B.A., Ph.D Harvard University
B.A., M.A., Oxford University

Professor Eckel is Associate Professor of Religion at Boston University. His expertise is in Asian religions, which he studies from a broadly cultural and comparative perspective, with particular focus on varieties of Buddhism. His most recent book, Bhaviveka and His Buddhist Opponents, was published in 2008 by the Harvard Oriental Series. He also is the author of Buddhism (Oxford University Press, 2002), To See the Buddha: A Philosopher's Quest for the Meaning of Emptiness (Princeton University Press, 1994), and Jnanagarbha's Commentary on the Distinction Between the Two Truths (SUNY Press, 1987). Prof. Eckel was awarded the University's Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998, and he has served as the NEH Distinguished Teaching Professor of the Humanities from 2002 to 2005.

His courses outside the Core include "The Religions of Asia," Sacred Journeys," "Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Religion," "Buddhism," and a seminar on "Buddhist Tantra in India and Tibet." He teaches in the first year of Core Humanities.