Joshua Esler

Achievements:

• Enhanced student comprehension by incorporating real-life examples and case studies into lectures.
• Delivered higher-level undergraduate and graduate courses via classroom, online and hybrid methodologies to satisfy course curricula and meet student needs.
• Conducted research in relevant fields, integrating findings into course content and enriching student understanding of subject matter.
• Implemented active learning techniques in the classroom, increasing student participation and critical thinking skills.
• Supported graduate students in obtaining doctoral degrees by advising on study plans, doctoral dissertations and career goals.
• Organised and participated in conferences and professional development opportunities to stay up-to-date with latest trends in field.

Teaching:

• HT01 – The Indian Ocean in World History 1: c3000 BC-c1500 AD
• HIT02 – The Indian Ocean in World History 2: c1500-1947
• HT354 – History of Buddhism
• PL331 – A Hundred Schools of Thought: The Golden Age of Chinese Philosophy
• HT235 – WWII in Asia
• HT353 – History of Judaism
• CN101 – Introductory Chinese 1
• CN301 – Advanced Chinese 1
• CN302 – Advanced Chinese 2
• S0101 – Survey of Sociology: Themes
• SO102 – Survey of Sociology: Perspectives

Course development:

Units I have written and developed:

HT354 – History of Buddhism (BA, History Major)

PL331 – A Hundred Schools of Thought: The Golden Age of Chinese Philosophy (BA, History Major)

HT235 – WWII in Asia (BA, History Major)

HT353 – History of Judaism (BA, History Major)

PY320 – Foundations of Western Civilisation (BA, Politics, Philosophy and Economics Major)

PL371 – Global and Comparative Politics (BA, Politics, Philosophy and Economics Major)

Language course development:

Currently working with Franziska Oertle, author of The Heart of Tibetan Language textbooks and workbooks, and Namloyak Dhungser and Chakmo Tsho (Radio Free Asia host) to produce audio recordings for the textbooks and workbooks in the main Amdo and Kham dialects (the textbook and workbook recordings are currently only in Central Tibetan).

Publications:

Book:

Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese: Mediation and Superscription of the Tibetan Tradition in Contemporary Chinese Society, Lexington Books, 2020.

Edited Books:

Indian Ocean Imaginings: People, Time, Space, Rowman & Littlefield, 2023, with Mark Fielding.

Aflame for Freedom in Tibet: The Origins and Development of the Self-immolation Movement, Lexington Books, 2024, with Namloyak Dhungser.

Book Chapters:

‘Transcendence and the Mundane at the Edge of the Middle Kingdom: Protestantised and pragmatic Tibetan Buddhism in Hong Kong’ (in Kim, D (ed.), Religious

Transformation in Modern Asia: A Transnational Movement, Brill, March 2015)

‘Chinese Tibetan Buddhists and the Confucian Revival in Contemporary China’ (in Kim, D (ed.), Religious Encounters in Transcultural Society: Collision, Alteration, and Transmission, Lexington Books, November, 2017)

Articles:

‘Chinese Ghosts and Tibetan Buddhism in China: Negotiating between mythological and ‘rational’ narratives’ (Modern China, Sage Publications, August 2015)

‘Green Tibetans’ in China: Tibetan Geopiety and Environmental Protection in a Multilayered Tibetan Landscape’ (Asian Ethnicity, Routledge, March, 2016)

‘Deploying the “Ordinary Wisdom” of Confucius: Khenpo Sodargye’s teaching on the Analects to Chinese Practitioners’ (Asian Ethnicity, Routledge, August 2024)

Book Reviews:

Smyer Yu, Dan, The Spread of Tibetan Buddhism in China: Charisma, money, enlightenment, in Review of Religion and Chinese Society, Brill, October, 2015

Jane E., Caple, Morality and Monastic Revival in Post-Mao Tibet. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2019.

Bianchi, E, & Shen, WR (eds.), Sino-Tibetan Buddhism across the Ages, Brill, 2021.

Wei, Wu, Esoteric Buddhism in China: Engaging Japanese and Tibetan Traditions, 1912–1949, New York: Columbia University Press, 2024.

External Peer Reviews:

Articles:

‘Ancestor worship and the longevity of Chinese civilization’, in Review of Religion and Chinese Society, Brill. 2018.

‘Taiwanese Buddhism and Environmentalism: A Mixed Method Study’, in Review of Religion and Chinese Society, Brill, 2019.

‘Enchanted Commodities or Cultural Elements? Lay Han Practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism and the ‘Living Hall’ Model (Shenghuo guan 生活馆)’, in Review of Religion and Chinese Society, Brill, 2021.

Thesis:

Stapleton, T, ‘The Religious Entrepreneurship of the Humanistic Buddhist Movement’, University of Western Australia, 2019.

Book:

Claiming Nature: Indigenous Knowledge, Botanic Exchanges, and Resource Extraction in the Indian Ocean World, Lexington Books.

Works in Progress:

Journal articles:

‘Aligning Chan with Dzogchen through the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: Khenpo Sodargye’s strategies for presenting and teaching a “Chinese” sūtra through a “Dzogchen perspective” [forthcoming 2024]

Edited books:

Religion and Identity in the Indian Ocean Region [forthcoming with Mark Fielding, 2024]

The Chinese Occupation of Tibet: Tracing PRC Policies of Aggression and Colonization over the Past Seventy-Five Years [forthcoming with Namloyak Dhungser, 2025]*

*I am working with Namloyak Dhungser on translating and editing an additional 8 books in Chinese which he has written.

PhD Supervision:

‘Teaching and Learning Linguistic Politeness in Australian Higher Education: Chinese as an Additional Language Context’, Wong, L (PhD candidate), University of New England (completed).

Work-place Learning Supervision:

Namloyak Dhungser (Masters student, Curtin University), for the project ‘Tibet and the Indian Ocean Region’, 2024 (completed).

Potential collaborative research project (2025):

Under McGill University’s pilot project ‘Climate Change in the Indian Ocean Region’, headed by Professor Gwyn Campbell (Indian Ocean World Centre, McGill University):

‘The impact of a Tibetan Buddhist worldview on Bhutanese and Nepalese Himalayan river conservation: implications for climate change on the East Indian seaboard.’

Podcasts:

‘Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese’, hosted by Daigengna Duoer, New Books Network, Sept 24, 2020.

Media:

Judith Hertog, ‘For Xi Jinping, Religion is Power’, The Atlantic, 5 May 2024.

Conference Organisation:

First Biennial Indian Ocean Studies Conference, Sheridan Institute of Higher Education, Perth, Western Australia, November 2019.

Second Biennial Indian Ocean Studies Conference, Sheridan Institute of Higher Education and the WA Maritime Museum, Perth, Western Australia, November 2021, co-organised with Dr Mark Fielding.

Third Biennial Indian Ocean Studies Conference, Sheridan Institute of Higher Education and the WA Maritime Museum, Perth, Western Australia, November 2023, co-organised with Dr Mark Fielding.

• Teaching General English Language (GEL) units
• Built strong rapport with students through class discussions and academic advisement.
• Evaluated student performance through comprehensive assessments, identifying areas of improvement and providing targeted feedback for growth.

• ASIA3003 – Social Issues in Contemporary China
• ASIA 2002 – Australia and Asia
• Cultivated critical thinking skills through challenging assignments that required analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information from various sources.
• Evaluated student progress through regular assessments, providing detailed feedback for improvement and growth.
• Selected and designed lesson plans and curriculum to meet academic objectives.