Buddhist Studies

ANT 274 The Anthropology of Religion (4 Credits)

What can anthropologists teach us about religion as a social phenomenon? This course traces significant anthropological approaches to the study of religion, asking what these approaches contribute to our understanding of religion in the contemporary world. Topics include religious experience and rationality; myth, ritual and magic; rites of passage; function and meaning; power and alienation; religion and politics. Readings are drawn from important texts in the history of anthropology and from contemporary ethnographies of religion. {S}

Fall, Spring, Annually

ARH 290mc Colloquium: Topics in Art Historical Studies-Meditations in Caves (4 Credits)

The course is an introduction to Buddhist grottoes of East Asia. We will learn the historical trajectories of Buddhist grottoes, including the development of cave architecture, mural painting, and sculpture. It pays special attention to the site specificity of the visual imageries, and their transmissions, commissions, and functions. The case studies in this course range from the Kizil Caves and Mogao Caves in Northwestern China, to the Yungang Caves and Longmen Caves in the central plains, and the Seokguram Caves in the Korean Peninsula. We will also consider the collecting, preserving and displaying of Buddhist grottoes in the contemporary world. Enrollment limited to 20. {A}{H}

Fall, Spring, Variable

BUS 261/ REL 261 Buddhism, Race and Justice (4 Credits)

Offered as REL 261 and BUS 261. What can Buddhist texts and practices teach about analyzing and responding to contemporary forms of injustice, such as oppression based on race, caste, class, gender and sexuality? And how might responding to these forms of injustice lead to a reformulation of Buddhism? Drawing on classical and contemporary texts, this course addresses Buddhist contributions to the analysis of injustice and the practice of making social change. Working collaboratively, students explore the ethics of attention; the body, identity and identity politics; the place of anger in response to injustice; the phenomenology of marginalization and liberation; and the practice of violence and non-violence.  (E) {L}{S}

Fall, Spring, Variable

PHI 108/ REL 108 The Meaning of Life (4 Credits)

Offered as REL 108 and PHI 108. This course asks the big question, "What is the Meaning of Life?" and explores a range of answers offered by philosophers and religious thinkers from a host of different traditions in different eras of human history. We explore a variety of forms of philosophical and religious thinking and consider the ways in which philosophical and religious thinking can be directly relevant to our own lives. {H}{L}

Fall, Spring, Annually

PHI 127 Indian Philosophy (4 Credits)

An introduction to the six classical schools of Indian philosophy. What are their views on the nature of self, mind and reality? What is knowledge and how is it acquired? What constitutes right action? Students read selections from the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Nyaya and Yoga Sutras, and the Samkhya-Karika, amongst others. At the end of the semester students briefly consider the relation of these ancient traditions to the views of some influential modern Indian thinkers like Aurobindo, Vivekananda and Krishnamurti. Comparisons with positions in the western philosophical tradition will be an integral part of the course. {H}

Fall, Spring, Alternate Years

PHI 234ts Topics in Philosophy of Human Nature-The Self (4 Credits)

This course explores a cluster of the most fundamental questions about human nature: What are we? Do we have core selves that determine our identity? If so, what is such a self, and how does it develop? Or might we be selfless? If we are selfless, what is the nature of our identities? What might the reality or unreality of the self mean for the nature of our experience, for ethics, or for what gives our lives meaning? These are questions that have been raised and addressed with great sophistication in both Indian and Western philosophical traditions and that have been explored empirically in cognitive psychology and by experimental philosophers. Our investigation will therefore be both cross-cultural and interdisciplinary. {S}

Fall, Spring, Variable

PHI 252 Buddhist Philosophy: Madhyamaka and Yogacara (4 Credits)

This course examines the two principal schools of Indian Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. The Madhyamaka school is highly skeptical and critical in its dialectic. The ​Yogācāra or Cittamatra school is highly idealist. The two present contrasting interpretations of the thesis that phenomena are empty and contrasting interpretations of the relationship between conventional and ultimate reality. The debate between their respective proponents is among the most fertile in the history of Buddhist philosophy. Students read each school's principal sutras and early philosophical texts, medieval Tibetan and Chinese commentarial literature and recent scholarly discussions of the texts and doctrines of these schools. Prerequisites: one course in Philosophy or Buddhist Studies. Enrollment limited to 40. {H}

Fall, Spring, Variable

PHI 330sc Seminar: Topics in the History of Philosophy-Schopenhauer and Indian Philosophy (4 Credits)

