Alex Baskin

I live, work, and study on unceded Wampanoag and Massachusett land: so-called Cambridge, Massachusetts.

My spiritual life and academic pursuits revolve around Buddhism—a set of practices, communities, traditions, and texts that originate in Asia and are still maintained primarily by Asians and people of Asian descent.

As an MDiv student at Harvard Divinity School, I focus on Buddhist chaplaincy, ministry, and theology. I get especially excited about the nexus of Buddhist practices, embodiment/movement, and collective justice. 

I study Pāli, the language of early Buddhist texts. I translated the Mettā Sutta using contemporary English.

This academic year my internship focuses on interfaith dialogue with the Addir Fellowship of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Professor Cheryl Giles supervises me as a research assistant on her project mapping Buddhist chaplains across the US.

I serve as the resident caretaker at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center. 

I regularly volunteer as a mentor for teenagers taking part in mindfulness/meditation retreats, through Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme) and the Insight Meditation Society (IMS).

I am training as an InterPlay leader.

The Khyentse Foundation awarded me a Buddhist Studies Scholarship.

I worked as a teaching assistant with study-abroad students for three years, through Antioch University/Carleton College Buddhist Studies program in Bodh Gaya, India. 

During a yearlong, residential fellowship at the Insight Meditation Society (Barre, MA), I supported retreatants with medical emergencies and severe emotional distress.

Through Spirit Rock Meditation Center I began training as a Community Dharma Leader before the program was cancelled prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

My undergraduate degree was in philosophy, summa cum laude from Tufts University.

I am a member of the activist organization Resource Generation.

Dance is a passion of mine: Contra, Ecstatic, Contact Improv, and Gaga.