Professor and Asian Studies Director

BA, MA, PhD (Toronto)

Dr. Edward Y. J. Chung is Professor of Religious Studies and the Asian Studies Director, University of Prince Edward Island, where he teaches Eastern religion and thought (Chinese, Japanese, Buddhist, etc.) and the comparative study of religion (e.g., mysticism in Buddhism and Christianity; interreligious dialogue; and comparative ethics). He previously taught at the University of Toronto, where he earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Regarding his professional service, Dr. Chung is a member of the JEAP (Journal of East Asian Philosophy) editorial board, an advisor to ISEAP (International Society of East Asian Philosophy), and has also served as an external peer reviewer for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (for Standard Research Grants Program), State University of New York Press, Oxford University Press of Canada, University of Hawaii Press, the journal of Dao, the Journal of Korean Religion, etc.

His recent scholarly awards are the University of PEI Faculty Association Merit Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement (2017) and the UPEI Presidential Award of Merit for Scholarly Endeavours (2015). His three recent research grants are a 3-year grant (2017-2020; about $330,000) from Korean Studies Promotion Service (KSPS), The AKS, South Korea; an international research grant for a book project (2015-2018; $82,000), The AKS; and another book publication funding from UCLA–AKS (2011-14). Since 1992, he also received 25 more research grants (SSHRC UPEI Institutional Grants, SSHRC-General Research Grants [internal], Senate Committee on Research University Grants, UPEI Travel Grants, etc.).

His four latest books (monographs) are: (1) The Moral and Religious Thought of Yi Hwang (Toegye): A Study of Neo-Confucian Ethics and Spirituality, Palgrave Studies in Comparative East-West Philosophy series, no. 4. (New York and London: Palgrave Macmillan [Springer nature], 2021[Oct.]), 230 pages; (2) a major book, The Great Synthesis of Wang Yangming Neo-Confucianism in Korea: The Chonŏn (Testament) by Chŏng Chedu (Hagok) (New York, London, and Lanham: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 2020 [Sept.]), 387 pages; (3) A Korean Confucian Way of Life and Thought: The Chasŏngnok (Record of Self-reflection) by Yi Hwang (T’oegye) (University of Hawaii Press, 2016); and (4) Korean Confucianism: Tradition and Modernity (The AKS Press, 2015). Dr. Chung’s first major book was The Korean Neo-Confucianism of Yi T’oegye and Yi Yulgok: A Reappraisal of the Four-Seven Thesis and Its Practical Implications for Self-Cultivation (State University of New York Press). He is now completing a major edited book (under contract: open access and hard cover) on the topic of emotions in Korean and comparative philosophy and religion to be published by Palgrave Macmillan (Springer Nature), Feb. 2022.

Professor Chung also guest-edited and published an international journal volume on “Good and Evil in Korean Philosophy, Religion, and Spirituality,” a special theme issue. Acta Koreana 22, no. 2 (Dec. 2019) and another journal volume on “Korean Confucianism and Ecology,” a special theme issue. Acta Koreana 14, no. 2 (Dec. 2011). Furthermore, he published 26 book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles and presented 55 scholarly papers at various national and international conferences (APA, AAR, WHF, IAHR, CSSR, CASA, etc.). He is now working on a major co-edited book manuscript (under contract) to be published by Palgrave Macmillan (summer/fall 2021).