The Institute of Buddhist Studies is a Jodo Shinshu-affiliated seminary and graduate school, located in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. It is a member school of the

Graduate Theological Union The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 ...

, also located in Berkeley. Its mission is to provide graduate level education in the entirety of the Buddhist tradition with specialization in Jodo Shinshu ministry and Buddhist chaplains. It is the sole seminary for ministers serving temples in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

through the

Buddhist Churches of America The Buddhist Churches of America (abbreviated as BCA in English, ' or ''Beikoku Bukkyōdan'' in Japanese) is the United States branch of the Nishi Honganji subsect of Jōdo Shinshū ("True Pure Land School") Buddhism. The BCA headquarters is at 1 ...

, the U.S. mainland branch district of the Nishi

Hongwanji , also archaically romanized as Hongwanji, is the collective name of the largest school of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism (which further sub-divides into the Nishi and Higashi branches). 'Hongan-ji' may also refer to any one of several actual temple bui ...

sect of

Japanese Buddhism Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had ...

History

Following the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II,

nisei is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...

("second generation") Buddhists in California desired to create an educational program for American-born ministers or priests. Supported by the Buddhist Churches of America, a study program was established in 1949 at the Berkeley Buddhist Temple and overseen by Rev. Kanmo Imamura and his wife Jane. Prior to this, all US ministers were educated and trained in Japan. In 1966, the BCA purchased a building in Berkeley to house the study center. With support of BCA Bishops Shinsho Hanayama and Kenryu Tsuji, the IBS incorporated with the State of California as a graduate school and seminary in 1969. Under the direction of Bishop Seigen Yamaoka, in 1985 IBS became an affiliate of the Graduate Theological Union. In 2021, the GTU accepted IBS as a full member school, the first non-Christian seminary to be a member school. Under the leadership of President David Matsumoto and Dean Scott Mitchell, IBS was granted accreditation by the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Sam ...

in 2020.

Educational Programs

The Institute of Buddhist Studies offers three graduate degree programs: # Master of Arts in Buddhist Studies (M.A.B.S.) # Master of Divinity (M.Div.) # Master of Arts (M.A.) with a concentration in Buddhist Studies jointly offered with the Graduate Theological Union The Institute of Buddhist Studies also offers six certificate programs which may be completed concurrently within a degree program to focus one’s studies and certify competence in a particular field of study, or may be completed as stand-alone programs: # Certificate in Buddhist Studies (online) # Certificate in Shin Buddhist Studies (online) # Certificate in Sōtō Zen Buddhist Studies (online) # Certificate in Theravada Buddhist Studies # Certificate in Buddhist Chaplaincy # Certificate in Buddhism and Contemporary Psychology

Publications

The Institute of Buddhist Studies publishes an academic journal, the ''Pacific World'', and has partnered with several other organizations to produce journals and book series: * ''Pacific World: Journal of Institute of Buddhist Studies'' * Contemporary Issues in Buddhist Studies book series * Pure Land Buddhist Studies book series * ''The Pure Land: Journal of the International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies'' * ''The Buddhist Forum'' * ''The Journal of Buddhist Literature'' * IBS Monograph Series * Publications of the Center for Contemporary Shin Buddhist Studies

References

External links

Institute of Buddhist Studies
{{Authority control Jōdo Shinshū Graduate Theological Union Buddhist universities and colleges in the United States Educational institutions established in 1949 1949 establishments in California Buddhism in California