CRCC in the NewsRNS: Gajaweera on Buddhism and Sri Lanka’s Recent Protest MovementProtests that led to Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resignation have raised questions about the role of Buddhism in the country’s politics. Religion News Service interviewed CRCC’s Nalika Gajaweera about the Buddhist …Topics: Asia, Buddhists and Buddhism, Protests and Uprisings, Religious Leadership- ArticleSri Lanka’s Dual Crisis: Ethnic Conflict & the Debt EconomyThis article was originally published by Jamhoor. “Except for the home crowd cheering for our national team at an international cricket match, it was the first time I was seeing Sri Lankans …Topics: Asia, Buddhists and Buddhism, National and Cultural Identity, Protests and Uprisings
ArticleIn Orthodox Georgia, Women Are Pioneering Tourism To A Muslim Valley Hit Hard By WarThis story was originally published by Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. PANKISI, Georgia— Off the beaten path and between the thickly forested Caucacus mountains bordering Russia …Topics: Asia, Engaged Spirituality, Muslims and Islam, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleAlissa Wahid: A Legacy of Transformation in IndonesiaThis article was originally published by the KAICIID Dialogue Centre, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Inheriting a father’s legacy is never easy — especially when that father …Topics: Asia, Government and Religion, Interfaith/Multifaith Movements, Muslims and Islam, National and Cultural Identity, Religious Leadership, Religious Minorities, Religious Pluralism- VideoThe Intersection of Gender, Nationalism and Faith-based Giving in Sri Lanka
ArticleSoni Sori: An Indigenous Activist Fights in Memory of the Children She Couldn’t SaveThis article was originally published in Religion News, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. DELHI, India (RNS) — When the students fled her village school in 2011 to join Maoist rebels …Topics: Asia, Engaged Spirituality, Gender and Sexuality, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleModi silent on Muslim philanthropist’s offer of medical supplies for IndiaThis article was originally published by Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. NEW DELHI (RNS) — Only 30 miles from the northern Indian city of Amritsar, oxygen …Topics: Asia, COVID, Engaged Spirituality, Healthcare, Muslims and Islam, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleKushil Gunasekera: ‘The More You Give, the More Will Be Yours to Give’This article was originally published by The Arrow Journal, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. “I want to be one of the nicest human beings that this earth …Topics: Asia, Buddhists and Buddhism, Disaster Response, Engaged Spirituality, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleSonic Fields of Protection in Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 PandemicIn a piece for the Asia Research Institute, CRCC’s Nalika Gajaweera and fellow anthropologist Neena Mahadev examine how for Sinhala Buddhists, pirit recitations serve to channel Dharmic energies and intentions during the COVID-19 …Topics: Asia, Buddhists and Buddhism, COVID, Healthcare, Race and Culture
ArticleSapi’s Struggle: Indigenous Resistance to Cultural Assimilation in the PhilippinesThis article was published with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. The buoyant chatter of children drifted down from a wooded ridge as we pulled up to the teaching …Topics: Asia, Community Dynamics, Engaged Spirituality, Environment, Place and Religion, Political Attitudes and Values, Religious Beliefs and Rituals
ArticleRev. Anand Mathew: A Catholic Priest Takes on Interfaith Fight Against COVID-19 in IndiaThis article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. VARANASI, India — Wearing a lilac tunic with a coarse cotton towel around his neck, …Topics: Asia, Catholics and Catholicism, COVID, Economic Inequality, Engaged Spirituality, Interfaith/Multifaith Movements, Religious Leadership, Spiritual Exemplars
ArticleSpiritual Leadership in MyanmarI visited Yangon for the first time in January 2020, and from the airport tarmac into its downtown, the city had been signposted with billboards of Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s face. She …Topics: Asia, Buddhists and Buddhism, Engaged Spirituality, Political Attitudes and Values, Religious Leadership
CRCC Experts
To schedule an interview with one of our experts, please contact CRCC:
crcc@usc.edu or 213-743-1611
Nalika GajaweeraSenior Research AnalystNalika Gajaweera is a cultural anthropologist specialized in Buddhism, transnationalism and ethics, with an area expertise in South Asia.
Donald E. MillerDirector of Strategic InitiativesDonald Miller focuses on global religious trends, genocides of the 20th century, and the role of religious NGOs in addressing issues of moral concern.
Nick StreetSenior WriterNick Street is a journalist covering religious change and innovation, Buddhism, Pentecostalism and LGBT issues.