Courses

An exploration of the visual arts of East and South Asia from ancient to modern times, in their social, religious, literary and political contexts. Analysis of major monuments of painting, sculpture and architecture will be organized around themes that include ritual and funerary arts, Buddhist art and architecture across Asia, landscape and narrative painting, culture and authority in court arts, and urban arts in the early modern world.

The Song dynasty (mid-10th to late 13th c.) was a period of extraordinary diversity and technical accomplishment in Chinese painting, ceramics, calligraphy, architecture and sculpture. Artistic developments emerged within a context of economic dynamism, urban growth, and competition in dynastic, political, cultural and social arenas - as between Chinese and formerly nomadic neighboring regimes, or between reformers and conservatives. This course will consider major themes and topics in Song art history, including innovations in architectural and ceramic technologies; developments in landscape painting and theory; the rise of educated artists; official arts and ideologies of Song, Liao and Jin court regimes; new roles for women as patrons and cultural participants; and Chan and popular Buddhist imagery.

The Song dynasty (mid-10th to late 13th c.) was a period of extraordinary diversity and technical accomplishment in Chinese painting, ceramics, calligraphy, architecture and sculpture. Artistic developments emerged within a context of economic dynamism, urban growth, and competition in dynastic, political, cultural and social arenas - as between Chinese and formerly nomadic neighboring regimes, or between reformers and conservatives. This course will consider major themes and topics in Song art history, including innovations in architectural and ceramic technologies; developments in landscape painting and theory; the rise of educated artists; official arts and ideologies of Song, Liao and Jin court regimes; new roles for women as patrons and cultural participants; and Chan and popular Buddhist imagery.

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.

How does a 2,500-year-old tradition respond to the urgent challenges of our contemporary world? This course examines Buddhist communities' and teachers' creative engagement with issues ranging from climate change and environmental degradation to questions of social justice, gender equality, racial reconciliation, and economic inequality. Through careful study of the contemporary applications of classical Buddhist sources, we will explore how Buddhism functions as a living, adaptive tradition that both offers resources for addressing modern challenges and at times presents structural obstacles to progressive change. Through global case studies, we will investigate how Buddhist communities worldwide have responded to contemporary crises, while critically examining the tensions between traditional spiritual goals and social activism, as well as the secular appropriation of Buddhist practices. Students will develop skills in cross-cultural interpretation, critical analysis of religious responses to social issues, and understanding of Buddhism as a dynamic, multiple tradition shaped by historical and contemporary contexts.

Buddhism often figures in the popular imagination not as a religion, but as a philosophy, or a way of life. But why is such a distinction made? Does Buddhist thought and practice make sense as a philosophy? What do Buddhists actually mean when they say there is no self? Is this a philosophical claim? And what about the Buddhist arguments that everything is empty, projected by the mind, or the result of past karma? Is meditation on such theories philosophical practice? This course explores these and other questions by studying the perennial ideas that have made Buddhist traditions distinctive, the implications of these claims for living a meaningful life, and how these ideas and their associated practices have been received in contemporary secularized societies.

This course introduces students to the esoteric traditions of South Asia and their complex systems of medical knowledge and healing practices. We will explore the connections between contemplative practices, healing rituals, spirit possession, and the various understandings of physical and mental well-being in the esoteric streams of Hinduism and Buddhism. What can the esoteric (tantric) religious traditions of South Asia contribute to medicine and healing today? How did the tantric traditions understand immortality, and how can it be attained? How do these traditions differently construe the relationship between mind and body, and how can these models contribute to our understanding of illness and health? We will approach these and other questions related to healing through primary sources (sacred texts) and studies that reconstruct the traditional understanding of health and medicine in Tantra.

For two thousand years, Chinese people have written, talked, and thought about Buddhism, contemplating the workings of karma and rebirth, the nature of the self, and the social ramifications of monasticism. They made images, copied scriptures, formed devotional societies, made offerings in temples, worried about the future of the world, and at times even took the radical step of swearing off children, sex, meat and alcohol to become monastics - all in response to Buddhist ideas and practices. At the same time, critics of Buddhism, from the early days up until the present, have ridiculed its doctrines as preposterous, its origins as barbaric and its institutions as leeches on society. In this class, 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 from the first century of the Common Era to the present. The course will trace themes in three broad spheres: Buddhism at court, Buddhism in the monasteries, and Buddhism in the countryside. Along the way, we will cover the first Buddhist nuns, the discovery of medieval manuscripts at Dunhuang, the creation of monumental art, depictions of hells and paradise, the rise of Chan and the Buddhist encounter with modernity. 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.

