Prof. Kenneth Lee, California State University, USA

Kenneth Dooyoung Lee is the Professor of Asian Religions in the Department of Religious Studies. Born in South Korea and raised in Los Angeles, Dr. Lee joined the California State University, Northridge faculty in the fall of 2006 to teach courses in Asian religions, Buddhism, and introductory courses in religion.
He earned his A.B. in Psychology from Occidental College, M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Columbia University. His book, The Prince and the Monk: Shotoku Worship in Shinran's Buddhism, SUNY Press, traces the evolution of Shotoku worship in Japanese Buddhism.
He has published in a number of books, including a chapter, "Kannon: The Goddess of Compassion in Japan" in The Constant Changing Faces of the Goddess Traditions in Asia and journals, such as his article, “Comparative Analysis of Shinran's shinjin and Calvin's Faith" in the Buddhist-Christian Studies journal. He is currently working on a translation of the Contemplation Sutra (Jpn. Kanmuryōjukyō), which is a major Buddhist text in Shin Buddhism.

 

Prof. Song YAN, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany

Prof. Dr. Song YAN is Professor of Psychology at Jacobs University Bremen, Germany. Dr. Yan graduated from Peking University with Bachelor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Science in Psychology degrees. She gained a master’s degree from the University of Bonn and a doctoral degree in natural sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) from the University of Göttingen. She has held a number of honorary academic positions in China: adjunct, guest and honorary distinguished professor. Her main research interest has been cultural influences/language effects on mental processes and behavior, focusing on basic processes such as memory, attention, mathematical operations, and language processing, as well as subjective well-being, parenting, and education. She was the main contributor to the chapter on cross-cultural cognitive research in the German Encyclopedia of Psychology, she is currently an editorial board member and reviewer for several academic journals. As well as basic research, she has carried out studies in applied settings, including cross-cultural management, leadership, intercultural communication. She has been a consultant for multinational companies. Professor Yan has been a keynote speaker at a number of international conferences.