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Class number:
2693
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Title: Buddhist Materiality |
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Department: Religious Studies |
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Career: Undergraduate |
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Component: Seminar |
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Session: Regular |
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Instructor's Permission Required: No |
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Grading Basis: Regular |
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Units: 1.00 |
| Enrollment limited to 19 |
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Current enrollment: 9 |
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Available seats: 10 |
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Start date: Tuesday, January 21, 2025 |
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End date: Friday, May 9, 2025 |
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Mode of Instruction: In Person |
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Schedule: MW: 11:30AM-12:45PM, MC - 205 |
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Instructor(s): Kerekes, Susanne |
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Prerequisite(s): None |
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Distribution Requirement: Meets Humanities and Global Requirements |
Course Description:
If Buddhism preaches non-attachment, what is “Buddhist materiality”? Shouldn’t Buddhists be free of material things? Or, rather, who says they should be?In this course, we take Buddhist “stuff” seriously. Students are encouraged to look beyond modernist ideals of Buddhism as a “rational tradition” of only monks, manuscripts, and mindfulness. To do this, we must decolonialize Buddhism. Then, we consider the agency of nonhumans, not just of humans (i.e., we cover theories of Material Religion). Students will engage in object analysis and close-looking of Buddhist art objects and spirits. Things act upon us, and we(re)act upon them. They shape identity, create meaning, and maintain relationships. Things are never just things. They help us understand what people do in Buddhism, not just what they believe. |