Sarah Babcock is Assistant Professor at Dharma Realm Buddhist University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara in East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, studying pre-modern Chinese Literature and Buddhism, Song Dynasty History, and Chinese Language Pedagogy. Her Ph.D. dissertation, “The Aesthetics of Non-Discrimination: Chinese Poetics and Social Critique in Huihong’s Night Chats from Chilly Hut (c. 1121)” examines Song Dynasty Chan monk Juefan Huihong’s informal miscellany (biji) presenting the poetics and personalities of contemporary literati, officials, Daoists, and Buddhist monks, including Su Shi, Huang Tingjian and Mingjiao Qisong. Sarah’s interest in Chinese and Buddhism was first ignited during her schooling at Instilling Goodness Elementary and Developing Virtues High School at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Later, after receiving a B.A. in Chinese Language from the University of California at Berkeley, she taught Mandarin for three years in the legacy program at DRBU. She currently helps develop the Classical Chinese curriculum at DRBU and hopes to provide language training for future translators. In addition to teaching, Sarah enjoys hiking and meditating in nature, attending classical music and ballet performances, reading (with a special fondness for British and Russian literature), vegan cooking, and practicing yoga and Taiji.

Education

Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara, East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, 2020
M.A., University of California at Santa Barbara, Asian Studies, 2009
B.A., University of California at Berkeley, Chinese Language, 2003
A.A., Mendocino College, Liberal Arts, 2000

Positions

Assistant Professor, Dharma Realm Buddhist University, 2021-present
Teaching Fellow, Dharma Realm Buddhist University, 2019-2020
Chinese Instructor, Dharma Realm Buddhist University, 1996-2000
Assistant Director, Mendocino Ballet, 1996-2000

Presentations

“Transcending Taboo: Promoting the Poet-Monk through Anecdotes,” presented at the meeting of the Western Branch American Oriental Society. Hosted online by University of Hong Kong and University of Colorado, Boulder, Nov. 2020

“Cripple Liu and Uncle Yuancai: Aesthetic Eccentrics in Huihong’s Night Chats from Chilly Hut,” 《劉跛子、叔淵材：宋僧惠洪《冷齋夜話》中的審美古怪者》 Presentation at The Academic Conference on Religious Practice and Literature Composition for the compilation of A History of Chinese Religious Literature, Wuhan University, Dec. 2017

“Night Chats with a Maverick Monk: Exploring Huihong’s Miscellany In a Biographical Context” [冷齋撥爐聞夜語：從傳記角度解讀釋惠洪筆記創作]. Presentation in Chinese at the Center for Chinese Studies, Taiwan National Library, Taipei, 2015

“Teaching the Nuances of Chinese Optative Verbs to English Speaking Learners: Integrating Sociocultural Pragmatics.” Presentation at the 6th University of California Language Consortium, San Diego, 2012

“Lame Mr. Liu, Uncle Yuancai, and a Barefoot Monk: Eccentric Aesthetes in Chan Master Huihong’s Nighttime Chats in Cold Studio (1121),” presentation at the meeting of the Western Branch American Oriental Society, Arizona State University, Nov. 2012

Publications

“My Hometown Grows Up” Translation of contemporary Taiwanese short story. Journal of Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series, 21 (July 2007): 95-104

Awards and Fellowships

2020
American Oriental Society Western Branch Graduate Student Award for “Transcending Taboo: Promoting the Poet-Monk through Anecdotes,” a paper presented online for American Oriental Society Western Branch conference, Nov. 2020

2015 (6 months)
Research Grant for Foreign Scholars in Chinese Studies, Center for Chinese Studies, Taiwan National Library, Taipei

2015 (6 months)
China Scholarship Council Research Fellowship, Sichuan University, Chengdu

2013 – 2014
Graduate Opportunity Fellowship, UC Santa Barbara

2010 – 2013
Pai Hsien-yung Graduate Student Fellowship, UC Santa Barbara

2009 (6 months)
Taiwan Huayu Enrichment Scholarship, Taiwan Normal University, Mandarin Training Program

2006 – 2008
Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, UC Santa Barbara

2007 Summer
Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship, “Princeton in Beijing,” Beijing Normal University

2001-2002
Taiwan Ministry of Education Scholarship, International Chinese Language Program, Taiwan National University

Professional Affiliations

Association for Asian Studies
American Oriental Society
Forum on Chinese Poetic Culture