Religious Studies 101 World
Religions of Asia, Fall 2006-07 CRN 16526
100 Willamette, MWF 3:00-3:50 p.m.
* Instructor: Mark T. Unno, Office:
PLC 812, Ph. 346-4973, Office hours: Mondays 11:00-11:50 a.m.;
Wednesdays 2:00-2:50 p.m.
* Email: munno@darkwing.uoregon.edu
Home Page: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~munno/
Introduction to selected religious
traditions of Asia. This course will examine various Asian religious
traditions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.
Rather than provide a comprehensive survey of all of the Asian
religions (which is impractical in a ten-week quarter), this course
emphasizes in-depth understanding of selected traditions through the
study of primary religious texts supported by secondary readings in
the relevant scholarly literature. The focus of our examination will
be on the philosophical understanding of religious ideas supported by
a critical examination of historical context. We will study key ideas
within the critical context of various cultural and historical issues
such as gender, class, and ritual.
Requirements
1. Attendance: Required. Students can
have one unexcused absence without penalty. Each class missed
thereafter without prior permission will result in 1/2 grade penalty
for the course grade. Attendance at weekly discussion sections is
mandatory.
2. Short exams: Two short, in-class
exams, based on materials from the readings, lectures, and course web
site.
3. Short response papers: Three
response papers on the
readings. They offer thoughtful reflections on the readings rather
than merely personal reactions.
More specific instructions will be provided on the course web site.
4. Presentation: Students will make a
presentation on the readings for one of the section meetings. The
presenter should NOT summarize the reading but should use the
presentation to discuss why the selected ideas/passages in question
are important for understanding the reading and proceed to explain
and well as raise questions about these ideas/passages.
The primary purpose of these
presentations is to launch
the discussion, not to demonstrate breadth of knowledge or to lead
the discussion. Each presenter will prepare a handout with 2
questions and brief, corresponding quotations from the readings. More
detailed instructions will be provided on the course web site.
5. Final paper: Each student will hand
in a medium length final paper of 4-6 pages double-spaced. Suggested
topics will be provided. Students may choose to create their own
topics with the consent of their section leader. In the case of the
latter, a one-paragraph description of the topic must be submitted by
email to the instructor one week prior to the due date.
6. Late policy on written assignments:
Three grace days total will be allotted excluding the medium-length
paper for which no extensions will be given. For all other
assignments, a cumulative total of three late days will be allowed
without penalty. Thereafter, each late day will result in a two-point
deduction from the course grade. Weekends are not counted against the
grace days.
Grades
* Short exam I 10%, Short exam II 10%
* Response paper I 10%, Response paper
II 10%, Response paper III 10%
* Medium-length paper 25%
* Presentation 10%
* Discussion 15%
Required Texts (Information
listed here is given in footnote/endnote format.)
1. Herbert Fingarette,
Confucius-The Secular as Sacred (New
York: HarperCollins, 1972).
2. Burton Watson, tr., Zhuangzi:
Basic Writings (New York:
Columbia University Press, 2003).
3. Taitetsu Unno, Tannisho-A Shin
Buddhist Classic (Honolulu:
Buddhist Study Center Press, 1996).
4. Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace
(Berkeley, CA: Parallax
Press, 1987).
5. Course Reader, Religious Studies
201 Great Religions of the World-Asia, Fall
2006-07
Available at the Copy Shop, 539
E. 13th Street, Eugene, OR 97401, TEL 485 6253
REL101
World Religions: Asia - Class schedule
(CR:
Course Reader; CR1 = Course
Reader Selection No. 1)
Week 1 - Introduction
9/25 Mon. Introduction to the
Course-Asian Religions: Whose Religions where?
9/27 Wed. The Geography of Asian
Religions: South, Southeast, East, Inner
9/29 Fri. Vedic Religion and
Brahmanism. Read: Hymns of the Rgveda, Upanishads, CR1, 2.
Week 2 - Indian Religion: Gita,
Nikaya, Mahayana
10/2 Mon. Bhagavad Gita, Dance
of Krishna and Gopis. Read: Bhagavad Gita,
Oriental Mythology, CR 3, 4.
10/4 Wed. Early Indian Buddhism I -
Shakyamuni Buddha Äì Read; Peter Harvey,
Introduction to Buddhism,
CR 5.
10/6 Fri. Early Indian Buddhism II -
Nikaya Buddhism - Key concepts and historical background
Week 3 - Mahayana Buddhism
10/9 Mon. Nagarjuna and the Wisdom
Sutras.
Read:
Emptiness, "Key Ideas:
Nagarjuna and the Thought of Emptiness," CR6,7.
10/11 Wed. Bodhisattva ideal. Read:
The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti, CR8. Response
paper I due in class
10/13 Fri. Chinese Buddhism, "The
Philosophical Schools."
Read: "Key
Ideas: Taitetsu Unno, 'Philosophical Schools," "Philosophical
Schools," CR6,9.
Week 4 - Ancient China I:
Confucianism
10/16 Mon. The World of the Sage
Kings. Read: Fingarette, Confucius: The Secular as Sacred, vii-xi,
1-17.