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was the first important European philosopher to take Indian philosophy seriously. He follows Kant’s transcendental idealism but places Kantian philosophy in dialogue with the Vedānta and Buddhist philosophy filtering into Europe as German and British orientalism began to flourish, synthesizing Kantian and Indian idealism. We will explore the Indian roots of Schopenhauer’s thought, the 19th century transmission of Indian ideas to Europe in which he participates, and the ways he uses Indian philosophy to advance a post-Kantian philosophical program. Prerequisite: a course in early modern European philosophy or a course in the history of Indian philosophyJuniors and Seniors only. Enrollment limited to 16. {H}{S}

Fall, Spring, Variable

PSY 304/ REL 304 Seminar:Happiness: Buddhist and Psychological Understandings of Personal Well-Being (4 Credits)

Same as PSY 304. What is happiness? What is personal well-being? How are they achieved? This course examines the core ideas of the Buddhist science of mind and how they are being studied and employed by psychologists, neuroscientists, cognitive scientists and psychotherapists. The focus of the course is the notion of "happiness," its cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary definition as well as the techniques advocated for its achievement by both the Buddhist and the psychologist. Prerequisite: PSY 100, REL 105, one course in Buddhist traditions or permission of instructor. Enrollment limited to 15. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required. {N}{S}

Fall, Spring, Variable

REL 164 Buddhist Meditation (4 Credits)

This course will explore classical and contemporary forms of Buddhist meditation theory and practice. It will examine both classical formulations and contemporary expositions with an eye to seeing how the theory and practice of Buddhist meditation are being adapted to fit the needs of people today. Enrollment limited to 25. {H}

Fall, Spring, Variable

REL 171 Introduction to Contemporary Hinduism (4 Credits)

This course is an introduction to the ideas and practices of contemporary Hinduism in India and the diaspora, with an emphasis on how Hindu identities are constructed and contested, and the roles they play in culture and politics. Materials to be considered include philosophical writings, ritual texts, devotional poetry and images, religious comic books, legal treatises, personal memoirs, as well as ethnographic and popular films. {H}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

REL 270 Zen Buddhism and Japanese Culture (4 Credits)

The development of Buddhism and other religious traditions in Japan from prehistory through the 19th century. Topics include doctrinal development, church/state relations, and the diffusion of religious values in Japanese culture, particularly in the aesthetic realm (literature, gardens, tea, the martial arts, etc.) {H}

Fall, Spring, Variable

REL 275 Religions of Ancient India (4 Credits)

This course is an introduction to the literature, thought and practice of religious traditions in India, from ancient times to the medieval period. Readings include materials from the Vedas, Upanishads and epics, from plays and poetry, as well as Buddhist and Jain literature. Particular consideration is given to the themes of dharma, karma, love and liberation as they are articulated in Classical Hinduism. {H}

Fall, Spring, Alternate Years

REL 280 South Asian Visual Culture (4 Credits)

How does one make sense of what one sees in South Asia? What is the visual logic behind the production and consumption of images, art, advertising and film? This course considers the visual world of South Asia, focusing on the religious dimensions of visuality. Discussions include the divine gaze in Hindu and Buddhist contexts, the role of god-posters in religious ritual and political struggle, the printed image as contested site for visualizing the nation and the social significance of clothing and commercial films in colonial and contemporary India. Students also work closely with holdings from the Smith College Art Museum.

Fall, Spring, Variable

REL 284 Tantra and Yoga in India (4 Credits)

Tantra and yoga teach techniques to attain magical powers, achieve liberation, and transform the world. These traditions have influenced nearly every aspect of Indian religious life over the last two millennia, and yet they have often been shrouded in secrecy because of their potency. This course explores these complex traditions by considering source materials in translation as well as contemporary theoretical literature on practice, ritual, transgression, and historiography. {H}

Fall, Spring, Variable

REL 305vn Seminar: Advanced Topics in Religion-Violence, Non-violence and Revolution (4 Credits)

How do religious traditions justify acts of violence? And when and why do they embrace nonviolence? And what happens when these choices lead to revolution? This course considers the logic and practice of violence and non-violence in a variety of religious traditions around the world, as well as the ethical, social, and political consequences of these phenomena. Topics include suicide bombing and self-immolating, Gandhi’s ahimsa and Martin Luther King’s agape, spiritual ecology and ecoterrorism, and much more. Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required. {H}{L}{S}

Fall, Spring, Variable