|
|
Course Description | Grading |
| Schedule | The Term Paper | Vocabulary |
RECOMMENDED READING:
Wendy Doniger, The Rig Veda and The Laws of Manu (with Brian K. Smith).
Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads.
de Bary, William Theodore, Sources of Indian Tradition.
Brockington, John, The Sacred Thread.
Eliade, Mircea, Yoga, Immortality, and Freedom.
Stoler-Miller, Barbara, The Bhagavadgita.
Patanjali, The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.
Edward Conze, Buddhist Texts through the Ages.
E. A. Burtt, The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha.
Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught.
Sue Hamilton, Early Buddhism: A New Approach.
Donald Lopez (ed.), Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism.
ON-LINE RESOURCES:
Religious Tolerance.Org
V. Jayaram's Hindu Homepage
Gene Thursby's Hinduism Page
This course will be a study of the histories, narratives, rituals, and scriptures of Hinduism and Buddhism and other traditions from India.
The assigned reading must be done before the classes and class will involve discussion of the reading as well as explanatory lectures from the professor.
Religion Major (World Religions Track) Mission Statement.
The program in World Religions aims to provide students with an understanding of religion in most of its various historically significant forms. This major provides a valuable perspective for understanding the significance of religion in the context of both world events and individual human life. It requires an appreciation of the role of religion in other educational areas such as sociology, psychology, history, and literature. Its mission is to provide students with a reliable, detailed, but broad exposure to a variety of foreign cultures across human history while requiring them to consider and analyze critically the implications and entailments of religious expression and behavior within those cultures. Reliable information from geography, social and political history, and current events as well as from a wide variety of cultural studies and sacred scriptures must be analyzed in order to achieve these ends.
Religion Major (World Religions Track) Outcomes
Course (REL 117, Religions from India) Outcomes
The general aims of this course are, first, to acquire a reliable knowledge of the history of those religions that originated on the Indian subcontinent and to critically consider and understand the implications othat data. The basic research skills of the academic study of religion must also be acquired and practiced as tools for the construction of relevant and durable opinions about material. Third, the skills required to communicate those opinions clearly and persuasively will be practiced.
So-the acquisition, the analysis, the assessment, and the articulation of information will all be practiced and evaluated.
All student work should be well-researched, well-reasoned, and well-written.
Successful students in this course will demonstrate their abilities:
Grades will be based on a total of 500 possible points:
There
will be five quizzes, one on each section of the course. There will be one term
paper of approximately 3,000 words, whose topic must be determined by Monday,
March 25th. There will be a final examination whose form will be
discussed during the course. Attendance to the classes is required, as is
participation in class discussions. Attendance and participation will be graded.
The grading distribution will be as follows:
|
Assignment |
Number |
Each worth |
Total Worth |
|
Quizzes |
5 |
30 |
150 |
|
Vocabulary |
1 |
50 |
50 |
|
1 |
100 |
100 | |
|
Examination |
1 |
100 |
100 |
|
Attendance and Participation |
1 |
100 |
100 |
|
TOTAL POINTS |
500 | ||
Westminster College as an institution and I as an individual both pursue a
strict policy of academic honesty. Plagiarism: leading
your reader or listener to believe that what you have written or said is your
own work, when, in fact, it is not, will be treated severely. But
always remember that while using someone else's work without declaring your
source is dishonest, doing the same thing and citing the source is good
scholarship! Books must be cited in the correct bibliographic style (see here)
and personal sources can also be cited.
Your instructor reserves the right to use the plagiarism software at Turnitin.com.
Hindu and Buddhist vocabulary is mainly from Sanskrit, the Ancient Indian Sacred language. This might appear complex and difficult at first
but it is a very precise phonetic language and its basics can be easily mastered with some effort and application. To that end students will
be introduced to the standard system of transliteration, diacritical marks, and pronunciation and will be required to keep a vocabulary notebook
containing correctly transliterated and briefly defined terms. This notebook may be inspected by the instructor at any time.
For examples of the vocabulary see the various quizzes and for correctly transliterated words see both the textbook and the
documents on the My.Westminster class website.
VOCABULARY
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
Week 1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|
I will be available in my office in Patterson Hall 336 from 10:30 until 12:00 MWF (and at other times by arrangement).
Friday. 1/18
The transliteration and pronunciation of Sanskrit vocabulary.
Reading assignment: Read Flood's "Introduction," 1-4 & "Diacriticals.doc" on your My.Westminster Handout section for today's class
& "Points of Departure," 5-22 for the next class.
Tuesday. 1/22 MONDAY CLASSES MEET TODAY
Introduction continued: Flood's "Points of Departure" considered.
Reading assignment for Wednesday's class: Flood's "Ancient Origins," 23-35.
Wednesday. 1/23
"Ancient Origins," A consideration of the Indus Valley Civilization.
Friday. 1/25
Data and Interpretation: Dravidian and Vedic Culture, competing hypotheses.
