Presbyterian Mission Agency Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture Archives

Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture

‘I felt obliged to tell this story’

Posted April 13th, 2022

Does being non-white and non-Christian make one less American? Dr. Duncan Ryūken Williams answered that question in a book it took him 17 years to complete, “American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War,” his 2019 work that won him the 2022 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. Williams delivered his Grawemeyer lecture Tuesday in Caldwell Chapel at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which along with the University of Louisville awarded Williams this year’s prize.

Work describing Buddhists’ faith despite confinement wins Grawemeyer religion prize

Posted December 10th, 2021

A scholar who explained how Japanese American Buddhists remained true to their faith even after being forced into U.S. detention camps during World War II has won the 2022 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.