The University of the West is a private, co-educational university located on a ten acre campus in Rosemead, California. It was founded in 1990 by the international Buddhist organization, Fo Guang Shan, under the leadership of Master Hsing Yun. It continues to be sustained by that organization and his leadership and is committed to the ideals of its founder to provide a quality higher education and facilitate cultural understanding between East and West in the context of open inquiry and Buddhist values.

The Department of Religious Studies provides two broad areas of concentration, Buddhist Studies and Comparative Religious Studies. The program in Buddhist Studies is one of the most comprehensive in the United States, providing courses of instruction in Buddhist culture, doctrine, history, literature, philosophy, and canonical languages (e.g. Chinese, Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan). The concentration in Comparative Religious Studies focuses on the critical study of religion with a variety of courses in the interpretation of religion and opportunities to study Buddhist and non-Buddhist religious traditions (e.g. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism). Degrees awarded include the bachelor of arts (B.A.), master of arts (M.A.), Doctor of Buddhist Studies (D.B.S.), and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.).

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University of the West