Dr. Tim Graf

• 11/2017: Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.), Heidelberg University (Heidelberg, Germany), Faculty of Philosophy. Field: Religious Studies. Grade: Summa cum laude.
• 07/2009: Magister Artium (M.A.), Japanese Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany). M.A. thesis title: Der Wandel buddhistischer Bestattung und Trauerkultur im gegenwärtigen Japan. Eine Untersuchung mit Fokus auf dem Sôtô-Zen-Buddhismus [Changes of Buddhist Funerals and Grief-Culture in Contemporary Japan. An Analysis with Focus on Sôtô-Zen-Buddhism]. Primary supervisor: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Seifert (Japanese Studies); secondary supervisor: Prof. Dr. Inken Prohl (Religious Studies).
• 10/2005-09/2006: Foreign student at Nara University of Education (Nara, Japan), sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Monbukagakushô).
• 04/2003-07/2009: Japanese Studies and Religious Studies (Magister) at the University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 2001: Abitur at the Elisabeth-von-Thadden-Gymnasium (Heidelberg, Germany).

• 04/2018- Research Member / Assistant Professor at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, Nanzan University (Nagoya, Japan). Assistant Editor of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies.
• 10/2017-02/2018: Lecturer at the Institute of Religious Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 01/2015-04/2015: Research Assistant at the Institute of Religious Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany). 01/2015-04/2015: Research Assistant at the Institute of Religious Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 10/2013-09/2014: Research Assistant at the Graduate School of Law, Tohoku University (Sendai, Japan).
• 10/2011-06/2013: Research Associate at Project A9: "Zusammensetzung und Transformationen Zen-buddhistischer Rituale in Japan und Deutschland" [Ritual Sitting and Prayer Rituals - Composition and Transformation of Zen-Buddhist Rituals in Japan and Germany], Collaborative Research Center 619 "Ritual Dynamics," Heidelberg University (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 10/2010-09/2011: JSPS Foreign Researcher at the Department of Religious Studies, Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan).
• 08/2009-09/2010: Research Associate at Project A9: "Zusammensetzung und Transformationen Zen-buddhistischer Rituale in Japan und Deutschland" [Ritual Sitting and Prayer Rituals - Composition and Transformation of Zen-Buddhist Rituals in Japan and Germany], Collaborative Research Center 619 "Ritual Dynamics," Heidelberg University (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 02/2007-07/2009: Student Research Assistant at the Institute of Religious Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 09/2001-06/2002: Civilian Service, Berufsförderungswerk Heidelberg gGmbH, Department of Psychological Service (Heidelberg, Germany).

• Fellowship granted by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (10/2010-09/2011).
• Scholarship granted by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Monbukagakushô) (10/2005-09/2006).

• 2017: Brands of Zen: Kitô jiin in Contemporary Japanese Sôtô Zen Buddhism. Supervision: Prof. Dr. Inken Prohl (Religious Studies); Prof. Dr. Harald Fuess (Cultural Economic History), Heidelberg University (Heidelberg, Germany).

Editorial Work

• 2015: Co-edited with Inken Prohl: "Special Focus: Zen and Popular Culture." Feature for the Journal of Global Buddhism 16. Peer-reviewed.

