51Թ

Kin Cheung

Classroom

Dr. Kin Cheung

Associate Professor of East and South Asian Religions; Chair, Religion and Society Department and Philosophy Department; Priscilla Payne Hurd Chair in the Arts and Humanities

kin cheung

Contact

Office: Comenius 110
Email: cheungk@moravian.edu
CV: 

Education

Ph.D., Religion, Temple University
M.A., Religion, Temple University
B.A., Philosophy, New York University

Interests

Contemporary Buddhism (Buddhism and health, Buddhist involvement in economics and capitalism), Chinese Buddhism (Chan and Huayan), Chinese Philosophical-Religious Traditions (Confucianism, Daoism), Japanese Buddhism (Zen), Buddhist Ethics, Buddhism and Science

Courses

Courses Developed

Asian American Experiences HIST/REL/WGSS 132
Asian Traditions through Film COMM/REL 128
Buddhism and Mindfulness REL 221
Death, Dying and Rebirth LinC 101
Ethics in Asian Cultures PHIL/REL 270
Healing, Health and Medicine in Asian Contexts REL 127
Humanities Seminar IDIS 192
Inequality, Climate Change Denial, and Migration IDIS 290
Murder, Mourning, and Memory IDIS 194
Religion and Capitalism REL 226
Sex and Karma REL/WGSS 269

Others Taught

Directed Study of Religion REL 385
Religions of India: Hinduism and Buddhism REL 123
Religious Thought of China and Japan REL 124

Graduate Research Supervision

x (seishinshugi) in Contemporary Japanese and American Shin Buddhism

Undergraduate Honors and Individual Studies Research Supervision

  • The Effect of a Short Mindfulness Intervention on True and False Memory Recall Using the DRM Paradigm
  • Death and Rebirth in Buddhism
  • The Value of Religious Studies for Graphic Art Design
  • Scientific Research on Buddhist Meditation
  • Neuroscience and Meditation
  • Animal Rights and Buddhism
  • Nirvana and Buddhist Conceptions of Karma
  • Mindfulness for Anxiety and Anger
  • Philosophical Analysis of Anatta

Selected Publications

Books 

  • 2024 Cheung, K. ed. . Asia Shorts open access supplement. Association for Asian Studies, 2024.
  • 2024 Salguero, C. Pierce, K. Cheung, and Susannah Deane, eds. . Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2024.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  • 2026 Cheung, K. "A Chinese American Node of Healing: Taiji, Acupuncture, Qigong, and Buddhist Medical Arts" Transnational Asia 8, no. 1 (2026): 20 (Pp. 20). Open Access:  
  • 2023 Cheung, K. "How Meditation Affects Ethical Reasoning and Ethical Behavior: Limitations of Current Research and Suggestions Moving Forward." ????   [Mindful Practice] 7 (2023): 78-103.  
  • 2022 Cheung, K. and Minjung Noh. "Covid-19, Shincheonji, and the Limits of South Korean Secularism: The Devil in Patient 31" Religion, State and Society 50 (3): 316-337.
  • 2021 Cheung, K. "Merit, Karma, and Exchange: Chinese Buddhist Mountain Tourism Company Listings on the Stock Market." The Journal of the American Academy of Religion 86 (3): 931-955.
    Open Access: 
  • 2015 Cheung, K.Ethical Implications of 訡ⲹ-?ⲹ: Helping Without Imposing. The Journal of Buddhist Ethics 22 (2015): 371-399.
    Open Access: 

Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters

  • 2026 Cheung, K. "'Losing Control of the Fire and Entering a Demonic State' (Zouhuorumo): Interview with a Chinese American Buddhist Healer." In Meditation Sickness: A Sourcebook on the Danges of Buddhist Practice, edited by C. Pierce Salguero, 214-220. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2026.
  • 2025 Cheung, K. "Healing (With) Q via Qogong, Acupuncture, and 󨥲Բܨ: Code-Switching and the Case of a Chinese American Healer." In Subtle Energies in Therapy, Spirituality, Arts, and Politics. 1800-Present, edited by Julian Strube, Marleen Thaler, and Dominic Zoehrer. Numen Book Series: Studies in the History of Religions 182, 163-186. Leiden: Brill, 2025. 
  • 2025 Cheung, K. "Placebo Effects, Qi, and Intention: How Biomedical Hegemony Policies Competing Paradigms." In Religion, Spirituality and Public Health: Competing and Complementary Epistemes, edited by Karen O'Brien-Kop and Suzanne Newcombe. Proceedings of the British Academy Series 278, 199-200. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2025. Open Access:
  • 2024 Cheung, K. "'Foreign' Asia and Cultural Relativism." In Teaching Asia during a Resurgence of Anti-Asian Racism, edited by Kin Cheung. Asia Shorts open access supplement, 55-63. Association for Asian Studies, 2024. Open Access:
  • 2024 Cheung, K. "Introduction to Teaching about Asia in a Time of Anti-Asian Racism." In Teaching Asia during a Resurgence of Anti-Asian Racism, edited by Kin Cheung. Asia Shorts open access supplement, 1-4. Association for Asian Studies, 2024. Open Access:
  • 2024 Cheung, K. "Buddhist Healing in the Community: A Chinese American Healer in New York City." In Buddhism and Healing in the Modern World, edited by C. Pierce Salguero, Kin Cheung, and Susannah Deane, 153-173, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2024.
  • 2024 Cheung, K., Susannah Deane, and C. Pierce Salguero, "Introduction" In Buddhism and Healing in the Modern World, edited by C. Pierce Salguero, Kin Cheung, and Susannah Deane, 1-18. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2024
  • 2024  Cheung, K. "American Buddhism and Secularism." In The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism, edited by Ann Gleig and Scott A. Mitchell, 377-394. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • 2023  Cheung, K. "A Chinese American Religious Healer: Toward Filial Ethnography." In The Familial Occult: Explorations at the Margins of Critical Autoethnography, edited by Alexandra Co?ofan?. European Association of Social Anthropologists Series 47, 17-44. Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2023.
  • 2022  Cheung, K. "Miracle as Natural: A Contemporary Chinese American Religious Healer." In Miracles: An Exercise in Comparative Philosophy of Religion, edited by Karen R. Zwier, David L. Weddle, and Timothy D. Knepper. Comparative Philosophy of Religion Series 3, 131-154. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022.
  • 2020  Cheung, K. "Mythmaking and COVID-19: Asian Alternatives to 'Warfare' Against Disease." In Teaching 51Թ Asia in a Time of Pandemic, edited by David Kenley, Asia Shorts Series 8, 61-68. New York: Columbia University Press, 2020. 
    Open Access: 
  • 2019  Cheung, K. and Salguero, C.P. "Interview with a Contemporary Chinese American Healer." In Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Sources, edited by C. Pierce Salguero, 241-251. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019.
  • 2018  "Implicit and Explicit Ethics in Mindfulness-Based Programs in a Broader Context." In Handbook of Ethical Foundations of Mindfulness, edited by Steven Stanley, Ronald E. Purser, and Nirbhay N. Singh, 305-321. Springer International Publishing 2018.

Exhibition Catalog Co-Editor and Essay

  • 2022  Baxter, Kristin and K. Cheung, eds. Loving Kindness: A Children's & Teens' Art Exhibition about Mindfulness. Bethlehem: Payne Gallery, 2022.
  • 2022  Cheung, K. "Religious Literacy for Mindfulness in Classrooms and Art Spaces." In Loving Kindness: A Children's & Teens' Art Exhibition about Mindfulness, edited by Kristin Baxter and K. Cheung, 10-12. Bethlehem: Payne Gallery, 2022.

