Why Study at McMaster?
Apply now to begin a PhD or MA in one of the world’s leading programs in the study of Buddhism and other Asian religions. Recent graduates of the program at McMaster University now teach in top universities in North America and Asia. Your studies will be guided by faculty members who are renowned experts in the field. James Benn, Shayne Clarke, and Mark Rowe can supervise your interdisciplinary research in the texts, traditions, and practices of Buddhism and other Asian religions. You will be trained in the techniques of philology, ethnography, literary studies and textual criticism.
Graduate Funding
Did you know that there are numerous funding opportunities to support your graduate studies? The minimum guaranteed funding for doctoral students is currently $20,500 a year for four years. Further financial support from the university is available to full-time students on a competitive basis. Some of our MA students receive upwards of $8,000 a year.
McMaster's Department of Religious Studies offers teaching assistantships, various scholarships, external awards, travel scholarships, and bursaries.
Discover Hamilton
Scholarly activities are only part of the total experience of being a grad student. Extra-curricular activities in the Department include summer softball, hockey leagues, departmental gatherings, writing seminars, professional development, and more. Boasting the largest university gym in Canada, graduate-only bar (where you’ll often find us after a seminar), an amazing array of restaurants, and kilometers of hiking trails, Hamilton offers plenty beyond the classroom.
McMaster is situated in Hamilton, Ontario, a city of more than half a million wrapped around the western most shore of Lake Ontario, approximately equal distance between the cities of Toronto and Buffalo, New York.
James A. Benn
Ph.D. East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, 2001
Professor | Director, McMaster University Centre for Buddhist Studies