Janice Dean Willis, or Jan Willis (born 1948) is Professor of Religion at
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
, where she has taught since 1977; and the author of books on
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
. She has been called influential by ''
Time Magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...
'', ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' (cover story), and ''
Ebony Magazine
''Ebony'' is a monthly magazine that focuses on news, culture, and entertainment. Its target audience is the African-American community, and its coverage includes the lifestyles and accomplishments of influential black people, fashion, beauty, an ...
''.
Aetna Inc.
Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans ...
's 2011 African American History Calendar features professor Willis as one of thirteen distinguished leaders of faith-based health initiatives in the United States.
Willis grew up in
Docena, Alabama
Docena is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. Docena is west-northwest of downtown Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham and has a post office with ZIP code 35060.
Hi ...
(near Birmingham), as the daughter of a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
deacon and steelworker. While traveling through Asia during the early 1970s, she became the student of Tibetan lama
Thubten Yeshe
Thubten Yeshe (1935–1984) was a Tibetan lama who, while exiled in Nepal, co-founded Kopan Monastery (1969) and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (1975). He followed the Gelug tradition, and was considered unconventio ...
, who encouraged her academic pursuits. She received BA and MA degrees in philosophy from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
(thesis: ''History, Faith, and Kerygma; A Critique of Bultmann's Existentialist Theology.''), and a Ph.D. in Indic and Buddhist Studies from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
(dissertation: ''A Study of the Chapter on Reality Based Upon the Tattvartha-patalam of Asanga's Bodhisattvabhumi.'').
Since 2006, she has contributed to the group blog ''On Faith'' (sponsored by ''Newsweek'' and the ''
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'') alongside
Elie Wiesel,
Desmond Tutu, and
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic ...
, among others. In 2003, she was awarded Wesleyan University's Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
Publications
She is the author of the following books:
*''Dreaming Me: An African American Woman's Spiritual Journey.'' New York: Riverhead Books, 2001.
*''The Diamond Light: An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation.'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972.
*''On Knowing Reality: The Tattvartha Chapter of Asanga's Bodhisattvabhumi.'' Columbia UP, 1979.
*''Enlightened Beings: Life Stories from the Ganden Oral Tradition.'' Wisdom Publications, 1995.
*''Feminine Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet.'' (Editor, and contributor of two of six, essays) Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1989.
References
External links
Personal site
Other sources
*
Paine, Jeffrey. ''Re-Enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West.'' Norton, 2004. Willis's experience with
Lama Yeshe
Thubten Yeshe (1935–1984) was a Tibetan lama who, while exiled in Nepal, co-founded Kopan Monastery (1969) and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (1975). He followed the Gelug tradition, and was considered unconventio ...
is discussed on pp. 64–70.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Jan
1948 births
Living people
Gelug Buddhists
Cornell University alumni
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Converts to Buddhism
Wesleyan University faculty
African-American philosophers
Tibetan Buddhists from the United States
Tibetan Buddhism writers
American Buddhists
African-American writers
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
American scholars of Buddhism
American women philosophers
Religious philosophers
20th-century American philosophers
21st-century American philosophers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
American women non-fiction writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century African-American women
21st-century African-American women writers
21st-century African-American writers