism.
Weber intends to visit Songdhammakalyani Monastery in Nakhon Pathom, about 47 train km west of Bangkok, between January and March 2022, depending on the COVID-19 procedures in effect at the time. This temple is Thailand’s first all-female temple. She intends to go to Sri Lanka to observe the monks’ yearly ordination ritual while conducting her studies there.
Returning Back to the Monastery
Weber had visited the monastery twice before to gather data for her WSU master’s thesis, which also focused on Thai Bhikkhuni. Julia Cassaniti, an associate professor in the department of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences, is her faculty mentor. Cassaniti has previously received a Fulbright-Hays grant.
Weber, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, developed a passion for Buddhism in his junior year of high school. She initially intended to attend college to become a lawyer, but after trying out several majors, she “discovered a passion for anthropology.” She graduated from Kansas State University with a B.S. in both history and leadership and anthropology and women’s studies.
She researched about Buddhist nuns and took courses on Southeast Asian faiths, but she couldn’t find many sources that had interviews with the real, ordained ladies. She pursued her doctorate studies at WSU under Dr. Cassaniti because she was determined to document their history. She spent three years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying Thai.
She lived with the bhikkhuni for a few weeks over the course of two summers to gather data. She observed the strict rituals and restrictions of the monks, including wearing all-white clothing, chanting and praying twice daily, and routinely tending to the temple grounds, in order to win their trust. By the end of the summer excursions, she made use of her two free evening hours to interview ladies about their personal histories and reasons for becoming ordained.
She emailed the abbess of the abbey a copy of her master’s thesis after it was finished. Weber discovered the women posted the translated version on their neighbourhood bulletin board despite receiving few comments on the content. To honour the relationships and collaboration they fostered, she also gave them an honorary graduation ribbon.
Appreciative of the Fulbright-Hays
The Fulbright-Hays grant enables Weber to live at the temple continuously for a year and offers her the chance to learn more about the women’s individual stories and what makes the temple a place of healing.
She explained that some bhikkhuni refer to the temple phone as a “hotline” for women to report abuse, illness, or suicidal thoughts. “I want to explore how the temple sets itself up as a place of refuge and why these very special female monks are called upon for support, in addition to why the women themselves chose to ordain.” Weber intends to pursue a job as a professor after receiving her Ph.D.
She stated, “Anthropology opened me up to the human condition and how variable it can be,” and she hopes to one day offer study abroad programmes for other people. “Everyone in the world contributes something special to the conversation. I’m grateful for the Fulbright-Hays grant because it allows me to tell others about these remarkable female monks. I feel privileged to do it.
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Source: HIS Education