Courses on Buddhism taught at Stanford

Courses offered 2007-08

ANTHROPOLOGY

CASA 127. Tibetan Ritual Life – (Same as RELIGST 217A). Diehl

The human life cycle, the calendar year, and pilgrimage are used as organizing principles to examine Buddhist and lay rituals that mark important occasions, bless people and places, ward off danger, heal wounds, alleviate suffering, predict the future, affirm Tibetan identity, and inspire political activism. Also covered: material culture of rituals including butter sculpture, thangka painting, and costumes; performative aspects including monastic dance, chanting, instrumental music, song, and opera; and the meanings of rituals to those who participate in them. The role of ritual in human culture more generally. (GER:DB-Hum)
5 units, Winter

CASA 135X. Pilgrimage and Sacred Landscapes- (Same as RELIGST 235).

Perspectives include cultural, spiritual, psychological, medical, economic, and political. Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Native American, and secular; sources include Europe, Tibet, India, Native America, and the Middle East. Why do pilgrims often make their journeys difficult and painful? How do landscapes become sacred? What happens when places such as Jerusalem are intersections for groups with different belief systems? Contemporary U.S. destinations such as Graceland and the Vietnam Memorial; journeys of personal or non-parochial cultural significance. (GER:DB-Hum)
4 units, not offered 2007-08

CASA 164. Ritual Musics of the World – (Same as RELIGST 164) – Diehl.

The roles of music in human ritual life. Psychological and physical effects of music in healing and trance-inducing rituals; its power to create and affirm communities and other affective ties; and its effectiveness as a medium for spiritual knowledge. What can be learned about people, place, and cultures through sound; how does music express and shape social identity and culture; how are belief systems and patterns of social interaction encoded and made manifest in musical practices? (GER: DB-Hum)
4 units, Autumn

ART &ART HISTORY

ARTHIST 2. Asian Art and Culture – (Same as JAPANGEN 60). Takeuchi

Religious and philosophical ideas and social attitude of India, China, and Japan; how they are expressed in architecture, painting, woodblock prints, sculpture, and in forms such as garden design and urban planning. (GER: DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom)
5 units, Winter

ARTHIST 182/382. Arts of China, 900-1500: Cultures in Competition. Vinograd.

The era from the Five Dynasties and Song to the mid-Ming period was marked by competition in cultural arenas such as between Chinese and formerly nomadic regimes, or between official court art modes and scholar-official and literati groups. Topics include: innovations in architectural and ceramic technologies; developments in landscape painting and theory; the proliferation of art texts and discourses; the rise of educated artists; official arts and ideologies of the Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, and Ming regimes; new roles for women as patrons and cultural participants; and Chan and popular Buddhist imagery. (GER:DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom)
4 units, Autumn

HISTORY

HISTORY 90Q. Buddhist Political and Social Theory. Stanford Introductory Seminar. Mancall

(Preference to sophomores.) Contemporary Buddhist political theory and its historical and textual roots, emphasizing Tibetan, Thai, and Sri Lankan Buddhism. Topics: society and polity in Buddhist thought, Buddhist spiritual practice as social and political practice, sovereignty, the individual and society, Buddhist economic theory and practice, Buddhism and the state, Buddhist political and social theory in practice, differences between Vajrayana (Tibetan) and Theravada (S.E. Asian) Buddhist social theory. (GER:DB-SocSci, EC-GlobalCom)
4- 5 units, Autumn

HISTORY 191. East Asia in the Early Buddhist Age. Lewis – (Same as 391)

Evolution of cities in imperial China through early imperial, medieval, and early modern periods. Topics include physical structure, social order, cultural forms, economic roles, relations to rural hinterlands, and the contrast between imperial capitals and other cities. Comparative examination of cases from European history. (GER:DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom)
4-5 units, not given in 2007-08

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

IHUM 68B. Approaching Religion. Hess and Bielefeldt

Two quarter sequences. Challenges facing the world’s religions in responding to issues such as globalization, feminism, science, pluralism, and individualism. How Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism underwent transformations, grappling with the tension between making necessary changes and preserving traditions. Encounters between these religious traditions and the forces of contemporary social change. GER:IHYM-2,3.
4 units, Spring

