Topics for Paper I, REL 407/507 Buddhist Women

Due Thursday, April 27, 2006, in the envelope on the door of PLC 812.

• Double-spaced, not more than 800 words. (You may use parenthetical notation to indicate page numbers for textual references.)
• Be sure to write your name, the name of the class, and the title of your topic at the top of the page.
• I also strongly encourage you to read the essays on my Writing web pages, especially "Four Keys to Writing in the Humanities," "Paper Writing Guidelines," "Checklist for Papers," and "Writing: The Bridge between Consciousness and Unconsciousness."

Topics

1. Take one or two of the feminist thinkers or theories presented by Rosemarie Tong in Feminist Thought (such as de Beauvoir's Existentialist Feminism, Irigaray's Postmodern Feminism, Starhawk's Ecofeminism) to analyze the "Goddess" chapter from the Vimalakirti Sutra. To what extent does the Goddess embody the ideas represented by the thinker(s) or theory(ies)? In what ways does the episode fail to embody these thinker(s) or theory(ies)? If you choose one thinker or theory, you should be more in-depth in your examination. If you choose two, the challenge is to be succinct and incisive.

2. Take one or two of the feminist thinkers or theories presented by Rosemarie Tong in Feminist Thought to analyze the quandary presented by Kate Wheeler who struggles to reconcile the universal appeal of Buddhism with its androcentric biases. What would the theory(ies) or thinkers recommend Wheeler do? Should she modify her view of Buddhism? Abandon it altogether? Or, is there a way to act for positive change within the Buddhism institutional and theoretical paradigms?

3. Take one or two of the feminist thinkers or theories presented by Rosemarie Tong in Feminist Thought to examine the life of Nepali Aama, the main figure of Aama in America. How might these thinkers view Aama's life as a Nepali Hindu-Buddhist woman? How would Aama respond to their views of her.

4. Compare and contrast the Goddess's view of emptiness with that of Pema Chodron in "No Right, No Wrong." What are their similarities, and what are their differences?