UGA international

Memory plays an important role both in Buddhism and in analytic philosophy, but there has so far been little interaction between these two traditions.
BUDDHAMEM (Buddhist and Analytic Approaches to Memory) is a strategic research collaboration between Institut de philosophie de Grenoble (IPhiG), and Department of philosophy. Launched in 2025 as a laureate of the NTU-UGA-UT Trilateral Center, this project brings together specialists in Buddhism and specialists in analytic philosophy of memory for an exploratory project designed to identify promising areas of joint inquiry and to lay the groundwork for sustained future collaboration, including applications for a major grant.
Together, they are not just conducting research; they are building the scalable frameworks needed for a more advanced future in philosophy.

Tangible Results

We held two workshops, one in France and one in Taiwan (both of which involved early-career researchers). The first workshop led to the publication of an article by Ching Keng, the NTU PI, in the Asian Journal of Philosophy. The second workshop enabled Kourken Michaelian, the UGA PI, to draft an article responding to Keng. We have obtained further funding from the same programme for an extension of the project. The extension brings in a PI from Tsukuba, Takeshi Yokoyama. Currently, we are preparing a proposal for a special issue of Philosophy East and West that is expected to include papers from the second workshop, as well as papers from the two workshops that will be held thanks to the extension, one in Taiwan and one in Japan. We also expect to submit a proposal for a larger external grant.

Testimonials from principal investigators 

The programme has enabled us to launch an entirely new line of research comparing Buddhist and analytic approaches to episodic memory by funding interactions through which we were able to able to identify promising areas of inquiry. Kourken MICHAELIAN Professor (Université Grenoble Alpes, France), Senior member of the Institut universitaire de France Institut de philosophie de Grenoble View researcher’s profile

Through this collaborative project, I am able to explore philosophical issues of memory alongside world-leading analytic philosophers. Furthermore, it allows me to examine the potential contributions of my own background in Buddhist philosophy, making this a truly pioneering and eye-opening learning experience. Ching KENG Professor (National Taiwan University, Taiwan) Department of Philosophy The 13th Academia Sinica Scholarly Monograph Award View researcher’s profile