September 2, 2008

Philosophy professor speaks about Buddhism, Christianity

Donald W. Mitchell, professor of philosophy, will present "Buddhist Emptiness, Christian Trinity and the Spirituality of Unity" at 4:30 p.m. at the Krannert Building's Krannert Auditorium. The event, sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts' Religious Studies Program and the Aquinas Educational Foundation, is free and open to the public.

Mitchell is an expert on Buddhist philosophy and the relationship between Buddhism and Christianity. He is the author of "Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience," and he also is well-known in the field for "Spirituality and Emptiness: The Dynamics of the Spiritual Life in Buddhism and Christianity" and "The Gethsemani Encounter: A Dialogue on the Spiritual Life by Buddhist and Christian Monastics." His upcoming book is "Ecological Reflections by Buddhist and Christian Monastics."

He is one of the founding members of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, an adviser on Buddhism to the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and to the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue, and is director of the International Buddhist-Christian Theological Encounter.

Since 2002 Mitchell has been director of the Indiana Center for Cultural Exchange, a partnership among Purdue, Indiana University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Chicago and Georgetown University. The center collaborates with the U.S. Department of State on international dialogue projects focusing on Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Sources: Jennifer Bay, assistant professor of English and an organizer for the event, (765) 494-8122, jbay@purdue.edu

Donald Mitchell, (765) 494-4281, dmitch@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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