Professor Martin Seeger

Profile

From 1997–2000 I was ordained as a Theravada Buddhist monk in northern Thailand. During this time I studied the Thai language, Thai history and culture, Pali chanting, and meditation. At the same time a number of Thai Buddhist monks taught me Theravada Buddhist doctrine, using the textbooks of the traditional clerical examination for Thai Buddhist monks (Nak Tham) and numerous other important texts of the Thai Theravada tradition.

From 2000–2004 I studied Thai Buddhism, Thai history and culture, Pali language and early Indian Buddhism at the University of Hamburg, predominantly with my teachers and MA/PhD supervisors Professor Barend Terwiel and Professor Lambert Schmithausen.

I joined the University of Leeds in 2004 as a Teaching Fellow in Thai Language Studies before being  promoted to Lecturer in Thai Language and Culture in 2006. In 2011 I was promoted to Senior Lecturer and from 2013–2019 I was an Associate Professor of Thai Studies. In 2019 I was promoted to a Chair. 

Research interests

In my research I often combine ethnographic with textual studies. Much of my research focuses on the life and work of the Thai Buddhist thinkers and practitioners Somdet Phra Buddhaghosacariya Jaroen Ñanavaro (1872–1951), Buddhadasa Bhikkhu (1906–1993), Somdet Phra Buddhaghosacariya (P. A. Payutto, b. 1939), Khunying Damrongthammasan (Yai, Wisetsiri, 1882–1944) and Khun Mae Bunruean Tongbuntoem (1895–1964).

I have also done research on Thai Buddhism and environmentalism, Human Rights in Thai Theravada Buddhism, development monks in the northeastern region of Thailand, and teaching Thai as a foreign language. In my book "Gender and the Path to Awakening: Hidden Histories of Nuns in Modern Thai Buddhism" I investigate understandings of female sainthood in Thai Buddhism, its expressions in material culture, and the importance of orality and memory in Thai Buddhism.

Book Publications

• [anonymous]. 2562 [2019]. Thongtham nangsue hok lem samai roo. 5 [Thongtham: Six Dhamma Books from the Reign of King Rama V], edited by Martin Seeger and Naris Charaschanyawong. Bangkok: Thammasapa. 156 pp.
• Seeger, Martin. 2018. Gender and the Path to Awakening: Hidden Histories of Nuns in Modern Thai Buddhism. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books/Copenhagen: NIAS Press. 360 pp.
• Thammakathikajan. 2561 [2018]. Hattham Siangtham sattri samai roo. 5 [Practising the Dhamma: The Voice of Truth by Women from the Reign of King Rama V], edited by Martin Seeger and Naris Charaschanyawong. Bangkok: Thammasapa. 428 pp.
• Damrongthammasan, Khunying (Yai Wisetsiri). 2559 [2016]. Damrongtham, edited by Martin Seeger and Naris Charaschanyawong. Bangkok: Thammasapa. 428 pp.

• Documentary Films and Buddhist Performing Arts : innovative ways of engaging with Buddhist teachings and rethinking gender roles in modern Thai Buddhism

Qualifications

• PhD (University of Hamburg)
• MA (University of Hamburg)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of Leeds
• Nak Tham Tri (Buddhist Expert of the First Level)

Student education

I have taught modules on Thai studies, history and culture, as well as modules on East Asian religious studies.

Research groups and institutes

• Thai
• Asia Pacific Studies
• East Asian Studies