All Courses

A close study of selected sources for the lives of Alexander and A¿oka, for students with the relevant linguistic competence (Greek and/or Sanskrit). This is an optional companion course to RELIGST 373 and CLASSICS 374, in which students must also be enrolled.

Japanese attitudes to religion and popular forms of religiosity. Syncretic nature of beliefs and practices drawn on a variety of interwoven concepts, beliefs, customs and religious activities of native Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Indian origins as background. Topics include: pursuit of worldly benefits, religion and healing, fortune-telling, ascetic practices, pilgrimage, festivals (matsuri), new religions and their image, impact of the internet, response of religion in times of crisis.

Impact of Buddhism on the arts and culture of Japan as seen in the ancient capital of Kyoto. Image production, iconography, representational strategies, as well as the ritual and visual functions of Buddhist sculpture and painting with a focus on selected historical temples and their icons. Also examination of architectural and landscape elements of temple layouts, within which iconographic programs are framed, images are enlivened, and practices centered on these devotional and ritual art.

What does one need to know about Islam to do business effectively in an Arab country? How can understanding the Protestant ethic help Mexican managers deal with U.S. partners? How does Confucianism influence Chinese business ethics? What are the business advantages of knowing how different countries rate on the spectrum of individualist versus communitarian values? These are the kinds of issues discussed in this course, which seeks to help students who will be engaged in international business during their careers. It aims to examine the deeper levels of attitudes and beliefs, often unconscious, which lie beneath the way business is done in various countries. Information will be provided on major religious and philosophical traditions like Confucianism, Shinto, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Some cross-cultural frameworks will also be considered. Case studies and background readings are set in nations like China, Japan, India, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Mexico and the United States. The class will be discussion-based, drawing on students¿ own life experiences as well as the cases and readings. The hope is to provide a competitive advantage, both theoretically and practically, to students through understanding certain unspoken rules of the game in global business.

This course surveys major religious traditions of the world in all of their complexity, in relation to philosophy and politics; liturgy and literature; identity and social hierarchies; art, community, and emotion. Through examination of a variety of materials, including scriptures and other spiritual writings, religious objects and artifacts, and modern documentary, fiction and film, we explore Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Daoism as rich historical and living traditions.

Religious themes and topoi are ubiquitous in Japanese anime and manga. In this course, we will examine how religions are represented in these new media and study the role of religions in contemporary Japan. By doing this, students will also learn fundamental concepts of Buddhism and Shinto.WIN '24: This class will be meeting in room 338 in the East Asia Library.

This seminar will explore gardens and sacred spaces in Japan. We will study the development of Japanese garden design from the earliest records to contemporary Japan. We will especially focus on the religious, aesthetic, and social dimensions of gardens and sacred spaces. This seminar features a field trip to a Japanese garden in the area, in order to study how Japanese garden design was adapted in North America. Note: This course will be offered in East Asia Library, Room 212.

A comprehensive historical survey of the Buddhist tradition, from its beginnings to the 21st century, covering principal teachings and practices, institutional and social forms, and artistic and iconographical expressions. (Formerly RELIGST 14.)

An overview of major themes and historical developments in 5000 years of Chinese religion. In this course, we will try as much as possible to appreciate Chinese religion from the Chinese perspective, paying particular attention to original texts in translation, artifacts and videos, all in an attempt to discern the logic of Chinese religion and the role it has played in the course of Chinese history. To a greater extent perhaps than any other civilization, Chinese have left behind a continuous body of written documents and other artifacts relating to religion stretching over thousands of years, providing a wealth of material for studying the place of religion in history and society.

The two great Hindu Epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana, offer a sustained reflection on the nature of virtuous living in the face of insoluble ethical dilemmas. Their treatment of the concept of dharma, understood simultaneously as ethical action and the universal order that upholds the cosmos, lies at the heart of both Gandhian non-violent resistance and communalist interreligious conflict. This course will focus on a reading of selections from the Epics in English translation, supplemented with a consideration of how the texts have been interpreted in South Asian literary history and contemporary politics and public life in India.

This course provides an overview of the major themes and developments in 2000 years of Buddhist history in China. We will attempt to cover the full range of Chinese Buddhist history, reading a combination of scholarship and primary sources in translation, including scriptures, travel diaries, novels and autobiography. Prerequisite: at least one course that treats either Buddhism or Chinese religion. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

Chinese Buddhist texts from the Han Dynasty onwards, including sutra translations, prefaces, colophons, story collections and biographies. Prerequisite: reading competence in Chinese. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

An exploration of two key Mahayana Buddhist scriptures (the Heart & Diamond Sutras) and their histories, looking at what they say and how they have been used, from the first millennium to the present day.Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

This course offers an in-depth comparison of two major figures in the history of Europe and Asia, Alexander III of Macedon (r. 336-323 BCE), famed since ancient times as the Greek world's conqueror par excellence, and Asoka Maurya (r. 268-232 BCE), remembered not only as the ruler of an Indian empire of unprecedented extent, but also as an influential proponent of Buddhism. What are the makings of history and memory in relation to these figures? How do we distinguish between fact and fantasy? In this course we will sift through selected sources, both contemporary documents and later literary texts. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

