Fall Foliage with Hoover Tower in the Background
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Autumn foliage with Hoover Tower in the background. Photo credit: Chuck Painter

 

Autumn

Thursday
1:30 PM - 2:50 PM
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.
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.
Monday Wednesday
10:30 AM - 12:20 PM
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.
Monday Wednesday
3:00 PM - 4:20 PM
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.
Monday
1:30 PM - 2:50 PM
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.
Tuesday Thursday
12:00 PM - 1:20 PM
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.
Monday
3:00 PM - 5:50 PM
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.
Thursday
3:00 PM - 5:50 PM
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.
Tuesday Thursday
12:00 PM - 1:20 PM
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.
Thursday
1:30 PM - 2:50 PM
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.
Monday
3:00 PM - 5:50 PM
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.
Graduate Independent study in Buddhism. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

RELIGST 390: Teaching Internship

Required supervised internship for PhDs.