Berkley Center

Thomas Borchert is an associate professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Vermont. He specializes in the religions of East and Southeast Asia, with research focusing on Theravada Buddhism in mainland Southeast Asia and religious minorities in China. As a visiting research fellow at Thailand's Mahidol University under a Fulbright Fellowship, Borchert has conducted research on the relationship between monastic and national identity. His forthcoming book, Educating Monks: Minority Buddhism on China’s Southwest Border, will be published by the University of Hawai'i Press in 2017. Borchert authored the introduction and commentary in Buddhism and Religious Freedom: A Sourcebook of Scriptural, Theological, and Legal Texts, published by the Berkley Center's Religious Freedom Project.