John Powers (academic)


John Powers is American born Professor of Asian Studies and Buddhism. Much of his teaching career was at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Studies

Powers studied at College of the Holy Cross Massachusetts, taking a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religion there in 1979. He went on to earn a Master of Arts in Indian philosophy at McMaster University in Ontario then a Doctorate of Religious history from the University of Virginia. From 1995 to 2016, Powers taught at the Australian National University, where he was made professor in 2008. Powers, like several others, left the university after a controversial restructuring of the department.
A practicing Buddhist, he has special expertise in Buddhism in Tibet. He was invited by the Dalai Lama's Australian office, as the leading expert in the country, to Tenzin Gyatsho's 70th birthday celebration. As well as publishing work on Buddhist spirituality and meditation techniques, he has written extensive translations of Tibetan works, and written on the history and culture of Tibet, India, and China.
Powers, who supports Tibetan autonomy, has compared the Chinese treatment of the Tibetan people to the fate of the Aborigines during the colonization of Australia.

Publications