| Course ID: | RELI 1002E. 3 hours. |
| Course Title: | Religions of India, China, and Japan |
Course
Description: | A broad introduction to the major religious traditions of Asia, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, the Chinese traditions of Daoism and Confucianism, and Japanese Shinto. The course will focus on central figures, core concepts, aims and beliefs, and primary religious practices within each tradition. |
| Oasis Title: | Religions India China Japan |
| Duplicate Credit: | Not open to students with credit in RELI 1002 |
| Nontraditional Format: | This course will be taught 95% or more online. |
| Grading System: | A-F (Traditional) |
|
| Course Objectives: | The course provides students with opportunities to:
1) Develop the procedural skills necessary to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate diverse educational materials critically within the academic study of religion
2) Approach the major religious traditions of India, China, and Japan and the socio-cultural contexts in which they exist
3) Locate each religious tradition within its historical context and highlight the elements of its developmental history
4) Foster an expansive awareness of Asian religious worldviews in contemporary societies in both Asia and North America
5) Form a foundation in Asian studies from which one could pursue more advanced courses in Asian religions, cultures, and societies |
| Topical Outline: | The course will take a thematic approach highlighting the interrelated ways these traditions have discerned, presented, and engaged their societies through:
(1) texts and tradition
(2) cosmology
(3) structures of religious authority
(4) ritual and practice
(5) ethics, social structure, and gender
(6) monastic and lay practitioners
(7) material culture
(8) myth and literature
(7) leadership figures, thinkers, teachers |