Janelle Wong is a core faculty member in the Asian American studies program at the University of Maryland and a professor of American studies.

Sharon Suh is a professor and chair of the department of theology and religious studies at Seattle University. She specializes in the study of Buddhism and was an advisor to the Pew Research Center on its study of Buddhism.

The Mind & Life Institute, based in Massachusetts, is working to foster discussion and a research partnership involving science and Buddhism – studying, for example, the impact of meditation on the brain. It sponsors conferences exploring these issues, and holds a summer research institute.

Read a commentary from Beliefnet.com, by Rodger Kamenetz from Sept. 2, 2003 about Jews who are attracted to Buddhism (some call them JuBus).

Read a story from the May 2004 issue of Smithsonian magazine exploring what the Dalai Lama has to say about happiness, contentment and science.

Read a Sept. 19, 2004, story from The Boston Globe about Buddhist punk rockers.

Read the transcript from a Nov. 12, 2010, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly episode about Zen hospital chaplains who help patients of all faiths use Buddhist techniques to manage pain and suffering.

Read a June 17, 2012, guest column posted by The Washington Post, “What’s an American Buddhist?”

Read the transcript from a June 15, 2012, episode of Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, about an American who is the first Westerner appointed abbot of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery.