Ph.D., The Australian National University (1985). Dissertation: "A Study of the ''Buddhapālita-mūlamadhyamakavŗtti''.";
M.A., University of Tokyo (1979). Thesis: "Śūnyatā and Satyadvaya Theory of Nāgārjuna" (In Japanese). +
Ph.D. in Religious Studies, with a minor in Japanese Literature, Stanford University (1986). Dissertation: "The Journey Itself Home: The Religiosity of the Literary Works of Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694)."
M.A. in Religious Studies, 1979, Stanford University.
1979-1980: Inter-University Center for Japanese Studies, Tōkyō, Japan (Japanese Language Training)
1974-1976: University of Washington (Japanese Studies M.A. Program)
B.A. in Political Science, 1971, Stanford University. +
* Ph.D. Asian Religions, [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]] (1999) [[Interpreting Mahayana Syncretism: A Comparative Study of Santarakista's 'The Ornament for the Middle Way' in Indian and Tibetan Contexts]], 362 pages, 9934900. [[Media:Blumenthal, James_1999_Wisconsin_Interpreting Mahayana Syncretism.pdf|PDF of James Blumenthal's Dissertation: Interpreting Mahayana Syncretism]]
* M.A. in South Asian Studies, [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]] (1995)
* B.A. Philosophy (Honors), University of San Diego (1989)
+
PhD in Buddhist Studies, University of California, Berkeley (December, 1985). Dissertation: "The Korean Origin of the ''Vajrasamadhi-Sutra': A Case Study in Determining the Dating, Provenance, and Authorship of a Buddhist Apocryphal Scripture."; MA, University of California, Berkeley; A.B. University of California, Berkeley; +
*Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies, [[University of Wisconsin, Madison]] (May, 1987). Dissertation: "The Development of a Buddhist Philosophy of Language and Its Culmination in Tibetan Madhyamaka Thought."
*Ph.D. candidate, University of Wisconsin, Madison (May, 1980-1987). From November 1980-1984 affiliated with the Sampurnananda Sanskrit University, Varanasi, India and with the Sera Je Monastic University, Karnataka, India, as visiting research scholar.
*B.S. in Independent Studies with emphasis in Physics. Awarded 1978. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.
+
Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures, with specialization in Buddhist Studies,
University of California, Los Angeles (2000). Dissertation: “The Hongzhou School
during the Mid-Tang Period.” Dissertation advisor: Robert Buswell.
M.A. in East Asian Languages and Cultures, with specialization in Chinese Language and
Culture, UCLA (1995). +
Ph.D., Buddhist Studies, University of Michigan (1994). Dissertation: "Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism."
M.A. in Tibetan Buddhism/Religious Studies, University of Virginia (1985).
B.A. in Religious Studies, Middlebury College, Vt. (1985) +
PhD in Anthropology (sociocultural), University of California, Davis, (1996)
MA in Anthropology (sociocultural), California State University Hayward, (2000) +