WGST 256
Engendering Buddhism: How Women and Men Shape and Are Shaped by Buddhism
Last Offered Fall 2010
Division II Writing Skills Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed ANTH 256 / ASST 256 / REL 256
This course is not offered in the current catalog

Class Details

This course looks at how gender has shaped Buddhism as well as how Buddhism has shaped gender. Most generally, it considers the myriad ways that Buddhist soteriology and practice produce the very gender differences they purport to overcome. How have the Buddha and his far-flung disciples institutionalized gender differences in spite of their putative goal of transcending duality? We examine the varying experiences of women and men in Buddhist societies and literatures as a lens by which to analyze the pervasive operation of social and gender hierarchies. Last but not least, we discuss how well feminist and American revisions of Buddhism have transformed gender and other forms of difference. Our analysis revolves around several interdependent themes. (1) How do female and male bodies become the subject of a specific set of Buddhist gazes? What does Buddhist discourse say about the possibility of gaining enlightenment in the female body? (2) How do gender divisions reflect deeper social divisions such as class and race in Buddhist discourse? (3) How have feminist deconstructions of Buddhism transformed gender and social hierarchies in the contemporary world? This course fulfills the Exploring Diversity Initiative by seeking to theorize the ways that Buddhism has produced and reinscribed gender differences and social hierarchies.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 20
Expected: 20
Class#: 1573
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: two midterm papers, weekly GLOW participation, final research papers, and class participation
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: majors in Religion, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Asian Stdies and Anthropology/Sociology
Distributions: Division II Writing Skills Exploring Diversity Initiative
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
WGST 256 Division II ANTH 256 Division II ASST 256 Division II REL 256 Division II
Attributes: ASST Interdepartmental Electives
FYCR Open to First-Year Students
INST East Asian Studies Electives
REL East Asian Tradition Courses
WGST Racial, Sexual + Cultural Diversity Courses

Class Grid

Updated 6:57 pm
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  • WGST 256 - SEM Engendering Buddhism
    WGST 256 SEM Engendering Buddhism
    Division II Writing Skills Exploring Diversity Initiative
    Not offered

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