BUDDHISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS


Welcome to "Buddhism and Human Rights," an Online Conference sponsored by the _Journal of Buddhist Ethics_.

Thank you for choosing to participate in the first electronic conference ever attempted in Buddhist Studies. Those of us at the _Journal of Buddhist Ethics_ are truly excited to be venturing forth into new intellectual territory in an attempt to make important scholarship on Buddhism and Human Rights available to the widest possible audience. We hope you enjoy the conference and feel free to contribute to it in a constructive and productive manner.

Consistent with our previous announcements, participation in the conference is structured on three levels: (1) conference papers, which were prepared in advance and are already posted in the JBE, (2) conference panelists, who have prepared advance statements, also posted in the JBE, and who will facilitate the discussions of the papers, and (3) conference members who "attend" by subscribing, free of charge, and who offer comments, questions, and observations at their discretion.

Because we are exploring uncharted territory, it is rather difficult to anticipate the volume of participant response. As such, all comments, questions, and observations will be monitored. We will post as many of these as we possibly can (screening out any submissions deemed inappropriate for publication by the editors). It is our fond desire that the fine papers prepared for the conference will provoke serious, thoughtful discussion that reflects the deep concerns of the conference's constituents, while at the same time preserving the spontaneity that hopefully emerges in any conference setting.

We hope that the _Journal of Buddhist Ethics_ will be able to sponsor a yearly online conference for our subscribers. In recognition of Buddhism's status as a thoroughly worldwide religion, it is anticipated that next year's topic will be "Buddhism in the Western World."

Thank you again for joining us in this new experiment.

The Editors of the _Journal of Buddhist Ethics_:

Damien Keown
Charles Prebish
Karen Lang
Wayne Husted