RELIGST 14. Introduction to Buddhism. Harrison

From its beginnings to the 21st century. Principal teachings and practices, institutional and social forms, and artistic and iconographical expressions. (GER:DB-Hum, EC-Global.com)
4 units, Winter

RELIGST 18. Introduction to Zen Buddhism. Bielefeldt

Classical Zen thought in China, its background, origins, and development. (GER:DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom)
4 units, not offered 2007-08

RELIGST 35. Introduction to Chinese Religions. Pregadio

Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and the interchange among these belief systems and institutions. Set against the background of Chinese history, society, and culture, with attention to elite and popular religious forms. (GER:DB-Hum, EC-Global-Com)
4 units, Winter

RELIGST 113A. Sacred Space and the Supernatural in Japanese Religion. Klonos

Ties to place in Japanese religious history, legends, and religious practices. The role of Japan’s mountains in the religious imagination.
4 units, Autumn

RELIGST 114A. Scared Journeys in Chinese Religion. Cook

Journey themes in Shamanic, Buddhist, Daoist, and popular Chinese religions form ancient to early modern period. Genres and traditions such as ancient shamanesses and their ecstatic trysts with nature deities, Daoist poets and their4 literary flights, and monks and their legendary westward journeys in search of Buddhist scripture.
4 units, Spring

RELIGST 136. Buddhist Yoga. Bielefeldt

Buddhist models of spiritual practice emphasizing issues in the interpretation of the contemplative path. (GER:DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom).
4 units, Winter

RELIGST 154. Buddhism Today: Responses to New Global Challenges.

How do the traditions of Buddhism cope with new social, ethical, and global challenges? Case studies from Sri Lanka, Japan, and the West. The historical position of Buddhist social thought. Buddhism’s ascetic and meditative legacy: friend or foe of social engagement? (GER:DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom)
4 units, not offered 2007-08

RELIGST 164. Ritual Musics of the World (Same as CASA 164) Diehl

The roles of music in human ritual life. Psychological and physical effects of music in healing and trance-inducing rituals; its power to create and affirm communities and other affective ties; and its effectiveness as a medium for spiritual knowledge. What can be learned about people, place, and cultures through sound; how does music express and shape social identity and culture; how are belief systems and patterns of social interaction encoded and made manifest in musical practices? (GER: DB-Hum)
4 units, Autumn

RELIGST 216. Japanese Buddhism. Bielefeldt
Recent scholarship.
4 units, Spring

RELIGST 217/317. Japanese Studies of Religions in China. Kumada

(Graduate students register for 317) Readings in Japanese secondary sources on Chinese religions.
3 units, Autumn

RELIGST 217A. Tibetan Ritual Life (Same as CASA 127)/. Diehl

The human life cycle, the calendar year, and pilgrimage are used as organizing principles to examine Buddhist and lay rituals that mark important occasions, bless people and places, ward off danger, heal wounds, alleviate suffering, predict the future, affirm Tibetan identity, and inspire political activism. Also covered: material culture of rituals including butter sculpture, thangka painting, and costumes; performative aspects including monastic dance, chanting, instrumental music, song, and opera; and the meanings of rituals to those who participate in them. The role of ritual in human culture more generally. (GER:DB-Hum)
5 units, Winter

RELIGST 247. Chinese Buddhist Texts. Harrison

From the first millennium C.E., including sutra translations, prefaces, colophons, and biographies. Prerequisite: reading competence in Chinese.
4 units, Spring

RELIGST 250. Classics of Indian Buddhism. Harrison

Texts in English translation including discourses (sutras), philosophical treatises, commentaries, didactic epistles, hymns, biographies, and narratives.
4 units, Spring

RELIGST 251/351. Readings in Indian Buddhist Texts.

(Graduate students register for 351.) Introduction to Buddhist literature through reading original texts in Sanskrit. Prerequisite: Sanskrit.
1-5 units, not offered 2007-08

RELIGST 254. Recent Contributions to Buddhist Studies. Harrison

May be repeated for credit.
4 units. Winter

RELIGST 258. Japanese Buddhist Texts. Bielefeldt

Readings in medieval Japanese Buddhist materials. Prerequisite: background in Japanese and/or Chinese.
3-5 units, Winter

RELIGST 312. Buddhist Studies Proseminar.

Research methods and materials for the study of Buddhism. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Chinese or Japanese.
1-5 units, not offered 2007-08