Elaine Lai Ph.D, is a storyteller and a scholar of Buddhism who currently works as a Lecturer for Stanford University’s Civic, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE) where she teaches courses like “Why College?” “Citizenship in the 21st Century,” and “Utopia, Dystopia, and Technology in Science Fiction.” Her work wrestles most with the question of how marginalized bodies can be free and experience joy while living within the constraints of deeply violent and wounded societies. Elaine has written and produced two audio-plays (format inspired by the constraints of the pandemic), two short films, two full-length screenplays (one earning semifinalist for the 2022 Sundance Screenwriting Lab), and three TV pilots that span the genres of comedy, drama, historical fiction, and more recently, sci-fi/AI. Elaine’s work centers unconventional female and queer characters whose journeys, which are often spiritual and/or religious in nature, break every stereotype that might be projected onto their embodiments.
Elaine’s creative work is deeply informed by her research in Buddhist literature. Elaine obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies from Stanford University in 2024, with a specialty in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Elaine’s passion for studying Buddhist literature stems from a life-long question: how might Buddhist texts serve as a resource to expand the imagination for those who yearn to liberate from cycles of repeated violence?
Elaine previously spent a decade working and studying in China, Taiwan, India, Hong Kong, and Nepal. During that time, Elaine 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, Elaine immersed within many different communities where she made lifelong friends who have drastically influenced the way she understands the world.