Are animals worthy of religious recognition? This talk will consider how Christianity and Buddhism ritualize animals through blessings, funerals, and life releases. Examining creation theology versus karmic rebirth reveals how each tradition includes animals as ritual subjects while maintaining distinct boundaries between human and nonhuman beings. Barbara R. Ambros is Professor of East Asian Religions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research on Japanese religions focuses on gender studies, human-animal relationships, and place and space. Her publications include Bones of Contention: Animals and Religion in Contemporary Japan (2012) and Animals and Religion (2024, co-edited), among others. 

is a professor of East Asian Religions in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where her research on Japanese religions focuses on gender studies, human–animal relationships, and place and space. She has published widely in leading journals and is the author of several books, including Women in Japanese Religions (2015), Bones of Contention: Animals and Religion in Contemporary Japan (2012), Emplacing a Pilgrimage (2008), and Le donne nell’ordine monastico buddhista (2019). Ambros has held major leadership roles in the American Academy of Religion and the Society for the Study of Japanese Religions, and has received fellowships from organizations such as the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Humanities Center. Prior to joining UNC, she taught at Columbia University and International Christian University. She earned her PhD and MA from Harvard University and an MA from Columbia University.