Religious Studies 353 W2019 Dark Self East &
West: Comparative Conceptions CRN 26053
Instructor:
Mark Unno, Tel. 346-4973
munno@uoregon.edu
http://pages.uoregon.edu/munno/
MW 12:00 - 1:50 p.m. Esslinger 116: Office Hours: M 11:00-11:45
a.m.; W 2:00-2:50 p.m. Susan Campbell Hall 334
This
course on comparative religious and philosophical thought examines selected
Asian and Western thinkers and conceptions of the self, with a special focus on
the dark side of the self. Although comparisons are often made between ultimates - God, Buddha, Dao, and the like - it is often
overlooked that they are responses to what are regarded as the fundamental
problems or dark sides of the inner life. Through comparing views of the dark
side including sin in Christianity, karmic evil and delusion in Buddhism,
disharmony in Taoism, and suffering in psychology, it will become evident that
that there are both significant similarities and deep differences among diverse
religious and philosophical views.
In the latter
part of the course, films together with readings will be used to explore the
dark side through various cultural themes including racism, gender
discrimination, and war. In turn, possible responses to these issues from
various thinkers in the first half of the course will be considered. This is an
intermediate-level course with a lecture/discussion format. Some meetings will
be entirely in lecture format. Others will involve a combination of lecture and
discussion.
Requirements
1. Attendance: Required. Students can have one unexcused absence without
penalty. Each class missed thereafter without prior permission will result in
1/2 grade penalty for the course grade.
2. Short exams: There will be two short, in-class exams, based on materials from
the readings, lectures, and course web site. The first exam will also contain
questions on writing papers.
3. Short papers: Students will write three short papers based on topics that
will be provided by the instructor.
4. Final paper: Each student will hand in a medium length final paper of 5-7
pages double-spaced. Suggested topics will be provided. Students may choose to
create their own topics with the consent of their section leader. In the case
of the latter, a one-paragraph description of the topic must be submitted by
email to the instructor one week prior to the due date.
5. Late policy on written assignments: Three grace days total will be allotted
excluding the medium-length final paper for which no extensions will be given.
For all other assignments, a cumulative total of three late days will be
allowed without penalty. Thereafter, each late day will result in a two-point
deduction from the course grade. Weekends are not counted against the grace
days.
Learning
Outcomes
In this course students will:
A. Develop their paper writing skills through regular feedback on papers and an
exam containing questions regarding the process and elements of writing
university essays.
B. Develop a sophisticated understanding of how diverse religions and philosophies
define the dark or problematic dimensions of human existence.
C. Acquire tools for the study of comparative religion through the examination
of the philosophical anthropology (views of human nature) as characterized by
diverse strands of religious and philosophical thinking, using primary sources
and secondary scholarly literature.
D. Learn to identify and analyze thematic presentations of the dark or
problematic dimensions of human existence concerning diverse factors of human
culture such as gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, and class.
E. have their work assessed through exams, papers, and class discussion.
Grades
*
Short Paper I - 10%; Short Paper II
- 15%; Short Paper III - 15%
Short Exam A - 10%; Short Exam B - 10%; Final Paper - 30% Attendance and Participation - 10%
*Note: You must complete all assignments in order to receive course credit.
Even if you are too late for an assignment to receive a passing grade, you must
hand it in.
Required Texts
Shinmon Aoki, Coffinman: The Journal
of a Buddhist Mortician (Anaheim, CA: Buddhist Education Ctr, 2002).
Rubin Carter, Eye of the Hurricane, My Path from Darkness to Freedom (Chicago:
Chicago Review Press, 2011).
Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning (NY:
Washington Square Press, 1997).
Alice Walker, The Color Purple (NY: Mariner Books, 2003).
Burton Watson, trans., Zhuangzi (New York:
Columbia University Press, 2003).
Mark Unno, ed., REL 353 Course Reader, UO Duckstore
Weekly Schedule REL353 Dark Self East & West
(Reading assignments are to be
completed by the date under which they are listed.)
CR = Course Reader; RT =
Required Text
Week 1
INTRODUCTION; KIERKEGAARD AND SIN
1/7
Introduction: The Dark Side of Human Existence: Contrasts and Comparisons
Reading:
Suzy Hansen, "Ordinary People, Extraordinary
Evil" (CR1).
1/9
Reading: Soren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto
Death, 13-21, 29-47 (CR5); Fear and Trembling, 5-23; 34-53 (CR4). Paper
I due in class.
Week 2
JUNGÕS PSYCHOLOGY & THE SHADOW; INDIAN PHILOSOPHY; KARMA AND NEITHER/NOR
1/14 Reading:
Robert Aziz, Jung's Psychology of Religion and Synchronicity (CR8).
1/16 Reading:
"Hymn on Creation from the Rig Vedas," 206, 633-4 (CR2); The Bhagavad
Gita, 29-44 (CR3).
Week 3 EXISTENCE : MEANING & MEANINGLESSNESS
1/21
(No class: MLK Jr
Day)
1/23
Reading: Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
(RT).
