iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

I’ll try my hand at interpreting the UFO phenomenon soon.

Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

No one tells you about the silence that follows the publication of your book. The silence before reviews. It’s a bardo for sure.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Thank you, James. A student just submitted a paper citing you nearly every paragraph!

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Glad to see interest in Shugendo.

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Reposted by Shayne Dahl, PhD

Dana Mirsalis @danamirsalis.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

SSJR is running another book talk! Please join us in two weeks for @sdahl.bsky.social's talk. Register here: furman.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Poster for upcoming virtual bookshop. Text:
THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF JAPANESE RELIGIONS PRESENTS
SHUGENDŌ AND TIME: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF DEWA SANZAN

A VIRTUAL BOOK TALK W/
DR. SHAYNE DAHL, UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

IN THIS TALK, DR. DAHL DISCUSSES KEY THEMES IN HIS FORTHCOMING BOOK, THE SECRET WORLD OF SHUGENDŌ: SACRED MOUNTAINS AND THE SEARCH FOR MEANING IN POST-DISASTER JAPAN (2025, UNC PRESS). DAHL MAKES THE CASE FOR ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO STUDYING CONTEMPORARY SHUGENDŌ AND JAPANESE RELIGIONS MORE BROADLY. DR, DAHL ALSO FOCUSES ON THE THEORETICAL SALIENCE OF TIME AS EXPRESSED THROUGH HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN LOCAL TOURISM AND MOUNTAIN ASCETIC TRAINING PROGRAMS, DURING ANNUAL MOUNTAIN ENTRY RITUALS, AND IN EXISTENTIAL REFLECTION FACILITATED BY THE CULTURE AND PRACTICE OF SHUGENDŌ IN THE POST-DISASTER PERIOD. DAHL ARGUES THAT SACRED MOUNTAINS SUCH AS DEWA SANZAN EMBODY SPATIOTEMPORAL ALTERITY WITHIN CAPITALIST MODERNITY AS THEY PROVIDE PEOPLE LIVING IN AN ANXIOUS PRESENT WITH A SPACE TO REFLECT ON AND RECONNECT WITH THE PAST, TO REJUVENATE THEIR OVERWORKED LIVES IN THE PRESENT, AND PRAY FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR JAPAN.

TUE. NOV. 11
6 PM U.S. PACIFIC TIME
9 PM U.S. EASTERN TIME
//
WED. NOV. 12
3 AM CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME
10 AM JAPAN TIME

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

Happy to announce I’ll be an Assistant Professor of Anthropology with the University of Calgary from Aug. 1!

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Anyone else watch “Hot Spot” ( #Japan #Netflix show)? Hilarious but very subtle!

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Thnx for this! What does the Chinese gov see in Tibet that drives them toward long term settler colonial domination? Is Tibet rich in critical minerals & other resources that Chinese gov want?

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Reposted by Shayne Dahl, PhD

Unseen Japan @unseenjapan.com · 29/05/2025

Very grateful to everyone for getting us to 22K followers - thanks, all! We're proud to call Bluesky our new social media home. If you love what we do, share this to help us spread the word about the Japan you don't learn about in anime.

UJ Bluesky banner showing us at 22,000 followers

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Thnx! I hope you find it interesting & mind-expanding… there’s a lot of surprises in this book — even for seasoned scholars

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Thnx! Been a long time coming — 12 of hard work.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Significantly revised for readability — I hope to engage undergrads!

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Hi everyone - I’m seeking a new role beginning July 1, 2025. Budget cuts have led to the termination of my position & I would appreciate your support. If you hear of any opportunities, please send me a message or comment below 🌎 I’m open to roles in Canada, Europe, and the United States.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Early reviews for my book, “The Secret World of Shugendo: Sacred Mountains and the Search for Meaning in Post-Disaster Japan,” (UNC Press) are coming in. Written over the course of 12 years. Expected to hit the shelves Fall 2025.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

I’ve come to really enjoy the experience of exam invigilation. It’s a special kind of quiet in the class on exam day, a deep meditation students experience as they process everything you’ve taught them. Connecting the dots into constellations, forming a paradigm/worldview of their own.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Is the hardest part about writing a book letting it go?

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

The holidays will be spent writing…. but the glory will be great when the book arrives.

media.tenor.com

Typing Mad GIF

ALT: Typing Mad GIF

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

I’ve heard it be described as “applied statistics,” which makes sense. Not sure what you mean by AI waiting for Levi-Strauss…? Sounds like an idea for an article I’d read though.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

That sounds lovely. I wish we had automatic re-heatable baths in N. America.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

After the marathon of teaching comes the “body shutdown”: The illnesses that waited, like snakes coiled in the grass while you taught all semester, timing their attack the moment you submit final grades.

media.tenor.com

a man is laying in bed with a thermometer in his mouth and the word netflix is on the bottom

ALT: a man is laying in bed with a thermometer in his mouth and the word netflix is on the bottom

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

One of the final steps in editing a manuscript is to change all the “more recently” sections into a general past tense … …because a decade or more may have passed since you first wrote that line.

media.tenor.com

a cartoon of a man sitting at a desk with a pile of papers on it .

ALT: a cartoon of a man sitting at a desk with a pile of papers on it .

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Wrapped up my last class on Western Civ with a small reminder … You Are Here

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Reposted by Shayne Dahl, PhD

thicc husband and father @lukeisamazing.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

remember the reason for the season

image of a two-story Godzilla shaped Christmas tree covered in white lights in a Japanese mall

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

And it’s still new. I try to imagine 10 years down the line how AI will impact our learning & world overall.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

I’ve literally had this comment in my course evals from when I taught “The Buddhist Tradition.”

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Reposted by Shayne Dahl, PhD

Dr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I am excited to share that @vierth.bsky.social and I will be holding our virtual summer East Asian Studies & Digital Humanities workshop once again! This workshop offers a 4-day crash-course in all things DH and their use in an East Asian Studies context. web.sas.upenn.edu/dream-lab/ea...

An advertisement for the East Asian Studies & Digital Humanities 2025 4-day virtual workshop hosted by the UPenn Price Lab for Digital Humanities.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

So it begins … I expect it is already possible to train AI with all of the texts related to religious figures of the past. Is there already an AI Buddha?

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

That makes a lot of sense too. Have you seen that show “Inappropriate Behavior”? All about Showa vs. Reiwa cultural differences. There’s a clear reference/reaction to American trends towards political correctness.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

I’m a fan of Gojira too! As an anthropologist by training, I find the Hollywood version very interesting for the values it’s representing compared to the Japanese films. “Minus One” struck me as leaning toward American-Hollywood values since the pilot saved himself … & “got the girl” in the end.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Is there a treaty related to the land where you now live? I live in Treaty 7.

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Shayne Dahl, PhD @sdahl.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Are you teaching Popular Culture? If so, what are your most popular assignments?

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