Theravāda Buddhism Web Directory

The Department of Pali was established in April 2006 to mark 2550^th anniversary of the great passing away of the Lord Buddha and the 50^th anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s embrace of Buddhism.

The main objectives of this University are the propagation of Buddha Dhamma,the promotion of the Buddhist & Pali studies in Sri Lanka and abroad and the provision of facilities for the conduct of research in the relevant fields.

Nalanda Institute was conceptualised in January 2006 in response to the needs of the Buddhist community to have an institution for proper, systematic and holistic learning of the Buddha-Dhamma in Malaysia. The then Spiritual Advisor to Nalanda Buddhist Society, Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Thera gave his unequivocal support to the idea.

The Nalanda Institute was formally established in July 2007. Dr. Tan Ho Soon was appointed the Institute’s Founding Director by Nalanda Buddhist Society. Under its patronage, the Institute provides systematic Buddhist education and serves as a resource centre to the Buddhist community in Malaysia. Its primary focus is on Pāli and Buddhist Studies, Leadership & Management Training, Conferences, Learning Resource Centre and Buddhist Publications.

The Institute offers various courses in Buddhist and P?li Studies leading to Certificate and Diploma levels, as well as short training courses to enhance leadership and management skills for Buddhist volunteers. All courses are freely available to the public in line with the Institute’s charitable objectives.

Besides its Centre in Selangor, the Institute’s courses have also been held in Kedah, Kelantan, Kuala Lumpur, Sabah and Terengganu, in collaboration with local Buddhist organizations. To date, more than 6,000 participants have benefited from the Institute’s courses, study tours and conferences.

The College is dedicated to study and research in the field of religious studies and fosters mutual understanding, cooperation, and respect among people of different religious traditions both in Thailand and throughout the world.

The College offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. The undergraduate program is a bilingual using both the Thai and English languages. The international MA and PhD programs are conducted in English.

UCLA currently houses one of the top three programs in Buddhist Studies in the United States, both in terms of faculty quality and size and in breadth of coverage.

Based at the University of Sunderland, it aims to act as a focus for Buddhist Studies in the UK, and is open to academics, post-graduates, and unaffiliated Buddhist scholars or interested Buddhist practitioners.

The Centre of Buddhist Studies was established in September 2000. It is the first academic centre to focus on Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong and at other local universities.

The International Buddhist College initially offers a first degree program awarding B.A. in Religious Studies and B.A. in Liberal Arts degree as follow:

1. Bachelor of Arts (Buddhist Philosophy)

2. Bachelor of Arts (Buddhist Historical and Cultural Studies)

3. Bachelor of Arts (Pali and Sanskrit Languages and Literature)

In the future, IBC will also offer Postgraduate degree courses in Buddhist Studies, such as M.A., Ph.D degree research programs and also secular courses.

The Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Bristol was created in 1993 within the Department of Theology and Religious Studies (above). It is the only Centre for Buddhist Studies in the UK, and as well as the usual undergraduate and research degrees offers the only taught MA in Buddhist Studies in the UK.

The World Buddhist University (WBU) was established in B.E. 2541 (1998) by a resolution of the World Fellowship of Buddhists. It has, in its organization and administrative structure, four institutes consisted of :
- The Institute of Research and Development;
- The Institute of Training and Curriculum Development;
- The Institute of Spiritual Practice and
- The Institute of Educational System Based on Buddhism;
- The Information and Cultural Exchange Centre.