Buddhism and the Beats

October 29, 2008, 6:00 pm

Ferguson Lecture Hall
600 South Michigan Avenue, 1st floor

Stephen T. Asma, Ph.D. examines the spiritual impact of Buddhism on beat writers including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Asma will discuss several schools of Buddhism, such as Zen and Tibetan, that appealed to the iconoclasts of the Beat movement. Asma is faculty in cultural studies and humanities and a Distinguished Scholar at Columbia College Chicago, is the author of five books, including: Buddha for Beginners, Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads: The Cultural and Evolution of Natural History Museums and The Gods Drink Whiskey: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment in the Land of the Tattered Buddha.  His forthcoming book, On Monsters: A Tour of Fascination will be published by Oxford University Press in 2009. Explore Asma’s writings and artwork at www.stephenasma.com

The lecture is part of Signature Showcase, a new public programming series sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Columbia College Chicago designed to highlight the achievements of college faculty.
For more information call 312-369-7355.

PHOTO OF STEPHEN ASMA by SARAH McKINNEY.