RS 110: Asian Religions

Prof. Jason Clower
jclower@csuchico.edu                                            Trinity 249                                              Office hours: MW 1-3

Fall 2008         MWF 11:00-11:50      SGYM 101

1

 

What will you get out of this course?

  1. Cross-cultural literacy. We’ll familiarize you with major religions of India and East Asia and (to some extent) the cultures they live in. Why is that good?
    1. Happiness:  These traditions say a lot about how to live in such a way as to happy, and many people find some of what they say useful.
    2. Employability: When you’re more knowledgeable about the world, you also grow more witty and urbane and strike others as more interesting. Soon you get invited to cocktail parties and are offered jobs that were closed to you before. Congratulations!
  2. Ability to teach yourself. Will you become an expert? No, not yet. But after this you’ll be able to teach yourself most anything you still want to learn about these traditions.
  3. A better nose for BS. There’s a lot of bad info and half-truth about Asian religions out there. After this course, you’ll have better critical savvy about what people and information to trust and when.

Your Responsibilities

  1. Come to class, on time and prepared. Please bring the day’s texts.
  2. Be vocal in class.
  3. Be ready for quizzes. We have them very often. (No make-ups, except by prior arrangement.)
  4. Don’t eat in class, please. Drinks are fine, but not food.

Administrative Stuff

Office Hours:  Use them!  I am available to you to discuss course material, your progress, and general issues religion. Talking with students is one of the best things about my job, so don’t hesitate to come. 

Coming late: A few minutes into the class, we’ll close the door. If you’re running late and you find the door closed already, please leave it closed.Just head home and re-read the day’s assignments. This isn’t punitive; it’s just too disruptive to have people trickling in. Yes, it’s possible that you’ll miss some in-class exercise and lose out on a few points, but missing a few points won’t ruin you. Opening the door will cause you to be reborn as a chihuahua.
2
Late assignments: In fairness to the group, I will mark down late assignments at the rate of 1/3 letter grade per business day.  For instance, a B+ paper that is two days late receives a B-.
Cheating:  I hardly expect this will happen within our elite ranks, plagiarism and cheating are grave violations of the academic integrity policy of the California State University, Chico (posted at http://www.csuchico.edu/prs/EMs/EM04/em04_36.htm). In the Department of Religious Studies, anyone found to have blatantly cheated or plagiarized on an assignment automatically fails the course and is referred to student judicial affairs for disciplinary action.

Students with Disabilities: If you have a disability that affects your studies, I will help you arrange the necessary accommodation. You may contact Disability Support Services directly at 898-5959 V/TTY or http://www.csuchico.edu/dss/ .

General Education Course Requirements:  This course meets both the non-Western (NW) diversity requirement and the general education requirements of area C, section 3.
Because this is an area C course, you will be expected to attend four cultural events and write briefly about them as part of our scheduled assignments. Events might include musical performances, plays, lectures, or (quasi-)religious activities attended this semester. 
                               
Required Texts: Available in the BMU.

Assignments and Grades

20%     Quizzes, frequent and unannounced

20%     Class participation, including in-class exercises.

24%     Three short papers, between one and three pages each. I will give you more detailed assignments in class.
                        The first two are yours to turn in any time you choose up to December 5. The last will be due by December 8.

10%     A non-written project which could conceivably be a photo collection, a painting, a musical project, a speech, some kind of performance, or maybe an iMovie. You have a lot of room to get creative here. I’ll give you more details later.

3% ea. You will take part in four cultural events related to the course. We will do one of these together in class. I will give you the second as an assignment to do whenever you like, and you will choose the other two yourself. You have a lot of latitude here. It can be a religious service, a meditation or yoga class, a performance, or anything else that you can make a good case for. For these latter two events, please post a 70-125 description to the Discussion section of Vista.
                       
14%     You will give a 5-minute presentation to the class, in which you talk about any of your class assignments (i.e. one of your papers, your non-written project, or a cultural event you attended). You can schedule this at almost any time you like during the semester by emailing me at least 48 hours ahead of time so that I can plan you into the next class session. I will schedule you for any day you like unless we already have two presentations on that day.

The grade scale looks like this:
A         over 92%                                 C+       74-77%
A-        89-92%                                    C         70-73%
B+       85-88%                                    C-        67-69%
B         81-84%                                    D+       62-66%
B-        78-80%                                    D         55-61%
                                                            F          below 55%

 

Tentative Schedule
Like life itself, this will change. It will be your job to watch Vista for announcements and updates to the syllabus.

Aug. 25           Introduction

Aug. 27           Primal Religions
                        Oxtoby 431-45    [ß Please read each day’s reading before class.]