Review Essays

  • 2020  Cheung, K. "Defining Health and Religion: Mindfulness and Buddhism." Religious Studies Review 46, no. 3 (2020): 359-366.
  • 2018  Cheung, Kin. "Human Agency in Buddhism and Science." Special Issue on Religion and Science, Religious Studies Review 44, no. 4 (2018): 395-401.
  • 2016  Cheung Kin, Valerio A., Kunu, V., Bingenheimer, M. Chinese Religion(s): A Survey of Textbooks. Studies in Chinese Religions 2, no. 3 (2016): 315-328.

Exhibition

  • 2022  Co-Curator, "Loving Kindness: A Children's & Teen's Art Exhibition about Mindfulness," Payne Gallery, 51Թ Bethlehem, PA 2022.01.27--2022.03.13. Exhibition Catalogue (Pp. iv + 53).

Recent Presentations

Conferences, Seminars, and Invited Talks (*=Invited)

  • 2027 "Representation in Buddhist Studies: Whose Future?" Panelist at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, Boston, MA, March
  • 2026 "Sensing Qi Through Qigong, Acupuncture, and Reiki: Subjective Experiences in Religious Studies." Panelist at the "Sensing China: Religion, Philosophy, Medicine, and Literature" roundtable, 54th Mid-Atlantic Region Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, October
  • *2026 " Scholarship: Grant Application, Visibility of Your Scholarly Work." Presented at the ASIANetwork Early Career Institute, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA, October
  • *2026 "Linguistic Metaphors in Understanding Chinese Medicine." Presented at the East Stroudsburg University Workshop "Chinese Philosophy in the Contemporary World," East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, PA October
  • 2026 "Branding in Contemporary Buddhist Business Ethics: The Social Capital of Perception." Presented at the Philadelphia-Area Buddhist Studies Work Group and Penn Center of Ancient Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, April 
  • *2026 "East Asian Buddhist Visual and Material Culture in Museums." Presented via webcast at the "East Asia through the Lens of Visual and Material Culture: A Seminar for Teachers," National Consortium for Teaching 51Թ Asia, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, February
  • 2025 "East Asian Self-Cultivation Practices in Transnational Perspective." Panelist at the American Academy of Religion Annual National Meeting, Boston, MA, November
  • 2025 "The Masculinity of a Chinese Religious Healer beyond Wen-Wu: Attending to Wounds, Physical Contact, and Intimacy in the Healer-Patient Relationship." To be presented at the American Academy of Religion Annual National Meeting, Boston, MA, November
  • *2025"Buddhist Healing in the Community: A Chinese American Healer in New York City." Presented at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., October
  • *2025 "Foreign' Asia and Cultural Relativism." Presented at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., October
  • *2025 "Buddhism and Healing in the Modern World." Presented via webcast at the "East Asia through the Lens of Visual and Material Culture: A Seminar for Teachers," National Consortium for Teaching 51Թ Asia, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, March
  • 2024 "Author Meets Author: Multiple Truths in Buddhist Studies" Panelist at the American Academy of Religion Annual National Meeting, San Diego, CA, November
  • 2024 "Deviation from Proper Chinese Self-Cultivation or Spiritual Practices: Interview with a Contemporary Teacher of Martial Arts, Qigong, and Buddhist Healing," Presented at the American Academy of Religion Annual National Meeting, San Diego, CA, November
  • *2024 "A Chinese American Scholar of Religion "Correcting" His Father, A Religious Healer: Between Filial Piety and Filial Ethnography," Presented at We Should Know Better: A Workshop of Western Scholars of Religion Involved in Asian Spiritual Practices, Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, University of Victoria, Victoria Canada, September
  • *2024 "Robots and Religion: AI and the Future of Ritual", Presented via webcast at the East Asia through the Lens of Visual and Material Culture: A Seminar for Teachers, National Consortium for Teaching 51Թ Asia, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, March
  • *2024 "Why China and Asian Studies Matter" Panelist at "China Through the Looking Glass: Digital Cultures and AI Governance," an Asian Studies Development Program Workshop, Montclair State University, Montclair NJ, March
  • *2023 "Energy," Panelist at a workshop for The Chinese-English Keywords Project, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, October
  • *2023 "Buddhism and Healing in the Modern World" Presented via webcast at the College of Religious Studies Seminars, Mahidol University ????????????????, Salaya, Thailand, July
  • *2023 "Placebo Effects and Qi: Incommensurable Paradigms of Healing and Mind-Body" Presented at "Beliefs, Religious Worldviews and Public Health after Covid: Plural/Competing Epistemologies," a British Academy/Wellness Trust Conference, King's College, London, United Kingdom, May
  • *2023 "Transnationalism, Circulation, Race, Caste" Panelist at "Buddhism and Asian Cultural Connections: Bridging Local and Global," an Asian Studies / Global Asia Spring Colloquium, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA April
  • *2023 "Spirits in Chinese Contexts" Interpreter and discussant for a lecture by a Chinese American religious healer, Religions of the East: Focus on "The Self", Penn State Abington, Abington, PA, April
  • *2023 "A Chinese American Node of Healing: Taiji, Acupuncture, Qigong, and Buddhist Medical Arts" Presented at the Global Asias 6 Conference, Penn State University, University Park, PA, March
  • *2023 "Listing Chinese Buddhist Mountain Tourism Companies on the Stock Market: Investing Karma" Presented at the "China Classroom" initiative, Center for Chinese Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, March
  • *2023 "How Meditation Affects Ethical Reasoning and Ethical Behavior" Presented at the 11th International Conference of The Institute of Mind Humanities, "The Era of Mindful Practice: Implementation and Challenges in Revolutionizing the Mind, ????? ???????: ????? ??, ????? ??? ??, Wonkwang University ?????, Iksan, South Korea, February

