Joe Marino is the Cris & Melissa Cyders assistant professor of Buddhist studies and Sanskrit in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature. He researches and teaches about premodern South Asian religious literature and history, with a specialization in early Buddhist manuscripts from ancient Gandhara (Afghanistan/Pakistan). 

His book manuscript, The Great Conflagration Hell and Other Misfortunes, presents a first edition, translation, and comparative study of two newly-discovered Gandhari Buddhist manuscripts from the second-century CE. Drawing on new evidence from the manuscripts, it explores early Buddhist metaphorical notions of hell and other unfortunate destinies.