Sara Ann Swenson

|Assistant Professor

Academic Appointments

Affiliated Faculty, Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages
Assistant Professor, Religion

Buddhist volunteerism is on the rise across Asia. In Vietnam's fastest growing urban area, Ho Chi Minh City, religious charities fulfill humanitarian needs by subsidizing medicine, serving free meals, and fundraising for infrastructure. Many of these charities are informal and unofficial. Volunteers gather in home kitchens; give aid on street corners; and fundraise for projects over social media. Through these small-scale local efforts, Buddhist communities are shaping new futures for social service provisioning amid national policy shifts toward increasing economic privatization in Vietnam.

As a researcher, I pursue projects that highlight the power and agency of everyday people. Religions are often a vital resource for grassroots social action and community engagement, as exemplified by Buddhism in Vietnam. My classes encourage students to investigate similar questions about religion in contemporary societies. We examine intersections among politics, economics, gender, sexuality, race, class, and religion in Southeast Asia and around the world. Through both teaching and research, I pursue the question: "How do people care for others?"

My projects have received generous grant support from the American Council of Learned Societies; Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship; Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA); and The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Dissertation Fellowship in Buddhist Studies.

I completed my Ph.D. in Religion from Syracuse University in 2021. I also hold an M.Phil. in Religion (Syracuse University, 2016), a Certificate of Advanced Study in Women's and Gender Studies (Syracuse University, 2015), an M.A. in Comparative Religion (Iliff School of Theology, 2012), and a B.A. in English (University of Minnesota Duluth, 2009). My book Near Light We Shine: Buddhist Charity in Urban Vietnam (2025) is available from Oxford University Press.

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