Reading assignment for Monday's class: Flood's "Veda," 35-50, and "Rig Vedic Hymns.doc" on My.Westminster.
See also this website on the Veda
Wednesday. 1/30
Rta and Dharma, the Laws of Manu, Vedic Society: Varnashramadharma,
and Hindu Social Roles: gender and politics.
Reading assignment: Flood’s “Yoga and Renunciation,” 75-94.
Friday. 2/1
Yoga and Renunciation.
Reading assignment: Flood’s “Yoga in Hindu Traditions,” 94-102.
Wednesday. 2/6
Discussion and Review.
Reading assignment: Prepare for Quiz #1, which will cover Flood up to page 102.
Friday. 2/8
QUIZ #1.
Reading assignment: Robinson, Johnson, and Thanissaro (hereafter RJT) xix-21.
Wednesday. 2/13
The Buddha as teacher.
Reading assignment: RJT 43-62.
Friday. 2/15
The Development of Early Indian Buddhism.
Reading assignment: RJT 62-84.
Wednesday. 2/20
The Search for the Mahayana and Early Mediaeval Indian Buddhism.
Reading assignment: RJT 106-123.
Friday. 2/22
Early Mediaeval Indian Buddhism, concluded
Reading assignment: Review up to page 123 and prepare for Quiz #2.
Wednesday. 2/27
QUIZ #2 will cover RJT up to page 123.
Reading assignment: RJT 124-142.
Friday. 3/1
Buddhism in Late Medieval and Modern India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.
Reading assignment: RJT 143-157.
Spring Break Saturday March 2nd to Monday March 11th
Monday. 3/11
Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.
Reading assignment: RJT 157-171.
Wednesday. 3/13
The Post Colonial Period.
Reading assignment: RJT 172-192.
Friday. 3/15
Buddhism in Central Asia and China.
On the transliteration of Chinese into English, see this link.
For a map of china see here.
Reading assignment: RJT 192-210.
Monday. 3/18
Buddhism in China, continued.
Reading assignment: RJT 210-218.
Wednesday. 3/20
Buddhism in China, concluded.
Reading assignment: RJT 219-239.
Friday. 3/22
Buddhism in Korea and Vietnam.
Reading assignment: RJT 240-267.
Monday. 3/25
Buddhism in Japan.
Reading assignment: RJT 268-291.
You are required to submit a Topic and Thesis Statement for your term paper today.
Wednesday. 3/27
Tibetan Buddhism.
Reading assignment: RJT 292-311.
Thursday. 3/28: Friday Classes meet today.
Buddhism comes West.
Friday. 3/29 Easter Break.
Monday. 4/1 Easter Break: No Class
Wednesday. 4/3
Preparation for Quiz#3.
Reading assignment: Prepare for Quiz#3 (RJT 124-311).
Friday. 4/5
QUIZ #3 will cover RJT pages 124-311.
Reading assignment: Flood, 103-127.
Monday. 4/8
Hindu Narrative Traditions, an introduction to the Epics and Puranas,
early Vaishnavism.
Reading assignment: 128-147.
You are required to submit an annotated bibliography for your term paper today.
Wednesday. 4/10
Vaishnavism
Reading assignment: Flood, 148-158.
Friday. 4/12
Shaivism.
Reading assignment: Flood, 158-173.
Monday. 4/15
Tantrism.
Reading assignment: Prepare for QUIZ #4.
Wednesday. 4/17
QUIZ #4 will cover Flood pages 103 - 173.
Reading assignment, Flood, 174-197.
Friday. 4/19
The Goddess.
Reading assignment, Flood, 198-223.
Wednesday. 4/24 Undergraduate Research Symposium: No Class.
Friday. 4/26
Hindu Theology and Philosophy.
Reading assignment, Flood, 250-273.
Monday. 4/29
Hinduism and the Modern World.
Reading assignment: Preparation for the last Quiz.
Wednesday. 5/1
QUIZ #5 will cover Flood pages 198 - 273.
Friday. 5/3
Last Class:
The term paper is due in today.
The Final Examination will be discussed and distributed.
Student Assessments of the course.
Your vocabulary notebooks can be handed in today.
All students will submit a typewritten or word-processed critical essay of 10-12 pages (double spaced, that is about 3,000 words). This paper is due in on Friday, May 3rd.
You are required to obtain the approval of the instructor for your paper topic and thesis by Monday, March 25th.
You are required to submit an annotated bibliography for your paper by Friday, April 5th. This should contain at least five appropriate sources with a brief (no more than 50 words) description of the contents of each source. You must have at least as many print sources as you have Internet sources!
These are not reports but argumentative essays: that is to say they are editorialism rather than journalism--your own views are as essential as knowledge of your subject material. The standard of your technical writing as well as your accuracy and argument will be taken into consideration. To that end, here is a short list of common avoidable writing errors which should help you to avoid simple mistakes which will otherwise reduce your grade.
Papers cannot be accepted after the due date (Friday,
May 3rd).