Research Articles

• 2016: "Stabilizing the Rhythms of Life after the Tsunami: Kaneta Taiô." In Justin McDaniel, Mark Rowe, and Jeffrey Samuels (eds.): Figures of Buddhist Modernity in Asia. Honolulu, University of Hawai'i Press: 60-62. Peer-reviewed.
• 2016: "Buddhist Responses to the 3.11 Disasters in Japan." In Mark Mullins and Nakano Koichi (eds.): Disasters and Social Crisis in Contemporary Japan: Political, Religious, and Cultural Responses. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan: 156-181. Peer-reviewed.
• 2015: with Inken Prohl: "Introduction: Global Zen Buddhism - Looking at the Popular and Material Cultures of Zen." Journal of Global Buddhism 16 (journal special issue, co-edited with Inken Prohl): 33-36. Peer-reviewed.
• 2015: "Kontinuität im Wandel: Gräber als Orte buddhistischen Ahnengedenkens im gegenwärtigen Japan." [Continuity in Change. Graves as Places of Ancestor Veneration in Contemporary Japan] In Urs Matthias Zachmann and Christian Uhl (eds.): Japan und das Problem der Moderne. Wolfgang Seifert zu Ehren. [Japan and the Problem of Modernity. In Honor of Wolfgang Seifert] München, Iudicium: 394-415. Peer-reviewed.
• 2013: with Inken Prohl: "Ästhetik." [Aesthetics] In Christiane Brosius, Axel Michaels, and Paula Schrode (eds.): Ritual und Ritualdynamik. Schlüsselbegriffe, Theorien, Diskussionen. [Ritual and Ritual Dynamics. Key Terms, Theories, Discussions] Stuttgart, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht UTB: 32-38.
• 2012: with Shimazono Susumu: "The Rise of the New Spirituality." In Inken Prohl and John Nelson (eds.): Handbook of Religions in Contemporary Japan. Leiden, Brill: 459-485. Peer-reviewed.
• 2012: with Isomae Jun'ichi: "The Concepts of Religion and Religious Studies in Transcultural Contexts, with a Focus on Japan." In Inken Prohl and John Nelson (eds.): Handbook of Religions in Contemporary Japan. Leiden, Brill: 59-72. Peer-reviewed.
• 2011: "Diesseits des Jenseits. Transformationen buddhistischer Bestattungs- und Trauerkultur im gegenwärtigen Japan." [Transformations of Buddhist Funerary- and Grief-Culture in Contemporary Japan] Transformierte Buddhismen 2: 24-54. Peer-reviewed.
• 2011: "Zur Entwicklung der Kremation als Schnittstelle buddhistischer Transformationsprogramme in Japan." [Cremation as an Interface for the Transformation of Buddhism - Developments in Japanese history and present] In: Gregor Ahn, Nadja Miczek, and Katja Rakow (eds.): Diesseits, Jenseits und dazwischen? Die Transformation und Konstruktion von Sterben, Tod und Postmortalität. [This Life, Afterlife, and in Between? The Transformation and Construction of Dying, Death and Postmortality] Bielefeld, Transcript Verlag: 229-257. Peer-reviewed.
• 2011: with Gregor Ahn, Sebastian Emling, et al.: "Diesseits, Jenseits und dazwischen? Die Transformation und Konstruktion von Sterben, Tod und Postmortalität." [This Life, Afterlife, and in Between? The Transformation and Construction of Dying, Death and Postmortality] In Gregor Ahn, Nadja Miczek, and Katja Rakow (eds.): Diesseits, Jenseits und dazwischen? Die Transformation und Konstruktion von Sterben, Tod und Postmortalität. [This Life, Afterlife, and in between? The Transformation and Construction of Dying, Death and Postmortality] Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag: 11-41. Peer-reviewed.

Research Notes

• 2016: "Research Note: Documenting Religious Responses to 3.11 on Film." Asian Ethnology 75(1): 203-219. Peer-reviewed.

Feature Documentaries

Co-director, co-producer, co-editor, visual ethnographer, author

• 2013: Buddhism after the Tsunami. The Souls of Zen 3/11 Japan Special (Classroom Edition). A documentary film by Tim Graf & Jakob Montrasio (63 minutes). Available in English and Japanese language versions. Free streaming and download: http://vimeo.com/158309233

Review of Buddhism after the Tsunami by Michael Abele in the Asian Educational Media Service, 18.11.2014.

Review of Buddhism after the Tsunami by Benjamin Dorman (2017) in Asian Ethnology 76(1): 149-151.

• 2012: Souls of Zen. Buddhism, Ancestors, and the 2011 Tsunami in Japan. A documentary film by Tim Graf & Jakob Montrasio. m&r Kreativ (89 minutes). Available in English and German language versions.

DIE WELT article about Souls of Zen (print and online), 09.03.2013.

