Dr. Siddhesh Mukerji is a lecturer in social work at University College Cork, Ireland. He received his MA in social work from the University of Chicago and his PhD in social work from Loyola University Chicago. His professional experiences include serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan, a social worker with adolescents in Chicago, and an educator in five countries. Currently, Dr. Mukerji’s interdisciplinary scholarship integrates perspectives from social work, community studies, religious studies, and philosophy of education; the contexts for his work include India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His publications include articles and chapters on the topics of pedagogy and Buddhist social action, and he is currently authoring books on Zen Buddhist social action in the United States and Navayana Buddhist social action in India.
Dr. Mukerji’s Fulbright-Nehru project is exploring Navayana (i.e., “Ambedkaran”) Buddhist social work in India. This qualitative inquiry aims to illuminate how Navayana social workers interpret their work in light of Buddhism and incorporate Buddhist concepts and practices into their social action. The goal of this project is to create useful materials for Buddhist social workers in India and for an international audience of practitioners and scholars of socially engaged Buddhism.