Mark Dennis

Mark Dennis (he/him; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin) is Professor of East Asian Religions in TCU’s Religion Department. He also serves as director of CALM Studies.

He acknowledges and honors the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes on whose sacred ancestral lands TCU and his home rest.

He teaches a number of courses with contemplative elements, including Buddhism: Thought and Practice; Mindfulness and Modern Life; The Mindful Leader (Business School); and The Art and Science of Human Flourishing. His courses also include Daoism and Confucianism; Religion and Violence; Religion, Money, and Value(s); and World Religions.

He has published scholarly works on early Japanese Buddhism, including translations of classical Chinese Buddhist texts, and modern Japanese literature. He has co-written several articles on Contemplative Studies with Andy Fort, and he is currently working on several research projects on CALM Studies with Blake Hestir. He is also co-editing an anthology titled Voices of Freedom: Asia with his colleague Rima Abunasser. It follows their earlier work titled Voices of Freedom: The Middle East and North Africa.

He lived in Japan for six years and India for two years. He has been practicing Zen and other forms of Buddhist meditation for 35 years. While living in Japan, he regularly attended Zen Buddhist retreats at Engakuji Temple in Kamakura and while living in India twice went on the Ayyappa pilgrimage in the Kerala. Recently, he has become interested in breathwork, including Wim Hof’s practices that include breathing, meditation, and cold exposure.

He has been a committed vegetarian since the late 1980s and enjoys cooking vegetarian meals, much of it inspired by Japanese, Indian, and other Asian cuisines. He’s recently plunged into the world of sprouting and fermenting.