"From Satori to Second Life: Convert Zen and the Spiritualization of Cybernetics in Post War America" – Gregory Grieve, UNC-Greensboro

Interested faculty and graduate students are cordially invited to a talk by Gregory Grieve, Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at UNC-G. The talk will be followed by a reception.
Why are there so many Buddhists online? Grieve does not aim to judge the authenticity of such Buddhist practice. Rather, he aspires to the anthropological goal of understanding how and why people in the digital culture of networked society came to use what they define as “Zen.” He argues that digital Zen on Second Life is best understood not as a flawed representation of classic Asian religious traditions, but rather as a popular post-World War II spiritualizing of cybernetic thought that has a family resemblance and a genealogical relation to Eastern traditions. To sustain this argument, however, he first needs to contextualize it by fleshing out who practices, and what constitutes the Zen of Second Life.
Gregory Grieve is an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. He researches and teach at the intersection of Asian religions, popular culture, media, and theory. Specifically, Grieve is a leader in the field of digital religion, and a pioneer in the emerging field of religion in digital games. He publishes books and articles and presents internationally on these subjects.  Grieve also serves the profession, university, college, and the community.   In his free time, he makes films, gardens, games and co-owns Scuppernong Books, an independent bookstore in downtown Greensboro.
This talk is sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies and the Carolina Asia Center at UNC-CH.
 
DATE:  November 14, 2013
LOCATION:  Hyde Hall Incubator Room, UNC-CH
TIME:  5:00pm