British Academy Fellowship for Cardiff academic

A Cardiff academic who is at the forefront of research into Buddhist history has been recognised with a prestigious fellowship.

Professor Max Deeg of the School of History, Archaeology and Religion is one of 92 distinguished global scholars to have been elected to the British Academy’s Fellowship. Professor Deeg holds a double affiliation with the Academy’s Sections of Theology and Religious Studies and Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Professor Deeg’s work has been devoted to understanding the history and spread of Buddhism from India to Central Asia and East Asia. His research draws on sources in multiple Buddhist languages like Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, and Japanese and has shed light on Buddhist narratives and how they’ve constructed historical identities in Buddhist communities.

His ongoing work on medieval Chinese Buddhist travelogues has led to increased collaborative research with archaeologists and heritage promotion to retrieve and identify Buddhist sacred places in Northeast India.

Professor Deeg is currently working on a new English translation of the Record of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty – a seventh century text written by Chinese monk Xuanzang and the most detailed written account of India from that period.

The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences, consisting of more than 1,800 leading minds in these subjects.

Professor Susan J. Smith PBA, new President of the British Academy, said: “One of my first acts as the incoming President of the British Academy is to welcome this year’s newly elected Fellows. What a line-up! With specialisms ranging from the neuroscience of memory to the power of music and the structural causes of poverty, they represent the very best of the humanities and social sciences. They bring years of experience, evidence-based arguments and innovative thinking to the profound challenges of our age: managing the economy, enabling democracy, and securing the quality of human life.

“This year, we have increased the number of new Fellows by nearly ten percent to cover some spaces between disciplines. Champions of research excellence, every new Fellow enlarges our capacity to interpret the past, understand the present, and shape resilient, sustainable futures. It is a privilege to extend my warmest congratulations to them all.”

Current British Academy Fellows include classicist Professor Dame Mary Beard, the historian and China expert Professor Rana Mitter and philosopher Professor Baroness Onora O’Neill. The Academy also counts Professor David Olusoga, Baroness Brenda Hale, and Professor Gary Younge among its Honorary Fellows. Other fellows in Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion are Professor emeritus Alasdair Whittle and Professor Sophie Gilliat-Ray.