Religious Studies | Topics in Religious Studies: Buddhism in Modern East Asia
R202 | 16528 | Hammerstrom, E.

How has the modern world changed Buddhism in East Asia?  In the
majority of classes and books on Asian Buddhism, the focus tends to
be on the historical development of Buddhism in the past, but rarely
does it focus on the many changes the Buddhism has undergone in the
modern world.  We will begin this class by looking briefly at basic
Buddhist beliefs, and the historical development of the Buddhist
tradition in East Asia.  The majority of class time, however, will
be spent on trying to understand how certain aspects of modernity
(science, Communism, globalization) have affected the ways that
Buddhists from China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan talk about their
religion, and how they live their lives.  Class requirements include
tests and a research proposal, which students will work on in stages.