You may hand in a rough draft of your paper to be checked anytime up to
Monday, April 22nd.
General requirements of an argumentative essay .
1. Papers must have a title which states the topic of your essay. In order to maintain the focus on Religions from India as the topic of this course your papers should be entitled "Religions from India: . . . " with your topic or focus following the colon. Papers must be submitted electronically.
2. You must have a thesis, argument, and a conclusion. "Thesis" is defined as "a proposition laid down or stated, especially as a theme to be discussed or proved" (Oxford English Dictionary). You must explain to your reader why you believe that your thesis is correct, and clearly state the conclusion of your thought. This is mainly to help you to focus your thoughts.
3. The arguments and research which support your thesis should make the main body of the essay.
4. Source material (books, but don't forget articles in journals and encyclopedias, even newspapers and personal interviews) should be integrated into your argument as evidence, example, or illustration. You MUST document the sources of all quotations, statistical information, and paraphrased material.
5. Your conclusions must be clearly stated. They can be negative as well as positive. Don't worry if you find that your original thesis is insupportable. As long as your conclusion is based on your research negative results areas valuable as positive ones. Just re-write your introduction to reflect your results.
6. You must give a separate list of sources (entitled "References" or "Bibliography" or "Works Cited") at the end of your paper. In alphabetical order give the full name of each author, surname first, then first name, followed by the title of the work. Book and journal titles should be italicized (underlining should be avoided and used only if italics are not available, as in hand- or typewritten manuscripts). Article titles should be in quotation marks. Details of publication must be included. For example:
Batson, C. Daniel and W. Larry Ventis. The Religious Experience. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Ferré, Frederick. "The Definition of Religion." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 38/1 (1970): 3-16.
Fieser, James (Ed.), The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/, August 22nd, 2010.
(For Internet sources the minimum required information is author name, URL --that is the "http://filename/etc.htm"--and the date you took it from the Internet. REMEMBER: You must have at least as many print sources as you have Internet sources!
In-text citations can then be given in the form: (Author, page number) or, if the same author has more than one work listed in your bibliography, (Author year, page number). Thus: (Batson and Ventis, 62) or (Ferré 1970, 14) or (Fieser 1996, no page number).
Your bibliography does not count as part of your length (3,000 words as stated above).
Quiz #1 will cover Flood to page 102.
(see "Quiz#1Sample.doc" on your My.Westminster class page for the properly transliterated form.)
Vocabulary:
|
agni
aranyaka artha asana ashrama atman bhagavad-gita bhakti brahmacharin brahman Brahmana deva |
devi
Dharana dharma dhyana Dravidian Durga guna Indra jnana kshatriya karma kama |
Manu Smrti
Mohenjo-daro moksha pratyahara pranayama puja raja rishi shakti samadhi samhita samnyasa |
samsara
smrti Soma shruti shudra sutra rta upanishad vaishya varna vac yoga |
Quiz #2 will cover RJT xix-123.
Vocabulary:
|
adhikara
anubhava arhat asrava avadana bhikshu bhikshuni-sangha buddhacarita buddha-kshetra dharani |
dhyana
dharma duhkha garbha hinayana jataka karika madhyamaka mahayana manas |
nirvana
nama paramita pitaka prajnaparamita prasada pratitya-samutpada pratyeka-Buddha pudgalavadins rupa |
sangha
shakyas shakyamuni shamatha shramanas shravakas samsara samvega skandhas stupa |
sukhavati
svabhava tathagata tripitaka triratna tushita upaya vinaya vipashyana yogacara |
Quiz #3 will cover RJT 124-311.
Vocabulary:
|
adhikara
avatamsaka bon bushido butsudo ch’an ching-te |
dharmakaya
gelug geshe kami kuan-yin mandala mappo |
mushin
marga nembutsu nien-fo nirmanakaya paramita parishad |
puñña
rinzai sambhogakaya satori shinto siddha |
t’ien-t’ai
tantra tulku uji vajra visuddhimagga wat |
Quiz #4 will cover Flood 103-173.
Vocabulary:
|
Alvars
ahamkara ardhanarishvara avatara bhagavan bhoga chakra diksha ghora gopis |
itihasa
jivanmukti lingayats Mahishasura maithuna mantra matsya mudra maya nataraja |
narasimha
nagas pashupati prakrti purusha rajas shaktas shakti samadhi sattva |
satya
siddhi smartas strisvadharma sadhana sadhus tamas tantra tapas yuga |
Quiz #5 will cover Flood 174-273.
Vocabulary:
|
advaita
ahamkara ahimsa astika bhashya Brahmo Samaj dalits darshana duhkha |
gayatri
harijans hindutva ishta-devata ishvara jati mahavakya mantra mimamsa |
murti
nastika nyaya pandit preta-loka samkhya samskara sanatana dharma satya |
satyagraha
shabda shankara shrauta svarga upanayana vaisheshika vedanta vedanta |
brennie@westminster.edu