Albion Butters
PhD, Title of Docent
albion.butters@utu.fi |
Comparative Religion, Buddhism, Tibet, Cultural Studies
I hold a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. in the History of Religion from Columbia University (2006) with a focus in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. I was a Fulbright scholar in India, and I also have a background in qualitative and quantitative research in the IT sector in California. I am currently editor of Studia Orientalia Electronica, the peer-reviewed online journal of Studia Orientalia, the publication series of the Finnish Oriental Society established in 1917. My multidisciplinary research interests include Tibetology, questions of identity and meaning-making, and the integration of spiritual themes in popular culture.
My dissertation focused on the doxographical work of the 14th-century Tibetan scholar and yogi Longchen Rabjam (kun mkhyen klong chen rab 'byams pa). I continue to engage with the field as an editor of the Khyentse Vision Project, dedicated to the translation of the literary corpus of the 19th-century Rime scholar Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo ('jam dbyangs mkhyen brtse'i dbang po).
I am currently finishing a monograph titled Spi-Fi: Spiritual Fiction in Comics, which examines the significance of stories and art for identity construction and personal transformation; supported by the Kone Foundation, this research project was inspired by my involvement as one of the creators of the graphic novel Mandala (Dark Horse Comics).
A significant portion of my time at the University of Turku has been spent with the John Morton Center for North American Studies, where I was part of the Academy of Finland "Campus Carry" research project. Through the JMC, I have also edited and written for multiple special issues on the U.S. Presidential Election.
- (2024)
- Frontiers in Political ScienceApproaching Religion
- Articulations of power: Guns on campus and the protests against them (2023)
- Suomen Antropologi
- Shades of whiteness: The appropriation of religious symbols by the Nordic Alt-Right (2023)
- Shifting Lines of Force: Campus Carry and Power at The University of Texas at Austin (2023)
- European Journal of American Studies
- The Life and Works of Longchenpa (2023) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion Butters Albion M.
- A Ketaka Flower by Any Other Name: Erotic Double-Imagery in Kālidāsa’s Meghadūta (2022)
- Studia Orientalia
- At the Breaking Point: Introduction (2022)
- WiderScreen
- At the Breaking Point: Media and Politics in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election (2022)
- WiderScreen
- (Dis)Belief in QAnon: Competing Hermeneutics in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election (2022)
- WiderScreen
- Firearms Fetishism in Texas: Entanglements of Gun Imaginaries and Belief (2022) Up in Arms: Gun Imaginaries in Texas Butters Albion M.
- Imaging Texas Gun Culture: A Photo Essay (2022) Up in Arms: Gun Imaginaries in Texas Butters Albion M., Heiskanen Benita, Kähkönen Lotta
- Loaded with the Past, Coloring the Present: The Power of Gun Imaginaries (2022) Up in Arms: Gun Imaginaries in Texas Heiskanen Benita, Butters Albion M, Kolehmainen Pekka M.
- Poetry, Drama, and Aesthetics: Papers of the 12th World Sanskrit Conference held in Helsinki, Finland, 13–18 July 2003 (2022)
- Studia Orientalia
- Up in Arms: Gun Imaginaries in Texas (2022) Heiskanen Benita, Butters Albion M., Kolehmainen Pekka M.
- Beyond Argumentum in Terrorem: The Contested Rhetoric of Campus Carry (2021)
- Journal of American Studies
- Fear in the Classroom: Campus Carry at The University of Texas at Austin (2021)
- Texas education review
- Not a “Nonissue”: Perceptions and Realities of Campus Carry at The University of Texas at Austin (2021)
- Journal of American Studies
- Concealed Handguns at the University – Researchers Study “Campus Carry” in Texas (2020) Albion M. Butters
- Purāṇas, Āgamas, and Tantras - Papers of the 12th World Sanskrit Conference held in Helsinki, Finland, 13–18 July 2003 (2020) Albion M. Butters
- Illuminating the Goal: rDzogs chen and Doxography in 14th-century Tibet (2018) Albion M. Butters