Asian Studies Program
Joseph Adler
Asia 490: Senior Seminar
BUDDHIST ASIA IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Prof. Joseph Adler |
Fall 2000
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Ascension 310 |
Tues. 7:30-10:00
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E-mail adlerj@kenyon.edu |
Davis House
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PBX 5290 |
Office hours: MTW 3-4
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The topic of the senior seminar this year will be the social, economic, and cultural aspects
of Buddhism throughout Asia. As one of the major connective links among the varied cultures of
South, Southeast, and East Asia for over two millennia, Buddhism has reflected and influenced
cultural change on a wide variety of levels. The seminar will focus on Buddhism's role in intra-Asian
trade, urbanization, the construction of identity (personal, national, and trans-national), conceptions
of power (numinous, political, and economic), and conceptions of order (cosmic, spiritual, and
temporal). Specific topics will include Buddhist cosmology, notions of kingship (the cakravartin
and the dharmaraja), the Buddhist community (sangha) and the wider social order,
missionary activity, pilgrimage, commerce, the confluence of spiritual and political power in
Tibet, and the ways in which religious and mundane phenomena can be mutually conditioned.
Reading
Available in Bookstore:
- Heinz Bechert and Richard Gombrich, eds., The World of Buddhism: Buddhist Monks and Nuns
in Society and Culture (Thames and Hudson, 1991)
- Burton Watson, trans., The Lotus Sutra (Columbia, 1993)
- Jerry H. Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-modern
Times (Oxford, 1993)
- Xinru Liu, Ancient India and Ancient China: Trade and Religious Exchanges, AD 1-600
(Oxford, 1988)
- Donald K. Swearer, Buddhism and Society in Southeast Asia (SUNY, 1995)
On Course Reserve:
- Richard H. Robinson and Willard L. Johnson, The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction,
4th ed.
- Martin W. Lewis and Karen E. Wigen, The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography
- Andre Gunder Frank, The Centrality of Central Asia
- Susan Whitfield, Life Along the Silk Road
- Eleanor Mannikka, Angkor Wat: Time, Space, and Kingship
Requirements and grading:
- Participation (25% of course grade). The success of a seminar depends on
the active participation of all members. Attendance at all meetings is required, unless you
have a legitimate excuse and inform me about it beforehand. You are expected to have
read the assigned material, to participate in regular seminar discussion, and to give clear
oral presentations of written essays.
- Two short papers (5-10 pages) and oral reports, Oct. 3 and Oct. 31 (20%
each). The oral report will count 1/3 of the grade.
- Term paper (15-20 pages) and oral report (35%). The oral report will count
1/4 of the grade.
The world's oldest dated printed book (868 C.E.):
copy of the Diamond Sutra found at Dunhuang, China,
the eastern terminus of the Silk Routes.
Seminar Schedule
1. Aug 29 |
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Introduction: Asia as a geographical
/ cultural construct |
Questions to think about:
How do we define and understand Asia? Given its diversity, is Asia really a coherent
entity? Or is it coherent only because others (i.e. we) posit it as what we are
not? Is "Asia" just a cultural construction of Euro-Americans? To what extent do Asians
nowadays also perpetuate or challenge stereotypes about Asia? How have Asians "constructed"
Asia?
2. Sep 5 |
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Buddhism: India |
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Read: |
Bechert and Gombrich, Buddhism, Foreword, Introduction, chs. 1-2 |
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3. Sep 12 |
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Afghanistan, Central Asia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia |
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Read: |
Buddhism, chs. 3-7 |
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4. Sep 19 |
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China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Tibet |
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Read: |
Buddhism, chs. 8-10 |
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5. Sep 26 |
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The Lotus Sutra |
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Read: |
The Lotus Sutra |
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6. Oct 3 |
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Reports on Buddhism in various regions |
-- October break --
7. Oct 17 |
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Metageography |
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Read: |
Lewis and Wigen, The Myth of Continents, Intro, chs. 1-2 |
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8. Oct 24 |
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The Silk Routes |
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Read: |
Old World Encounters, pp. 3-89 |
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"The Silk Road," by Oliver Wild |
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9. Oct 31 |
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Reports on the Silk Routes |
10. Nov 7 |
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Trade and Mahayana Ideology and Symbolism
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Read: |
Liu, Ancient India and Ancient China, pp. 1-102 |
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11. Nov 14 |
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Trade and Buddhist Institutions
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Read: |
Liu, Ancient India and Ancient China, pp. 103-182 |
-- Thanksgiving vacation --
12. Nov 28 |
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Sacred Power and Sacred Order in Theravada
Buddhism |
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Read: |
Swearer, The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia, chs. 1-2 |
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13. Dec 5 |
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Modern Buddhism |
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Read: |
Bechert and Gombrich, Buddhism, ch. 11 |
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Swearer, The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia, ch. 3 |
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14. Dec 12 |
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Term paper reports |
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Sakyamuni and Prabhutaratna seated in the
jeweled stupa, from the Lotus Sutra (4th-century bronze image). |
Edit date: 9/14/00
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