Short Films

Co-director, co-producer, co-editor, visual ethnographer, author

• 2016: "The Jônenji Cherry Blossom Festival." Vignette for Salvage and Salvation: Religion and Disaster Relief in Asia, special issue of Asian Ethnology 75(1). Free streaming and download: https://vimeo.com/141396760
• 2016: "Training 'Clinical Religious Specialists.': The rinshô shûkyôshi Training Program." Vignette for Salvage and Salvation: Religion and Disaster Relief in Asia, special issue of Asian Ethnology 75(1). Free streaming and download: https://vimeo.com/141380269

Book Reviews

• 2018: Review Paola, Cavaliere (2015): Promising Practices. Women Volunteers in Contemporary Japanese Religious Civil Society. Leiden and Boston, Brill. H-Shukyo (accepted for publication; forthcoming 2018).
• 2008: Review Bernstein, Andrew (2006): Modern Passings. Death Rites, Politics, and Social Change in Imperial Japan. Honolulu, University of Hawai'i Press. Transformierte Buddhismen 1: 136-142.

Film Reviews

• 2016: Review Kyoko Miyake (2016): Surviving the Tsunami - My Atomic Aunt. Asian Ethnology 75(2): 461-463.

Others

• 2008: Dossier: "Megachurches in den USA. Eine thematische Übersicht am Beispiel von Joel Osteen und der Lakewood Church zur 2. Tagung des Arbeitskreises Religionsästhetik im Rahmen der Deutschen Vereinigung für Religionswissenschaft (DVRW)." [Megachurches in the USA. A Thematic Abstract Using the Example of Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church for the Second Conference of the Research Group Religionsästhetik (Religious Aesthetics) within the German Association for the Study of Religions (DVRW)] (17.05.2008-18.05.2008): 1-17.
• 2008: "Ryûgaku to kikoku ni okeru igi ni tsuite." In Nara kyôiku daigaku (ed.): Nara kyôiku daigaku - Haideruberuku daigaku gakusei kôryû - kinenshi. Nara kyôiku daigaku: 128-129.

• Winter 2017/2018: proseminar "Zen-Buddhismus in einer globalisierten Welt." [Zen Buddhism in a globalized world], taught at the Institute of Religious Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg.
• Winter 2014/2015: proseminar "Von Religion zu Spiritual Care? Sterbebegleitung, Tod und Trauerbewältigung in Japan." [From religion to spiritual care? Terminal care, death, and grief care in Japan], taught at the Institute of Religious Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg.
• Summer 2012: proseminar "Buddhistische Reaktionen auf die Dreifachkatastrophe in Japan 2011" [Buddhist responses to the triple-disaster in Japan 2011], taught at the Institute of Religious Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg.
• Winter 2009/2010: proseminar "Zen-buddhistische Diskursdynamiken im gegenwärtigen Japan" [Zen-Buddhist discourse dynamics in contemporary Japan], taught at the Institute of Religious Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg.
• Summer 2007: tutorial for the course "Tempel-Buddhismus im gegenwärtigen Japan" [Temple-Buddhism in Contemporary Japan] taught by Inken Prohl at the Institute of Religious Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Heidelberg.

