Brian Ruppert is associate professor of Religious Studies and East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Illinois. Professor Ruppert specializes in the history of Japanese religion; early and medieval Japanese cultural history; popular religion in premodern Japan; Buddhism in premodern Japan and religion and the state in premodern Japan.

His current research interests include practices and representations of ritual gift-giving and exchange in medieval Japan; and the development of Buddhist temple treasuries and manuscript collections. Professor Ruppert is the author of

• Jewel in the Ashes: Buddha Relics and Power in Early Medieval Japan (Harvard University Asia Center and Harvard UP, 2000)
• "Sin or Crime? Buddhism, Indebtedness, and the Construction of Social Relations in Early Medieval Japan" (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 28.1-2, 2001)
• "Pearl in the Shrine: A Genealogy of the Buddhist Jewel of the Japanese Sovereign" (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 29.1-2, 2002)
• "Buddhist Rainmaking in Early Japan: The Dragon King and the Ritual Careers of Esoteric Buddhist Monks" (History of Religions 42.2, 2002)
• "Shari shinko to zoyo/shuseki/joho no nihon chusei shi" (Relic Veneration and Gift-giving/Accumulation/Information in Medieval Japanese History, in IMAI Masaharu, ed., Chusei Bukkyo no tenkai to sono kiban, Daizo Press, 2002)

and numerous other articles in English and Japanese. His most recent articles include: "Buddhism in Japan," in The Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed., Editor in Chief, Lindsay Jones, Gale/Macmillan Reference (2005); "Using Archives in the Study of Japanese Religions," in Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions, eds., Paul L. Swanson and Clark Chilson (2005); and "Chusei zenki ni okeru kiu oyobi kiuki ruiju: Shougyoho ni kansuru ichikosatsu" (Rain Prayer and Rain-prayer Document Categorization: An Examination of the Rite of the Scripture of Rain Prayer), in Kamikawa Michio and Kakuzensho Kenkyukai, eds., Kakuzen sho no kenkyu (2004).

Curriculum Vitae (Word)

Courses Taught
RLST 287 Introduction to Buddhism
RLST 495 Esoteric Buddhism in East Asia
RLST 495 Religious Texts in Japanese History
RLST 495 Gender in Japanese Religions
RLST 495 Religion in Premodern Japan