Department of Religious Studies
Department of Religious Studies
Nijun Zhang

Nijun Zhang

Doctoral Student
hau2ah@virginia.edu

Education

  • University of Virginia – Ph.D. student, Religious Studies
  • University of Pittsburgh – M.A., East Asian Studies (2025)
  • Beijing Foreign Studies University – B.A., Sanskrit and Pāli (2022)

Research Interests

  • Comparative study of South and East Asian religious traditions
  • Divination and astrology

Conference Papers

  • “Juxtaposition of Divinations: The Transformation of Indian Navagraha Astrology in East Asia.” The Interplay of Arts and Sciences: 2025 Academic Forum on Indian Studies, Department of Sanskrit and Pali at Beijing Foreign Studies University, in collaboration with Research Center for Buddhist Texts and Art at Peking University, July, 2025.
  • “A Meeting Place: The Juxtaposition of Indian Navagraha and Han Chinese Divination on the Nine Celestial Palaces Fate Calculation Method in Dunhuang Manuscripts.” Panel organizer, 30th Annual Columbia Graduate Student Conference on East Asia, Columbia University, October, 2024.
  • “Cyberpunk Buddhism: The Spirit of Post-Humanism.” 27th Annual Harvard East Asia Society Conference, Harvard University, February, 2024.

Selected Academic Awards

  • Linda Penkower Summer Research Grant in China and Chinese Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 2024
  • Third-Class Fellowship, Beijing Foreign Studies University, 2021

Teaching Experience

  • Beginning Sanskrit, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Spring 2019 

Research Languages

English, Chinese, Sanskrit, Pāli, Classical Tibetan