Japanese Courses

FINAL DECISION: Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, we need to cancel this course for the Fall Term. We plan to offer it in the Spring Term. We apologize for any inconvenience in waiting for this final decision. (9-2-08; 5:00 pm)

1070 World of Japan: A History and Philosophy of Religious Traditions

2091, Suhara

1.
JIt is impossible to speak of any culture apart from religious traditions. In the case of Japan, four main religious traditions: Shinto, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism have supported its various cultural practices while being complicatedly assimilated to each other. This course will examine the history and philosophy of these religious traditions, how they have influenced the formation and development of Japanese culture. Among these, we will focus on investigating the Buddhist impact on aesthetics, especially that of Zen Buddhism, through the examples of the tea ceremony, garden, haiku, swordplay, and noh theater. We will also look at various philosophical and sociological issues in Japanese history related to religious ideology, such as issues of practicality, morality, the relationship between state and religion, and so forth.

2. No prerequisites.

3. No recitation.

4. Expected class size: 30.

5. First time offered with this content. This may be a one-time offering.