LAHAINA – On May 18, the Buddhist Study Center and Maui Hongwanji Council will sponsor a lecture on Buddhism by Dr. Ugo Dessi.

Dr. Dessi is a scholar of Japanese Buddhism from the University of Leipzing, Germany. He is the 2013 “Scholar in Residence” at the Buddhist Study Center on Oahu.

The lecture will be held at Lahaina Hongwanji Mission, 551 Wainee St., from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dr. Dessi will speak on “Japanese Buddhism in the Global Age” and “Globally Minded Shin Buddhism.”

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information and to save a space, call Lahaina Hongwanji Mission at 661-0640 or e-mail sangha@lahainahongwanji .org.

Dessi studied Buddhism in India and Germany, where he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Marburg in 2006. His dissertation was on Shin Buddhist ethics.

He has been a visiting scholar at Tokyo University and Ryukoku University, and a research fellow at Otani University.