• 01.12.2017: "Women and Japanese Buddhism." International workshop Gender and Race. DAAD-JSPS Kyoto-Heidelberg Joint Research Project "Entangled Pasts in the Global Present: Gender, Labor and Citizenship," Heidelberg University (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 25.08.2015: "Religion in the Public Sphere: Policy Changes, Regionalism, and the Rise of 'Spiritual Care' in Post-3.11 Japan." International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR), XXI Quinquennial World Congress, Universität Erfurt (Erfurt, Germany).
• 29.06.2015: "Kitô jiin in Contemporary Japan." International workshop Combinatory Religious Practices in Japanese History - Nihonshi ni okeru shinbutsu shûgô, Heidelberg University (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 15.04.2015: "Buddhist Responses to the 3.11 Disasters in Japan." HeKKSaGOn Young Scholars Workshop, Tohoku University (Sendai, Japan).
• 30.03.2015: "Buddhism and Spiritual Care." International workshop Against Insularity: Moving Beyond 'Japanese Religions', Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, USA).
• 22.06.2014: "Japanese Buddhism and the Memorialization of 3/11." Asian Studies Conference Japan 2014, Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan).
• 17.05.2014: "From Buddhism to Spiritual Care? Memorialization and the Recreation of Everyday Life in Post-3/11 Japan." Conference of the International Union of Ethnological and Anthropological Sciences, Makuhari Messe Hall (Chiba, Japan).
• 13.09.2013: "Buddhist Responses to the 3/11 Disasters in Japan." International conference Japanese Responses to Social Crisis and Disaster, 1995 and 2011, University of Auckland (Auckland, New Zealand).
• 14.12.2012: "Zen Practice and Material Buddhist Culture in Post-3/11 Japan." International Conference Objects, Art, and Agency: Material Cultures of Modern Zen in Japan and the West, University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 16.03.2012: "From Relief to Redevelopment: Transitions in Japanese Temple Buddhism, 2011-2012." Association for Asian Studies 2012 Annual Conference (Toronto, Canada).
• 16.08.2010: "The Transfer and Transformation of 'Ritual Sitting' (zazen) in Japan and the West." International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR), XX Quinquennial World Congress, University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada).
• 01.10.2009: "Die Tradierung des buddhistischen Umgangs mit dem Tod im Kontext der gegenwärtigen Bestattungsindustrie in Japan." [Transmissions regarding the Buddhist Handling of Death in Context of the Contemporary Funeral Industry in Japan] 14. Deutschsprachiger Japanologentag, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (Halle, Germany).
• 23.09.2009: "Transformationen buddhistischer Bestattungs- und Trauerkultur im Japan der Gegenwart." [Transformations of Buddhist Funerary- and Grief Culture in Contemporary Japan] Jahrestagung der Deutschen Vereinigung für Religionswissenschaft (DVRW) 2009, Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Bochum, Germany).

• 28/29.09.2017: Session commentator for the 10th Next-Generation Global Workshop. Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan).
• 29.03.2015: Respondent for the panel "Temples, Shrines, and Depopulation in Contemporary Japan" organized by Daniel Friedrich for the Association for Asian Studies 2015 Annual Conference (Chicago, USA).
• 13/14.12.2013: Organization of the International Conference Objects, Art, and Agency: Material Cultures of Modern Zen in Japan and the West. University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 16.11.2012: Organization of the Panel "Disaster, Film, and 'Souls of Zen': A Documentary and Discussion of Religious Responses to the 2011 Tsunami." American Academy of Religion 2012 Annual Meeting (Chicago, USA).

• 04.12.2014: "Vom Hörsaal ins Kino und zurück: Zur Filmproduktion in Forschung, Lehre und Beruf." [From the classroom to the cinema and back. Film production in research, teaching and working life] FANJaH Heidelberg e.V. (Heidelberg, Germany).
• 17.09.2013: "Reflecting on "Zen" and Thirty Months of Disaster Relief: Buddhism after the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan." Victoria University of Wellington (Wellington, New Zealand).
• 07.03.2013: "Ethnographic Filmmaking." Workshop with Mark Rowe, McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada).
• 17.06.2009: "Präsentation methodischer Fragestellungen zum Dissertationsvorhaben." [Presentation of Methodological Questions Concerning the Dissertation Project] Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Bochum, Germany).