Public Scholarship

  • 2026 Limited Series Podcast Creator, "Between Qi and Science: My Experience of What Can't Be Measured," Axis Mundi Media and The Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement (IRMCE) in collaboration with The Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI), funded by The Henry Luce Foundation, , October
  • 2026 Invited speaker, "Global Chinese Medical Arts and Mindfulness Meditation Apps," AANHPI Heritage Month Virtual Learning Session, First Eagle Investments, May
  • 2025 Interviewee, The Guardian on the commercialization of Buddhist temples in China, , September
  • 2025 Interviewee, New Books Network's podcast channels for Buddhist Studies and East Asian Studies on my edited volume Teaching Asia during a Resurgence of Anti-Asian Racism , May 
  • 2024 Interviewee, ASIANetwork on Asia-related curriculum with the liberal arts community, , August 
  • 2023 Interviewee, Black Beryl podcast on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality, , episode on a contemporary Chinese American Buddhist healer and my co-edited volume Buddhism and Healing in the Modern World, November
    Reposted in New Books Network's podcast channels for Buddhist Studies, Asian American Studies, East Asian Studies, and Chinese Studies , November
  • 2021 Interviewee, Asian American Intergenerational Storytelling Project, a documentary film on Asian Americans facing racism, injustice, and suffering, and how religions offer responses, San Francisco State University, , July
  • 2020 Interviewee, Plan A Magazine, podcast episode on international students and the Asian American experience, , December
  • 2020 Interviewee, WFMZ-TV 69 News on change in exemptions for international students in the U.S. taking online courses, , July
  • 2020 Interviewee, "The Importance of the Study of Religion and How it Applies to Everyday Life," Spiriosity podcast on religion and spirituality, , April
  • 2019 Interviewee, "Mindfulness and Meditation in Spiritual Caregiving," Spiritual Care Today--the official podcast of the Journal of Pastoral Care, , November
  • 2019 Interviewee, RosBiznesConsulting 㧢ڧ٧ߧ֧㧬ߧѧݧڧߧ on commercialization of Chinese Buddhist institutions, , August 
  • 2018 Interviewee, The Economist on IPO plans of Buddhist mountain tourism companies in China, , April