Buddhism and arts have long been intimately related. In this course, we will explore various artistic expressions of Buddhist ideas, such as mandalas, gardens, landscapes, and musical liturgies. We will further study iconography and Buddhist sculptures. We will study primary sources, secondary literature, visual culture, and multimedia expressive forms through class discussions, presentations, field trips, and guest lecturers. Undergraduates must enroll for 5 units; graduate students can enroll for 3-5 units. Note: This is a graduate /upper level seminar with a high reading load. Prerequisites: Solid foundation in either Buddhist studies or East Asian Studies. Students must have taken at least one course in Buddhist studies. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units. This course will be in East Asia Library, room 212.

Visionary experiences - meditation, dreams, and deathbed visions - hold a central place in Buddhist traditions, and have gone on to inspire modern practices such as mindfulness and lucid dreaming. Many forms of Buddhist visionary experience are thought to involve conscious and voluntary visualizations, in contrast to spontaneous and passive visions. Through readings about visionary aspects of meditation, dreams, and deathbed visions in classical Buddhist literature (in translation) in a pan-Buddhist context, we will reflect upon the following questions: Do the modern ideas of Buddhist visualization practices truthfully represent early Buddhist understanding? What do these visionary experiences reveal about Buddhist epistemologies and soteriologies? Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

Required of all majors and combined majors. The study of religion reflects upon itself. Representative modern and contemporary attempts to "theorize," and thereby understand, the phenomena of religion in anthropology, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, and philosophy. WIM.

Readings in Hindu texts in Sanskrit. Texts will be selected based on student interest. Prerequisite: Sanskrit.

Chinese Buddhist texts from the Han Dynasty onwards, including sutra translations, prefaces, colophons, story collections and biographies. Prerequisite: reading competence in Chinese. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

Introduction to Buddhist literature through reading original texts in Sanskrit. Prerequisite: Sanskrit.

An exploration of two key Mahayana Buddhist scriptures (the Heart & Diamond Sutras) and their histories, looking at what they say and how they have been used, from the first millennium to the present day.Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

The goal of this course is to familiarize graduate students with themes, debates and methodologies in Buddhist Studies. Works covered are not all recent (though most are), but rather works that raise issues that scholars continue to address in recent works. Some weeks will focus on topics (e.g. Indian monasticism, defining meditative experience), and others on bodies of evidence (e.g. hagiography, material culture). "Buddhist Studies" encompasses a range of discrete disciplines (philosophy, history, anthropology etc.). This course is an opportunity for you to familiarize yourself with some of the most common approaches to Buddhist studies and the specific challenges they pose.

This course offers an in-depth comparison of two major figures in the history of Europe and Asia, Alexander III of Macedon (r. 336-323 BCE), famed since ancient times as the Greek world's conqueror par excellence, and Asoka Maurya (r. 268-232 BCE), remembered not only as the ruler of an Indian empire of unprecedented extent, but also as an influential proponent of Buddhism. What are the makings of history and memory in relation to these figures? How do we distinguish between fact and fantasy? In this course we will sift through selected sources, both contemporary documents and later literary texts. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

A close study of selected sources for the lives of Alexander and A¿oka, for students with the relevant linguistic competence (Greek and/or Sanskrit). This is an optional companion course to RELIGST 373 and CLASSICS 374, in which students must also be enrolled.

Buddhism and arts have long been intimately related. In this course, we will explore various artistic expressions of Buddhist ideas, such as mandalas, gardens, landscapes, and musical liturgies. We will further study iconography and Buddhist sculptures. We will study primary sources, secondary literature, visual culture, and multimedia expressive forms through class discussions, presentations, field trips, and guest lecturers. Undergraduates must enroll for 5 units; graduate students can enroll for 3-5 units. Note: This is a graduate /upper level seminar with a high reading load. Prerequisites: Solid foundation in either Buddhist studies or East Asian Studies. Students must have taken at least one course in Buddhist studies. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units. This course will be in East Asia Library, room 212.

Visionary experiences - meditation, dreams, and deathbed visions - hold a central place in Buddhist traditions, and have gone on to inspire modern practices such as mindfulness and lucid dreaming. Many forms of Buddhist visionary experience are thought to involve conscious and voluntary visualizations, in contrast to spontaneous and passive visions. Through readings about visionary aspects of meditation, dreams, and deathbed visions in classical Buddhist literature (in translation) in a pan-Buddhist context, we will reflect upon the following questions: Do the modern ideas of Buddhist visualization practices truthfully represent early Buddhist understanding? What do these visionary experiences reveal about Buddhist epistemologies and soteriologies? Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

Graduate Independent study in Buddhism. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

Graduate Independent study in Buddhism. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

Graduate Independent study in Buddhism. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

Required supervised internship for PhDs.

Required supervised internship for PhDs.

Required supervised internship for PhDs.