Michaela Mross
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and, by courtesy, of East Asian Languages and Cultures
Bio
Michaela Mross specializes in Japanese Buddhism, with a particular emphasis on Sōtō Zen, Buddhist rituals, sacred music, as well as manuscript and print culture in premodern Japan. She has written numerous articles on kōshiki 講式 (Buddhist ceremonials) and co-edited a special issue of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies on kōshiki. Her first book, Memory, Music, Manuscripts: The Ritual Dynamics of Kōshiki in Japanese Sōtō Zen, is forthcoming with the Kuroda Series of University of Hawai’i Press. She is currently working on a monograph on eisanka 詠讃歌 (Buddhist hymns) and lay Buddhist choirs in contemporary Zen Buddhism. This project will showcase how music played a vital role in the modernization of Japanese Sōtō Zen Buddhism in the last seventy years.
Academic Appointments
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Assistant Professor, Religious Studies
Administrative Appointments
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Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Stanford University (2016 - Present)
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Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Japanese Studies, University of California, Berkeley (2014 - 2016)
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Research Associate (Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin), Department of East Asian Studies, University of Göttingen, Germany (2013 - 2014)
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Research Fellow, Headquarters of the Sōtō School, Tokyo, Japan (2012 - 2013)
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Visiting Researcher, Research Institute for Japanese Music Historiography, Ueno Gakuen University, Japan (2007 - 2012)
Honors & Awards
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Scholarship, Japanese Government (MEXT) (2008 - 2013)
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Scholarship, German Academic Exchange Service (2008 - 2010)
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Karl H. Ditze Award for M.A. thesis, University of Hamburg (2008)
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Fellowship, Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai (2007 - 2008)
Program Affiliations
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Center for East Asian Studies
Professional Education
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Ph.D., Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany, Japanese Studies (2014)
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M.A., University of Hamburg, Germany, Japanese Studies (2007)
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B.M., Berklee College of Music, Boston, Professional Music (Performance and Jazz Composition) (2000)
2024-25 Courses
- Buddhism and the Arts
RELIGST 274, RELIGST 374 (Aut) - Gardens and Sacred Space in Japan
RELIGST 8N (Aut) - Religion Around the Globe
RELIGST 1 (Win) - Religion in Anime and Manga
RELIGST 6N (Win) -
Independent Studies (7)
- Graduate Directed Reading
EASTASN 300 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Individual Work
RELIGST 199 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Individual Work for Graduate Students
RELIGST 389 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Paper in the Field
RELIGST 392 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Research in Buddhist Studies
RELIGST 385 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Senior Essay/Honors Thesis Research
RELIGST 297 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Teaching Internship
RELIGST 390 (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Graduate Directed Reading
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Prior Year Courses
2023-24 Courses
- Gardens and Sacred Space in Japan
RELIGST 8N (Spr) - Religion in Anime and Manga
RELIGST 6N (Win) - Ritual and the Senses in Asian Religions
RELIGST 224, RELIGST 324 (Win) - The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Buddhism
JAPAN 217A, RELIGST 217, RELIGST 317 (Spr)
2022-23 Courses
- Exploring Zen Buddhism
RELIGST 55 (Spr) - Gardens and Sacred Space in Japan
RELIGST 8N (Spr) - Music and Sound in Buddhism
JAPAN 217, JAPAN 317 (Win) - Music and Sound in Buddhism
RELIGST 217, RELIGST 317 (Win) - Religion in Anime and Manga
RELIGST 6N (Win)
2021-22 Courses
- Exploring Zen Buddhism
RELIGST 55 (Aut) - Religion in Anime and Manga
RELIGST 6N (Win) - Women in Japanese Buddhism
RELIGST 257, RELIGST 357 (Win)
- Gardens and Sacred Space in Japan
Stanford Advisees
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Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Julian Butterfield, Kedao Tong -
Master's Program Advisor
Emily Ren -
Doctoral Dissertation Co-Advisor (AC)
Katherine Whatley