About

Elaine Lai, PhD, is a scholar of Buddhism who has taught at Stanford University as a Lecturer, with courses on citizenship, science fiction and technology, and more. Her first monograph focuses on how the early Great Perfection tradition of Buddhism understood time, authority, and gender. To make her research accessible, she has built technology projects including a heatmap application and a virtual reality experience.

Outside of academia, Elaine identifies as a storyteller. Her work draws deeply from her research in Buddhist literature and her own transformative life experiences as an Asian American who has lived in over seven countries. Her narratives spotlight unconventional female and queer protagonists, wrestling most with the question: how can marginalized bodies be free and experience joy within the constraints of deeply violent and wounded societies? Her first feature-length screenplay advanced to the second round of the 2023 Sundance Screenwriting Lab.

Elaine previously spent a decade working and studying in China, Taiwan, India, Hong Kong, and Nepal. During that time, she studied film directing at the Beijing Film Academy, worked for corporate ad agencies in Shanghai, taught yoga in Taiwan, staged plays at the Foguangshan Buddhist monastery, and studied Tibetan at the Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling monastery in Kathmandu. In the process of it all, she immersed within many different communities where she made lifelong friends who have drastically influenced the way she understands the world.