Biography
Kin Cheung is Associate Professor of East and South Asian Religions at Moravian University, where he is Chair of the Global Religions and Philosophy Departments. His research investigates how contemporary agents use Buddhist doctrine and ritual practices in Chinese and American contexts as well as transnational networks. His interests include Buddhists engaging with healing, meditation, ethical dilemmas, secularism, science, technology, economics, and capitalism. He is coeditor of Buddhism and Healing in the Modern World (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2024), and author of articles that appear in The Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Religion, State and Society, 마음공부 [Mindful Practice], and The Journal of Buddhist Ethics.
Kin is a steering committee member of AAR’s Buddhist Philosophy and Buddhist Critical-Constructive Reflection Units, and a former steering committee member of the Economics and Capitalism in the Study of Buddhism and Transnational Religious Expression: Between Asia and North America Units. He serves in various roles for The Journal of Global Buddhism, The Journal of Dharma Studies: Asian and Transcultural Religion, Philosophy, & Ethics, and Religious Studies Review. Kin is a Public Intellectuals Program Fellow (Cohort VIII) of The National Committee on United States-China Relations.
Candidate Statement
As a first-generation student, I often reflect on the class difference between my immigrant parents who worked in New York City’s garment factories and my position as a university professor. I wonder about the range of expectations my colleagues with family in higher education would know that I fumble to grasp, including what belongs in a candidate statement such as this. What kinds of personal examples are (in)appropriate? My hesitancy to ask questions about money stems from an experience as a graduate student in which I offended a program director due to my question about the—generous, but unknown to me—salary for an academic appointment. Nevertheless, I continue to ask about finances and fund management, of my university, and if elected, the AAR. I am invested in the AAR and desire to pay forward the benefits I receive from membership.
I have attended every Annual Meeting since 2006 because I deeply appreciate the opportunities that they provide. How can the AAR express these values beyond numbers that present a veneer of objectivity, not simply as formulaic “return on investments,” but in ways that resonate with more members and potential supporters (financial and otherwise)? How has COVID-19 and large language models (AI systems such as ChatGPT) impacted fiduciary obligations and member needs? What are the difficult questions some early career or first-generation members have and how can the organization discover them? What are the relevant budgetary concerns of those on the Board of Directors and how should they communicate them to members?
My recent experience as a Public Intellectual Program Fellow for the National Committee on United States-China Relations exposed me to fascinating, and at times alarming, meetings with representatives from U.S. government offices and committees, and diplomats and ambassadors from Vietnam, the Philippines, and China. My cohort includes specialists ranging from a Navy Captain and military speech writer for the U.S. Secretary of Defense, a supply chain and environmental law expert working for a technology giant, to a co-founder of an economic policy research startup. In addition to scholars of Economics, Political Science, Security, Geography, and Urban Planning, I have been collaborating with other scholars of Religion, Theater, and History because the National Committee recognizes the need for a broad scope of disciplinary perspectives in addition to input from those with experience outside academia. A lesson learned from these encounters that I wish to bring to the position is how various organizations go about decision-making in the face of uncertainty. Furthermore, how can AAR better connect with and demonstrate our contributions to state, subnational, and other public-facing institutions? I am honored to be nominated for this position and I wish to serve by listening and questioning.