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.

For two thousand years, Chinese people have written, talked, and thought about Buddhism, contemplating the workings of karma and rebirth, the nature of the self, and the social ramifications of monasticism. They made images, copied scriptures, formed devotional societies, made offerings in temples, worried about the future of the world, and at times even took the radical step of swearing off children, sex, meat and alcohol to become monastics - all in response to Buddhist ideas and practices. At the same time, critics of Buddhism, from the early days up until the present, have ridiculed its doctrines as preposterous, its origins as barbaric and its institutions as leeches on society. In this class, 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 from the first century of the Common Era to the present. The course will trace themes in three broad spheres: Buddhism at court, Buddhism in the monasteries, and Buddhism in the countryside. Along the way, we will cover the first Buddhist nuns, the discovery of medieval manuscripts at Dunhuang, the creation of monumental art, depictions of hells and paradise, the rise of Chan and the Buddhist encounter with modernity. 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.

This course explores how religion has shaped the modern East Asian world through an examination of Tibetan Buddhist culture and history. Tibetan Buddhism played a fundamental role in the Chinese transition to modernity and has enjoyed an enduring relevance not only in modern Tibet and China, but also in other parts of Asia and globally. We will explore how religious practice, literature, and art interconnect with political power, ethnicity, nationalism, and scientific development to revisit common perceptions of Tibet as a culturally isolated place of religion and of East Asian modernity as a steady turn to secularization. We will also look at the contemporary traces of this process within American and Asian-American Buddhist communities. This course is part of the Humanities Core: https://humanitiescore.stanford.edu/

This course examines Zen (Chan) Buddhism through its historical development in China and Japan and its transmission to the United States. Students will explore key practices, philosophy, rituals, poetry, music, and paintings by engaging with classical texts, modern scholarship, and artworks. The course also incorporates short guided meditations, guest lectures, and a field trip to deepen understanding of Zen practice and its lived traditions.

Yoga has become one of the most popular forms of physical and spiritual activity in the contemporary Western world. Yet, its history and cultural affiliations remain obscure and controversial. How did Yoga develop from its South Asian religious origins to the secular multibillion-dollar industry we know nowadays? This course examines the history of Yoga's practice and philosophy in its many cultural and religious contexts in light of the most recent scholarship on the subject. We will challenge common misconceptions regarding Yoga, such as the notion that the Yoga postures we practice today are thousands of years old, that Yoga is intrinsically Hindu, or that Patanjali's Yoga Sutra is the fundamental text of Hatha Yoga. We will survey the different roles that Yoga has played in most of the religious traditions of India, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sufism or Islamic mysticism. We will pay specific attention to the diverse systems of thought and practice philosophies, psychologies, and "meditational" disciplines - that Yoga has upheld throughout its history. We will also see how Yoga traveled from India to the West in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, how it has changed over time, and how it has become the global phenomenon it is today. Seeing the complex plurality of what Yoga has been and can be, we will further ask what the limits of Yoga are: is "Beer yoga" or "Goat yoga" really Yoga? And what is the future of Yoga? This class combines lectures with discussions. The readings include accessible secondary literature and a selection of primary sources. Knowledge of Indian languages is not required, and no prior coursework in South Asian Studies or Religious Studies is presupposed.

This course offers an account of the history of Indian religions through the lens of their material cultures and privileges the self-understandings of the artisans who made religious worlds out of pigment and stone over those who mostly imagined them inside of books. We focus primarily on the periods and religious sub-cultures with the richest documentation, especially the Buddhism and Jainism in the Classical period, Saiva and Sakta monastic art patronage in early medieval Gujarat, the Western Deccan, Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, the overlapping Muslim and Hindu worlds of Mughal, Pahari, and Rajput Court painting, and colonial North India. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

When Buddhism spread from India to China along the Silk Roads in the first millennium CE, the cultural interactions it encountered on its journey east also transformed Buddhism itself. Who were the individuals and groups behind this transmission of Buddhism? How were personal religious beliefs articulated against broader political and ecological contexts? In what ways did their gender, ethnicity, occupation, and religious identities contribute to the transformation of Buddhism? And how, in turn, did Buddhism shape the civilizations along the Silk Roads? Each week we explore a stop or a group of migrants along the Silk Roads, a text or an artifact associated with them, and a Buddhist idea to be transformed through them. This course also reflects on the modern adaption of Buddhist ideas through similar decentralized cultural contacts. No prerequisite. Undergraduates register for 200 level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

This course will explore the musical cultures and soundscapes of Buddhism, ranging from monastic chants to classical music to modern pop music. We will study how sounds support practitioners in their personal cultivation and how music helps to communicate with Buddhist deities. We will read primary sources and secondary literature on Buddhism, as well as theoretical works on the study of sacred music. Additionally, we will listen to and analyze sound and video recordings. NOTE: Undergraduates must enroll for 5 units; graduate students can enroll for 3-5 units.

