GODDESSES IN ASIAN RELIGIONS

Religion 197 Sarah Haynes

Fall 2006 Office: Lovejoy 349

Location: Lovejoy 318 Office Hours: TBA

Email: sfhaynes@colby.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course, we will examine the role of women (both lay and monastic), the function of goddesses, and the idea of the female principle in the religious traditions of Asia. This investigation will include the religions of India (Hinduism and Buddhism) and the religions of China (Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism), the religions of Japan (Shinto, Buddhism, New Religious Movements), and Tibet Buddhism.

Through required readings and visual presentations (films and photos) that discuss the role of women, we will investigate and evaluate their importance within their respective religious traditions and cultural backgrounds.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

1. Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess (by Tracy Pintchman)

2. Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in the Mahayana Tradition (by Diana Y. Paul)

3. Liquid Life (by William LaFleur)

4. Kuan-Yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara (by Chun-fang Yu)

Additional Materials on Reserve

1. Unspoken Worlds: Women’s Religious Lives in Non-Western Cultures (ed. Nancy Auer Falk and Rita Gross)

2. Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine in the Hindu Religious Tradition (by David Kinsley)

3. Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan (eds. Dorothy Ko, JaHyun Kim Haboush, and Joan Piggott)

4. Immortal Sisters: Secrets of Taoist Women (ed. Thomas Cleary)

5. Anthology of Sacred Texts by and About Women (ed. Serinity Young)

***Note: further information regarding reserve readings TBA

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1. Attendance and active participation – 10%

2. 2 short papers – 20% each (4-5 pages, 1 dialogue and 1 critical reflection—further information will be provided)

3. Mid-term exam – 25% (October 24^th)

4. Final Essay – 25% (due final exam week – December 14^th – further information will be provided)

SCHEDULE:

September

7^th Introduction to the Study of Religion

12^th Introduction to Hinduism

Readings

Seeking Mahadevi: Chapter 9

14^th Hinduism: Great Goddess

Readings

Seeking Mahadevi: Introduction

Hindu Goddesses: Introduction, Chapter 1 (reserve reading)

19^th Hinduism: Wife and Mother

Readings

Seeking Mahadevi: Chapter 2

Hindu Goddesses: Chapter 4-5, Chapter 9 (reserve reading)

21^st Hinduism: Creation and Destruction

Readings

Seeking Mahadevi: Chapter 5, Chapter 7-8

Hindu Goddesses: Chapter 7-8 (reserve reading)

26^th Women’s Rites

Readings

Unspoken Worlds: “Mother Guru: Jnanananda of Madras” and “Hindu Women’s Family and Household Rites in a North Indian Village” (reserve reading)

28^th Film: Water (by Deepa Mehta)

October

3^rd Film: Water

5^th Introduction to Buddhism

Readings

TBA

DUE: Hinduism paper/dialogue

10^th Early Buddhism

Readings

Women in Buddhism: Part I

12^th Development of Mahayana Buddhism and the Roles of Women

Readings

Women in Buddhism: Part II

17^th No Class

19^th Exam Review

24^th Mid-term Exam

26^th Tibetan Buddhism and the Modern Buddhist Woman

Readings

Unspoken Worlds: “The Case of the Vanishing Nuns: The Fruits of Ambivalence in Ancient Indian Buddhism” and “Accomplished Women in Tantric Buddhism of Medieval India and Tibet” (reserve reading)

31^st Chinese Buddhism

Readings

Kuan-yin: Introduction, Chapters 4-5

Women in Buddhism: Part III

November

2^nd Chinese Buddhism

Readings

Kuan-yin: Chapter 8, Chapter 11 and Conclusion

7^th Introduction to Chinese Religions

Readings

TBA

DUE: Buddhism paper/dialogue

9^th Chinese Religions

Readings

Women and Confucian Cultures: TBA (reserve reading)

14^th Chinese Religions

Readings

Unspoken Worlds: “Harmonizing Family and Cosmos: Shamanic Women in Chinese Religions” (reserve reading)

16^th Chinese Religions

Readings

Immortal Sisters: TBA (reserve reading)

21^st Film (TBA)

23^rd No Class

28^th Introduction to Japanese Religions

Readings

Unspoken Worlds: “No Women’s Liberation: The Heritage of a Woman Prophet in Modern Japan” (reserve reading)

DUE: Chinese religions paper/dialogue

30^th Japanese Religions

Readings

Liquid Life: Part I and II

December

5^th Japanese Religions

Readings

Liquid Life: Part III

7^th Review

DUE: Japanese religions paper/dialogue