                        UNIT A: THE INDIAN TRADITIONS

Aug. 29           Vedic Sacrifice and Aryan Gods
                        Oxtoby 20-7, Fieser 9-14
                        Packet: Klostermaier, Pannikar (1-8)

Sept. 1             Labor Day—no class

Sept. 3             The Caste System and the Stages of a Person’s Life
                        Oxtoby 46-50, Fieser 48-53
                        Packet: Michaels, Shudha Mazumdar (9-22)

Sept. 5             The Divine Inside Us—The Upanishads
                        Oxtoby 28-32, 50-54; Fieser 18-24
                        Packet: Ajja (23-33)

Sept. 8             Yoga
                        Oxtoby 54-6; Fieser 26-30
                        Packet: Flood (34-42)

Sept. 10           Gods on Earth—The Epics
                        Oxtoby 32-46; Fieser 34-41
Packet: Rosen (43-47)

Sept. 12           Bhakti—the Path of Devotion & Worship
                        Oxtoby 57-67, 71-89; Fieser 41-3
Packet: Rosen (48-56)

Sept. 15           Devotion to Shiva and the Goddess
                        Reading TBA

 

Sept. 17           Sikhism
                        Oxtoby, 127-49; Fieser, 132-41

Sept. 19           Hinduism in Modern Times
                        Oxtoby 67-71, 97-113
Packet: Hatcher; Swami Agehananda Bharati (57-82)

Sept. 22           The Life of the Buddha
Oxtoby 199-213; Fieser 80-2

Sept. 24           The Four Noble Truths
                        Oxtoby 213-7; Fieser 82-3

Sept. 26           Karma and Nirvana
                        Fieser 85-7, 89-90
Packet: Thomas (83-98)

Sept. 29           Monks, Nuns, and Monasteries
                        Packet: Thompson (110-114)
Other Readings TBA

Oct. 1              More on Life in Monasteries
                        Readings TBA

Oct. 3              Buddhist Meditation: Insight and Calm
                        Packet: Nairn (115-126)

Oct. 6              Jainism
                        Oxtoby, 161-71, 174-88; Fieser, 60-7

Oct. 8              Mahāyāna Buddhism: Bodhisattvas and Compassion
                        Oxtoby 243-7; Fieser 98-101

Oct. 10            Madhyamaka and Yogacara
                        Oxtoby 247-52; Fieser 105-7

Oct. 13            Simple and Direct: Chan/Zen
                        Readings TBA

Oct. 15            Pure Land Buddhism in China
                        Packet: Lopez (127-133)

Oct. 17            Pure Land in Japan
                        Readings TBA

Oct. 20            Buddhism in East Asia
                        Oxtoby 266-86; Fieser 116-23
                        Packet: Cook (134-144)

Oct. 22            Tibetan Buddhism
                        Oxtoby 252-8; Fieser 108-116

Oct. 24            Buddhism in Modern Times
                        Oxtoby 227-37, 291-308
                        Packet: Spiro (145-152)
                       
                        UNIT B: THE EAST ASIAN TRADITIONS

Oct. 27            Shinto
Oxtoby, 341-52; Fieser, 210-17
Packet: Yusa; Nelson; Earhart (153-176)

Oct. 29            Shinto
                        Reading TBA

Oct. 31            No class

Nov. 3             No class

Nov. 5             Japan’s New Religions
                        Readings TBA

Nov. 7             Confucius
                        Oxtoby 352-68; Fieser 145-51, 160-4
                        Packet: Reid, Creel (177-206)

Nov. 10           Unity of Heaven and Man
                        Fieser 152-7
Packet: Taylor (207-216)

Nov. 12           Confucians and Buddhists: A Love/Hate Relationship
                        Oxtoby 370-82

Nov. 14           Modern Asia as a Confucian Place
                        Packet: Reid (217-242)

Nov. 17           Daoism
                        Oxtoby, 382-91; Fieser, 181-7
                       

Nov. 19           The Daoist Philosophers
                        Oxtoby, 391-403; Fieser, 199-202
Packet: Creel (243-253)

Nov. 21           Sex, Magic, and Yoga in Daoism
                        Readings TBA

Nov. 24           Thanksgiving Break

Nov. 26           Thanksgiving Break

Nov. 28           Thanksgiving Break

Dec. 1              More Sex, Magic, and Yoga in Daoism
                        Reading TBA

Dec. 3              The Religion of Communism
                        Oxtoby 403-9
** This is the final due date to receive credit for all assignments except for the final paper.

Dec. 5              Christianity as an Asian Religion
                        Reading TBA
 
Dec. 8              Spillover
                        ** Final paper due.

Dec. 10            Bubble-tea Fest