Department of Religious Studies

This summer, 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, and Buddhism. We will spend much of the course engaging questions such as, what is religion? How do the adherents of Asian religious traditions talk about their own tradition? 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 perspective of each religious tradition: What kind of world do we live in, and what are human beings to do about it?

After a brief overview, we will study in depth one major text from each tradition for each week. You will read, think, and debate with the texts. All readings are in English. No prior knowledge of Asian religions is necessary.

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

Instructor: Yuyuan Zhang

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