Department of Religious Studies

This spring, let us head to the East! This course will introduce students to the religious traditions of Asia. More specifically, it will examine Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shinto. We will spend much of the semester engaging questions such as, what is religion? How do the adherents of Asian religious traditions talk about their own tradition and the traditions of others? What issues did the authors of Asian religious texts believe to be at stake in the texts they produced? In particular, we will explore the following questions from the view of each religious tradition: What kind of world do we live in, and what are human beings to do about this world?

After a brief overview we will spend several weeks studying the beliefs and practices of each religious tradition. We will also study in depth one major text from each tradition. All readings are in English. No prior knowledge of Asia or religion is necessary. Students with interest in Asia are especially welcome.

Credits: GenEd A&H, GenEd WCC, CASE A&H, CASE GCC

Instructor: Yuyuan Zhang

• A&H
• GCC
• What are CASE requirements?