Ray Buckner
Ray Buckner is a PhD Student in Religious Studies. Positioning themselves at the nexus of the subfields of American Religions and Buddhist Studies, their research examines sexual violence in American Buddhism, queer and trans experiences with Buddhism in the United States and Thailand, and Tantric Sexual Retreats. Ray’s article, “Buddhist Teachers’ Responses to Sexual Violence: Epistemological Violence in American Buddhism” (2020), was published in The Journal of Global Buddhism. His article, “Zen in Distress: Theorizing Gender Dysphoria and Traumatic Remembrance within Sōtō Zen Meditation” (2020), was included in a special issue of “Buddhism and the Body” for Religions. His book review of Hugh Urban's Secrecy: Silence, Power, and Religion” (2021) was published in The Pacific World Journal. Ray's advisor is Robert Orsi.
Ray received his M.A. in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from The Ohio State University in 2020. In their free time, Ray enjoys writing for Lion’s Roar Magazine, Buddhadharma: The Practioner’s Quarterly, and The Institute of Buddhist Studies’ Ten Thousand Things Blog, where they discuss transgender Buddhism, racial injustice, and sexuality and desire. Ray also deeply enjoys studying Thai, and spends a great deal of their free time writing in Thai and learning the Thai language.