Benjamin Schonthal
Visiting Scholar of Buddhist Studies and Asian Religions
Benjamin Schonthal is Professor of Buddhist Studies and Head of the Religion Programme at the University of Otago in Aotearoa/New Zealand, where he also co-directs the Otago Centre for Law and Society. Ben received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has held visiting positions at the Institute for Advanced Studies (Bielefeld, Germany) and the Law School at the University of Chicago. Ben's research examines the intersections of religion, law and politics in South and Southeast Asia. He is the author of Buddhism, Politics and the Limits of Law (CUP, 2016) and co-editor of Buddhism and Comparative Constitutional Law (CUP, 2023, with Tom Ginsburg). His current book project, Law's Karma, supported by the Royal Society of New Zealand, examines the institutions, politics and practices of Buddhist law in contemporary Southern Asia.