Please welcome Matta Zheng to BCBS as a Field Education Intern!
Matthew “Matta” Zheng (any pronouns) is 2nd year Masters of Divinity student at Harvard Divinity School, where he studies Buddhist ministry as it intersects with racial capitalism and end-of-life medicine. Matta also has strong interests in pan-sectarian Buddhist practice, Asian-American Buddhadharma futurities, and critical/social/cultural/queer theory. Matta graduated from Stanford University with Distinction in dual Bachelors’ in Human Biology and Political Science and Interdisciplinary Honors in LGBTQ+ Studies.
Previously Matta has been a research assistant at the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and the PRIDE Study, Congressional Intern for Rep. Adam Schiff, Field Organizer for the Nevada State Democratic Party, Steering Committee Counselor at the Cardinal Free Clinics, and was the founder-director of Refuge, Stanford’s first-ever LGBTQ+ spiritual community program. In the future, Matta hopes to further complete an MD/PhD in medical anthropology to accomplish their dream of synthesizing psychiatric-palliative medicine, Buddhist chaplaincy, and critical anthropological research.
They were excited to be reached out to from BCBS staff with an invitation to interview for a Field Education Internship after attending several retreats at BCBS and loving each experience. BCBS stands out to Matta in their actualized, demonstrated, and continued commitment towards anti-oppression work in Buddhism and related communities. Moreover, BCBS institutionally practices the power and importance of bridging Buddhist traditions, past and present, together through real encounters of deep meaning.