10/18 Wed. Confucius and the world of
ritual action. Read: Fingarette, Confucius, 18-56.
Short exam I in class.
10/20 Fri. Confucianism and the
orchestral vision. Read: Fingarette, Confucius, 57-81.
Week 5 - Ancient China II:
Taoism
10/23
Mon. Laozi: The Power of the Way. Read: Watson, tr., Zhuangzi,
1-20, 23-30.
10/25 Wed. Zhuangzi I: Read:
Zhuangzi, 31-45, 46-88.
10/27 Fri. Zhuangzi II: Read:
Zhuangzi, 89-110
Response paper II due in class
Week 6 - Ancient China III: Taoism
and Early Chan/Zen
10/30 Mon. Zhuangzi III: Read:
Zhuangzi, 111-140.
11/1 Wed. Bodhidharma and Zen
Buddhism. Read: Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism,
CR 10.
11/3 Fri. The way of the kami -
gods and goddesses. Read:
Kawai, "Japanese Mythology," CR 11.
Week 7 - Ancient and MedievalJapan,
Ancient Korea
11/6 Mon.
Korean Buddhists: Chajang, Uisang, and Wonhyo. Read: Thousand
Peaks, pp. 28-38, CR
18.
11/8 Wed. Dogen and Zen Buddhism.
Read: "Shobogenzo Genjokoan," CR13.
11/10 Fri. Dogen and Zen Buddhism.
Read: "Shobogenzo Genjokoan," CR13. Short
exam II in class
Week 8 - Medieval Japan
11/13 Mon. Film: Ram Dass: Fierce
Grace.
11/15 Wed. Shinran and Pure Land
Buddhism.
Read: Unno, "Key
Terms - Pure Land Buddhism," CR 14, Unno,
Tannisho, 37-56,
1-14.
11/17 Fri. Shinran and Pure Land
Buddhism
Read: Unno,
Tannisho, 57-66, 21-23,
32-34, Unno, "The Nembutsu of No-Meaning," CR 15. Resp.
paper III due in class
Week 9 - Modern Vietnamese
Buddhism
11/20 Mon. Thich Nhat Hanh. Read:
Being Peace, 1-44.
11/22 Wed. Thich Nhat Hanh. Read:
Being Peace, 45-90.
11/24 Fri Thanksgiving break
Week 10 - Modern Manifestations
Korean and Japanese
11/27 Mon. Soto Zen Nuns. Read:
Nishitani, "Ikebana," Paula Arai, "Soto Zen Nuns," CR16, 17.
11/29 Wed. Seung Sahn. Read:
Thousand Peaks, 191-314,
CR 18.
12/1 Fri. Final Lecture. Final
papers due in class.
1. Ralph T. H. Griffith, trans.,
The Hymns of the Rgveda (Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass, 1973) 206, 633-4.
2. Shree Purohit Swami and W. B.
Yeats, trans., The Ten Principal Upanishads (Calcutta:
Rupa, 1992) 90-92.
3. A. C. Bhakitvedanta Swami
Prabhupada, trans., Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
(Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1990) 633-634.
4. Joseph Campbell, Oriental
Mythology - The Masks of God (NY:
Penguin, 1991) 343-364.
5. Peter Harvey, An Introduction to
Buddhism (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1990) 9-26.
6. Frederick Streng, Emptiness-A
Study in Religious Meaning (Nashville
and New York: Abingdon Press, 1967) 199,
212-215.
7. Mark Unno, "Key Ideas: Nagarjuna"
and "Key Ideas: Philosophical Schools."
8. Robert A. F. Thurman, trans.,
The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti (University
Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1987) 56-63, 73-77.
9. Taitetsu Unno, "Philosophical
Schools-San-lun, T'ien-t'ai, and Hua-yen," in Buddhist
Spirituality, ed. by Takeuchi
Yoshinori (New York: Crossroad, 1995) 343-365.
10. Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen
Buddhism: A History-India and China (New
York: Macmillan Publishing, 1988) 85-94.
11. Hayao KAWAI, "Japanese Mythology:
Balancing the Gods," in his Dreams, Myths and Fairy Tales in Japan
(Daimon, 1995) 67-97.
12. Mark Unno, "Key Terms -
Philosophical Terms in the Zen Buddhist Thought of Dogen"
13. Norman Waddell and Masao Abe,
trans., "Shobogenzo Genjokoan," by Dogen Kigen, The Eastern
Buddhist 5:2 (10/1972)
129-140.
14. Mark Unno, "Key Terms - Pure Land
Buddhism and the Philosophy of Honen and Shinran."
15. Mark Unno, "The Nembutsu of
No-Meaning and the Problem of Genres in the Writings and Statements
of Gutoku Shinran." The Pure Land 10-11
(12/1994). 1-9 (originally pages 105-121).
16. Nishitani Keiji, "Ikebana,"
Kyoto Journal 4 (Fall 1987)
33-35.
17. Paula Arai, "Soto Zen Nuns in
Modern Japan: Keeping and Creating Tradition," Bulletin of the
Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture 14
(Summer 1990) 38-51.
18. Mu Soeng Sunim. Thousand Peaks:
Korean Zen-Tradition & Teachers.
Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1987. 28-48, 191-314.