James Robson (Ph.D. Stanford University) is Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. He is the editor of Buddhist Monasticism in East Asia: Places of Practice, and the author of Power of Place: The Religious Landscape of the Southern Sacred Peak [Nanyue ??] in Medieval China as well as numerous journal articles, including “Signs of Power: Talismanic Writings in Chinese Buddhism," "Faith in Museums: On the Confluence of Museums and Religious Sites in Asia," and "A Tang Dynasty Chan Mummy [roushen] and a Modern Case of Furta Sacra? Investigating the Contested Bones of Shitou Xiqian." His current research includes a long-term project on local religious statuary from Hunan province and a project on the history of the confluence of Buddhist monasteries and mental hospitals.