Super, SUPER stoked to be part of this program for the next year! The Institute for Diversity and Civic Life is a nonprofit organization dedicated to telling stories and documenting experiences of the endlessly diverse people living in Texas. I’m joining a group of multimedia storytellers, each of us working on our own project that focuses on a small but vital community.
My project, titled “10,000 Dharma Gates: Stories of Buddhism in Texas” and will highlight the diversity within Buddhist communities in our state. The ADRA shows that (as of 2010) Buddhists make up .26% of the population of Texas. Yet, even within that minority there are wide differences in how Buddhist communities are structured and function. My project will profile 5–10 Buddhist groups, deliberately selected to showcase a broad range of traditions (e.g., Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna), cultural backgrounds (e.g., Vietnamese, Thai, Tibetan, Euro-American converts), and stylistic approaches (e.g., traditional, experimental, socially engaged).
The final product will be a multimedia project that includes elements of audio, video and photography storytelling and interviews with adherents. You’ll be able to see it, along with all the other projects from this cohort, next year.
This is a great opportunity and I look forward to my investigation into Texas Buddhism! Thanks IDCL!