• 10.03.2017: Film showing and discussion at the All Japan Young Buddhist Association Biennial Conference, Sendai International Center (Sendai, Japan).
• 24.02.2016: Film showing and discussion with Jørn Borup at Aarhus University (Aarhus, Denmark).
• 26.11.2015: Film showing and discussion at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London (London, England).
• 25.11.2015: Film showing and discussion with Erica Baffelli at Manchester University, (Manchester, England).
• 29.11.2014: Film screening and discussion at the 2014 Anthropology of Japan in Japan conference, Nanzan University (Nagoya, Japan).
• 28.10.2014: Film showing and discussion with Inaba Keishin at Osaka University (Osaka, Japan).
• 20.06.2014: Film showing and discussion with David Slater at Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan).
• 17.12.2013: Film showing and discussion at the 95th Religious Studies Workshop, Tohoku University, (Sendai, Japan).
• 04.11.2013: Film showing and discussion at the 17th Japan Religion Coordinating Project for Disaster Relief (JRPD) Conference, Tokyo University (Tokyo, Japan).
• 19./20.09.2013: Film showings and discussions with Benjamin Schonthal at the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand).
• 17.09.2013: Film showing and discussion at the New Zealand Archive of Film (Wellington, New Zealand).
• 13.09.2013: Film showing and discussion with Mark Mullins at the University of Auckland (Auckland, New Zealand).
• 14.03.2013: Film showing and discussion with Morten Schlütter at the University of Iowa (Iowa, USA).
• 07.03.2013: Film showing and discussion with Mark Rowe at McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada).
• 11.03.2013: Film showing and discussion with Stephen Covell at Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, USA).
• 08.03.2013: Film showing and discussion with The Japan Foundation Toronto and Mark Rowe at Carlton Cinema (Toronto, Canada).
• 28.02.2013: Film showing and discussion with Barbara Ambros at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, USA).
• 27.02.2013: Film showing and discussion with Richard Jaffe and Levi McLaughlin at Duke University (Raleigh, USA).
• 22.02.2013: Film showing and discussion with Asuka Sango at Carleton College (Northfield, USA).

• 2013: Film Festival Max Ophüls Preis (Saarbrücken, Germany), 23 January 2013.
• 2012: Warsaw Film Festival (Warsaw, Poland), 12/15/18/21 October 2012.
• 2012: t.h.i.s. Buddhist Film Festival (Singapore), 22 September 2012.
• 2012: Zurich Film Festival (Zurich, Switzerland), 21/22/27 September 2012.

• 2015: The 17th Biennial IASBS (International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies) Conference (Berkeley, USA), 9 August 2015.
• 2014: First Zen Institute of America (New York City, USA), 16 May 2014.
• 2014: Tricycle Film Club, March 2014.
• 2014: The Association for Asian Studies 2014 Annual Conference (Philadelphia, USA), 29 March 2014.
• 2014: Chion-in, head temple of Jôdoshû (Pure Land Buddhism) (Kyoto, Japan), 13-15 March 2014.
• 2014: Rubin Museum of Art (New York City, USA), 08 January 2014.
• 2014: Japan University Screening Tour, September 2013 - November 2014.
• 2013: 13. Tage des Ethnologischen Films. Monopolkino am Nordbad (Schwabing, München), 26 October 2013.
• 2013: New Zealand University Screening Tour, 10 September - 21 September 2013.
• 2013: Jahrestagung der Deutschen Vereinigung für Religionswissenschaft (DVRW), University of Göttingen (Göttingen, Germany), 14 September 2013.
• 2013: Karlstorkino Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany), 3/14 July 2013 and 11 August 2013.
• 2013: Sonderforschungsbereich "Ritualdynamik" der Universität Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany), 13 May 2013.
• 2013: Cinema Quadrat Mannheim (Mannheim, Germany), 12 May 2013.
• 2013: Chapel Hill Zen Center (Chapel Hill, USA), 7 April 2013.
• 2013: Calgary Buddhist Temple (Alberta, Canada), 12 April 2013.
• 2013: North America University Screening Tour, 22 February - 22 March 2013.
• 2012: International Conference Salvage and Salvation: Religion, Disaster Relief, and Reconstruction in Asia. National University of Singapore (Singapore), 21 November 2012.

• 2013: Interview for radio Deutschlandradio Kultur about Buddhism after the tsunami in Japan 2011. Program by Christian Röther, aired on March 23.
• 2013: Interview for radio SWR about the role of Buddhism in the wake of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan, aired on March 09.
• 2012: Interviews for Swiss Television and other media about the film Souls of Zen and the role of Buddhism after the tsunami 2011 in Japan, on the occasion of Zurich Film Festival 2012.

• German (native).
• Excellent command of spoken and written English.
• Excellent command of spoken and written Japanese.

• American Academy of Religion (AAR)
• Association for Asian Studies (AAS)