Reading:
Peter Schneider, "Saving Konrad Latte,"
52-57, 72-73, 90, 95 (CR6).
Week 4
BLINDNESS, LIGHT, & INSIGHT
1/28
Reading: Rubin Carter, Eye of the Hurricane, 1-196 (RT).
1/30
Reading: Rubin Carter, Eye of the Hurricane, 197-320 (RT).
Second
half of class: Special Guest Lecture: STEVE WEHRMEIER
Reading:
"The Bill Wilson - Carl Jung Letters," 1-5 (CR7).
Reading:
Roger Ebert, "My Name is Roger ..."
(online).
Week 5
DAOISM: ZHUANGZI WANDERING THE DAO
2/04
Reading: Zhuangzi, 1-30, 31- 88 (focus pages: 31-49,
62-63, 78-81) (RT). Paper II due in class.
Reading:
P.J. Ivanhoe, "Zhuangzi on Skepticism,"
639-654 (CR9).
2/06
Reading: Zhuangzi, 89-140 (focus pages: 94-95,
126-140) (RT). Exam A in class.
Week 6
PURE LAND BUDDHISM: SHINRAN & COFFINMAN
2/11 Reading: Mark Unno, Key Terms: "Pure Land
Buddhism of Honen & Shinran" (CR11).
Reading:
Tannisho: A Shin Buddhist Classic, 5-11, 16-17, 35
(CR13).
Reading:
Mark Unno, "The Borderline between Buddhism and Psychotherapy,"
139-158 (CR12).
2/13 Reading: Coffinman,
xiii-xvi, 3-111 (RT).
Week 7 MYSTICISM & THE QUESTIONING OF REALITY
2/18 Film: Jacob's Ladder.
2/20
Reading: Sandy Gunther, " An Alternate View of Reality:
Understanding Mystical Experience in Jacob's Ladder,"
1-10 (CR16). Paper III due in class.
Week 8 SEXUALITY, EROS & SPIRIT: A WOMANIST ACCOUNT
2/25 Film: Antonia's Line
Reading:
Alice Walker, The Color Purple (RT).
2/27
Reading: Audre Lorde,
"The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power," 53-59 (CR15). Exam B in class.
Week 9
BUDDHIST KARMA, EXISTENTIAL ABSURDITY
3/04 Film: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, . . . and
Spring Again
3/06 Reading: Albert Camus, "The Myth of
Sisyphus," 88-91 (CR17);
Robert Akeret, Tales
from a Travelling Couch, 19-57 (CR18).
Week
10 MANY SELVES, ONE SELF, NO SELF; CONCLUDING BEGINNINGS
3/11 Readings:
"The
Ten Oxherding Pictures," 26-45 (CR10).
3/13 Concluding lecture and Discussion. Final papers due
in class
Course Reader, REL 353 Dark Self East & West
1.
Suzy Hansen, "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Evil," Salon.com
08/21/2002.
2.
Ralph Griffith, trans., "Hymn on Creation from the Rig Vedas" (Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass, 1973)
206, 633-34.
3. B. Srinivasa Murthy, trans., The
Bhagavad Gita (Long Beach, CA: Long Beach Publications, 1985) 29-44.
4. Soren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1983) 5-23, 34-53.
5. Soren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980) 13-21, 29-47.
6.
Peter Schneider, "Saving Konrad Latte," The
New York Times Magazine (February 13, 2000) 52-57, 72-73, 90, 95.
7. "The Bill Wilson - Carl Jung Letters," 1-5.
8.
Robert Aziz, C. G. Jung's Psychology of Religion and Synchronicity (Albany:
SUNY Press, 1990).
9. P.
J. Ivanhoe, "Zhuangzi on Skepticism, Skill, and
the Ineffable Dao," Journal of the AAR, LX:4
639-654.
10.
"The Ten Oxherding Pictures," in How to
Practice Zazen, Institute for Zen Studies, 26-45.
11.
Mark Unno, "Key Terms: Pure Land Buddhism of Honen and Shinran"
12.
Mark Unno, "The Borderline between Buddhism and Psychotherapy," in Buddhism
and Psychotherapy Across Cultures, ed. Mark Unno (Boston: Wisdom
Publications, 2006), 139-158.
13. Taitetsu Unno, trans., Tannisho-A
Shin Buddhist Classic (Honolulu: Buddhist Study Center, 1996), 5-11, 16-17,
35.
15. Audre Lorde, "Uses of the
Erotic: The Erotic as Power," Sister Outsider (Freedom, CA:
Crossing Press, 1984) 53-59.
16.
Sandy Gunther, "An Alternate View of Reality: Understanding Mystical
Experience in Jacob's Ladder," Unpublished Paper
1-10.
17.
Albert Camus, "The Myth of Sisyphus," in The Myth of Sisyphus
(NY: Random House, 1955), 88-91.
18.
Robert Akeret, Tales from a Travelling Couch
(NY: Norton, 1996) 19-57.