Dana Sawyer
Dana Sawyer was born in Jonesport, Maine in 1951. He is a full-time professor of religion and philosophy at the Maine College of Art and an adjunct professor in Asian Religions at the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine. He is the author of numerous published papers and books, including "Aldous Huxley: A Biography", which Laura Huxley described as, "Out of all the biographies written about Aldous, this is the only one he would have actually liked." In 2014, Sawyer's authorized biography of Huston Smith was published. Biography. Sawyer has been involved in fund-raising activities for the  Siddhartha School Project in Stok, Ladakh, north India, for more than ten years. This project has resulted in the construction of an elementary/ middle/high school for underprivileged Buddhist children that has been visited twice by the Dalai Lama, who holds it as a model for blending traditional and Western educational ideals. Much of his work for this project has involved translating at lectures for (and teaching with) the school’s founder, Khen Rinpoche Lobzang Tsetan, who is the abbot of the Panchen Lama’s monastery in Mysore, India. Sawyer's interest in the phenomenon of Neo-Hindu and Buddhist  groups in America led him to become a popular lecturer on topics of interest to these groups. He has taught at the Kripalu Center (Lenox, MA), the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (Barre, MA), the Vedanta Society of Southern California (Hollywood, CA), the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and other such venues. This work has also brought him into contact with several interesting and important figures in this field, including Stanislav Grof, Andrew Harvey, Huston Smith, Laura Huxley, Stephen Cope, Jeffery Kripal, and Alex Grey. Sawyer has been to India eighteen times, most recently while on sabbatical during 2018 , and has traveled extensively throughout the subcontinent: Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Japan. Related to academic work Sawyer has lectured at the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Banaras Hindu University, the University of Riga, Latvia, the Huntington Library, and at colleges and conferences throughout the United States (interview footage of Sawyer from the Riga conference was featured in a British documentary, “Brand New World,” on the dangers of consumer culture). In August, 2005, Sawyer was a participant in the by-invitation-only conference on “Government, Education, and Religion” at the Oxford Roundtable, Lincoln College, Oxford University. He  is a member of two academic societies: the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy (SACP) and the International Aldous Huxley Society, centered at the University of Munster in Germany. Current projects: Sawyer worked closely with Huston Smith, noted scholar and author of "The World's Religions", to write his authorized biography. He is also writing a short introduction to the Perennial Philosophy. Awards. Maine College of Art, Portland, Maine. Travel grant to photograph temples in Asia for use in courses and the college’s slide library, spring and summer, 1999. Arthur Steindler Award (for teaching and academic excellence), University of  Iowa, School of Religion, 1988. Foreign language and Area Studies Fellowship (to study Hindi in India), U.S. Department of Education, 1988. Graduate Fellowship in Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, fall, 1978. Tuition Grant for Academic Excellence, University of Hawaii, Department of Asian Studies, 1977-1978. Education. Ph.D. candidate, University of Iowa, School of Religion, Iowa City, Iowa (comprehensive examinations, May 1988). Major: History of Asian Religions with a primary focus on religion in modern India. Dissertation unfinished, though much of it has been published. M.A., University of Iowa, School of Religion, History of Asian Religions, 1993 . Oxford University, Oxford, England. Accepted by the Oriental faculty to study for the D.Phil., with Richard Gombrich as advisor. Attended during the Michelmas term, 1980. University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. Graduate courses in Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy (with Bimal Motilal), Fall 1978. M.A., University of Hawaii, Dept. of Asian Studies, Honolulu, HI, 1978. Major: The Religions of India. B.A., Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT, 1973. Major: World Literature. Minor: philosophy. Work experience. Jan. 1989 to present: Liberal Arts dept. Maine College of Art (current rank: associate professor), dept. chair 1995-1998. Jan. 1989 to present: adjunct professor of Asian  Religions, Bangor Theological - Seminary, Bangor, ME. Course titles (all at graduate level): History of World Religions, History of Asian Religions, Introduction to Buddhist Traditions, Introduction to Hindu Traditions, Sociology of Religion. Aug. 1985 to May 1988: teaching assistant, University of Iowa, School of Religion. Course titles: Living Religions of the East, Religion and Society, Quest for Human Destiny. Summer 1986: Instructor in world religions, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Aug. 1984 to May 1985: research assistant in Buddhist Studies under Dr. Wang Pachow, University of Iowa, School of Religion. Fall 1977: teaching assistant, University of Hawaii, Dept. of Religion . Course: Introduction to World Religions.