This course offers an account of the history of Indian religions through the lens of their material cultures and privileges the self-understandings of the artisans who made religious worlds out of pigment and stone over those who mostly imagined them inside of books. We focus primarily on the periods and religious sub-cultures with the richest documentation, especially the Buddhism and Jainism in the Classical period, Saiva and Sakta monastic art patronage in early medieval Gujarat, the Western Deccan, Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, the overlapping Muslim and Hindu worlds of Mughal, Pahari, and Rajput Court painting, and colonial North India. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

When Buddhism spread from India to China along the Silk Roads in the first millennium CE, the cultural interactions it encountered on its journey east also transformed Buddhism itself. Who were the individuals and groups behind this transmission of Buddhism? How were personal religious beliefs articulated against broader political and ecological contexts? In what ways did their gender, ethnicity, occupation, and religious identities contribute to the transformation of Buddhism? And how, in turn, did Buddhism shape the civilizations along the Silk Roads? Each week we explore a stop or a group of migrants along the Silk Roads, a text or an artifact associated with them, and a Buddhist idea to be transformed through them. This course also reflects on the modern adaption of Buddhist ideas through similar decentralized cultural contacts. No prerequisite. Undergraduates register for 200 level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.

This course will explore the musical cultures and soundscapes of Buddhism, ranging from monastic chants to classical music to modern pop music. We will study how sounds support practitioners in their personal cultivation and how music helps to communicate with Buddhist deities. We will read primary sources and secondary literature on Buddhism, as well as theoretical works on the study of sacred music. Additionally, we will listen to and analyze sound and video recordings. NOTE: Undergraduates must enroll for 5 units; graduate students can enroll for 3-5 units.

"What Is Religion? Adventures in Religious Studies, Hong Kong Edition," is a spinoff of a class I teach at Stanford, "Is Stanford a Religion?" That class examines the characteristics of religion - myth, ritual, symbol, salvation - through the lens of Stanford and the Silicon Valley, looking at how and why students and tech workers engage in rituals and myths that could be classified as "religious." The Hong Kong edition of the class will take advantage of local surroundings to ask similar questions, but the location will also allow us to expand beyond the college environment to understand the broader implications of defining "religion." The class will begin with a unit that considers both substantive (what religion is) and functionalist (what religion does) understandings of "religion." We will discuss classic theories of religion, from Karl Marx to Sigmund Freud to Clifford Geertz, in order to understand how theorists have conceived of the category and what it does. This opening unit will also examine the basic building blocks of religion, such as myth and ritual, to assess how and why people tell religious stories and behave religiously. The second unit of the class will expand to consider how the category of "religion" has operated historically, as western travelers, scholars, and colonizers selectively applied and withheld the category from the different cultures they encountered. In this unit we will look at how Buddhism and Confucianism came to be classified as "world religions," while "folk" religions were not granted that status. The final unit of the class will expand the category of religion to that which is usually considered "secular." We will consider college (comparing Stanford and CUHK), technology/work, and Disney as religion, and contemplate what kinds of myths and rituals bring meaning to peoples' lives today.

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.

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.

This course provides an introduction to Buddhist Tantra through considering select themes in its historical development, philosophy, contemplative and ritual dynamics, visual and material culture, and variations across different times and cultures, from medieval India to the globalized present. Students will learn how to interpret tantric Buddhist literature in translation, assess modern scholarly studies, appreciate diverse contemplative and ritual techniques, analyze examples of tantric Buddhist artwork, and develop final projects based on their interests. Course readings are in English. No prerequisite is required.

Introduction to Tibetan literature through reading texts in Tibetan. Prerequisite: intermediate level facility in classical Tibetan.Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units

The focus of this course is on approaches to the past from within Buddhist traditions rather than modern academic writing on Buddhist history. We will briefly examine research on religious conceptions of the past in other religions before turning to the full range of Buddhist historiography, including writings from India, Ceylon, China, Tibet and Japan. The first half of the class will be dedicated to reading and discussing scholarship as well as some primary sources in translation. In the second half of the course, students will develop projects based on their interests, culminating in presentations and a research paper.

Introduction to Tibetan literature through reading texts in Tibetan. Prerequisite: intermediate level facility in classical Tibetan.Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units