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| Unit name |
Theravada Buddhist Practice in Asia |
| Unit code |
THRS30019 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
H/6
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Langer |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department |
Department of Religion and Theology |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts |
Description including Unit Aims
A study of the practice of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia. After a brief look at the history of Buddhism in these countries, the unit concentrates on lay and monastic practice in both the ancient and modern period. Topics covered include the stages of the path of meditation, monasticism, Buddhism and 'spirit cults', esoteric meditation systems, the relationship between the monk and the laity, the position of women and Buddhist nuns.
Aims:
- to develop an overall sense of the actuality of Theravda Buddhism in Asia;
- to gain an in-depth knowledge of certain significant topics in the history of the practice of Theravda Buddhism in Asia;
- to encourage reflection on the nature of the relationship between religions theory and practice;
- to develop skills in the researching, reading and presentation of complex material.
Intended Learning Outcomes
- an overall sense of the actuality of Theravda Buddhism in Asia;
- an in-depth knowledge of certain significant topics in the history of the practice of Theravda Buddhism in Asia;
- further developed their skills in the researching, reading and presentation of complex material.
Teaching Information
10 x 2 hrs seminars
Assessment Information
Summative: 1 essay (up to 3000 words)
Formative: 2 tasks (up to 1000 words each) to be specified
Reading and References
- T. Bartholomeusz, Women under the Bo Tree (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
- R. F. Gombrich, Buddhist Precept and Practice: Traditional Buddhism in the Rural Highlands of Ceylon (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991).
- S. J. Tambiah, Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in North-East Thailand (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970).
- Melford E. Spiro, Buddhism and Society: A Great Tradition and its Burmese Vicissitudes (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982).
- Donald K.Swearer, The Buddhist world of Southeast Asia (Albany: State University of New York Press,1995).
