Religious Studies 408 Colloquium: Buddhism and Women
- Instructor: Mark T. Unno, Office: PLC 812, Tel. 346-4973
- Email: munno@darkwing.uoregon.edu
- Unno Home Page: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~munno/
- Class meetings: Wednesdays 3:00 p.m -5:50 p.m., Gilbert
104
- Office Hours: Tuesdays 12:30-1:30 p.m.; Wednesdays 2:00-2:30
p.m., PLC 812
This is an interdisiciplinary course that examines women's
cross-cultural perspectives on religion and spirituality East and
West. We will read works that contain theoretical reflections on
gender, sexuality, culture, and religion as well as personal accounts
of women's spiritual journeys in the form of journals, stories,
fiction, and first-hand narratives; a number of works contain both
theoretical and personal elements. Theory will be used to examine
concrete narrative, and narratives will be used to test theory.
Requirements
- Response papers: Students will write two response
papers on the readings. They offer thoughtful reflections on the
readings rather than merely personal reactions. These will
be handed in bi-weekly except when other assignments are due.
- Presentation: Students will make a presentation on the
readings for one of the meetings. The presenter should not
summarize the reading but should use the presentation to discuss
why the particular ideas/passages in question are important for
understanding the reading and proceed to explain as well as raise
questions about these ideas/passages.
- The primary purpose of these presentations is to launch
the discussion, not to demonstrate breadth of knowledge or to lead
the discussion. More detailed instructions will be provided
separately. Students will highlight 2-3 key points from among the
selections for that meeting and raise 2-3 critical questions for
discussion.
- Short exam: There will be a short exam on basic writing issues
and on some of the readings
- Medium-length paper based on Presentation: Each student will
hand in a medium length paper of 4-6 pages double-spaced one week
following their presentation. Drawing on your presentation,
identify one key theme or problem and examine it from two or three
perspectives. Notify the instructor of the topic you wish to write
on by submitting a one-paragraph description by email before
composing your paper.
- Final paper: 9-11 pages, double-spaced, with drafts. For the
final paper, drafts will be due for peer review before the final
draft. The instructor will evaluate the peer review comments as
well as the papers. Procedures for peer review will be
explained.
- Final project: After you have completed your final paper, I
will grade and return them at the beginning of spring term. You
will have one week to make any further revisions you like and
resubmit the paper on diskette. (You do not have to make any
changes to you r final paper if you wish to leave it as is.) The
papers will be reformatted, printed, and bound, and copies will be
available for the cost of printing.
- Attendance: Required. Students can have one unexcused absence
without penalty. Each class missed thereafter without prior
permission will result in a two-point penalty (out of 100 pts) for
the course grade.
- Late policy on written assignments: Three grace days total
will be allotted excluding the 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.
More detailed information on these requirements will be posted on
the course web page which can be found on the instructor's web page
address given above.
Grades
- Discussion/Presentation (7/8) 15%
- Short exam 10%
- Response papers 10%
- Medium-length paper 25%
- Final paper/peer review 40% (peer review 4%, final paper
36%)
(All readings are listed in
footnote/endnote format.)
Required Texts
- Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands/ La Frontera (San
Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 1987).
- Broughton Coburn, Aama in America (NY:
Anchor/Doubleday, 1995).
- Temple Grandin, Thinking in Pictures (NY: Vintage,
1995).
- Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life (New York:
Washington Square Press, 1985).
- Shinobu Matsuura, Higan-Compassionate Vow, privately
published.
- Kathleen Norris, Dakota-A Spiritual Geography (Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993).
- Maura "Soshin" O'Halloran, Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind
(Boston: Tuttle, 1994).
- Judith Plaskow and Carol Christ, Weaving the Visions
(San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989).
- Alice Walker, The Color Purple (New York: Pocket Books,
1985).
Required Readings on Reserve
(All three readings listed below are in one packet)
- Daniel Boyarin, "Gender," Critical Terms for Religious
Studies ed. by Mark Taylor (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1998), 117-135 (packet).
- Ursula King, "Introduction: Gender and the Study of
Religion"
- Kate Wheeler, "Bowing, Not Scraping,"in Buddhist Women at
the Edge, ed. by Marianne Dresser (Berkeley: North Atlantic
Books, 1996), 57-67.
- Jan Willis, "Buddhism and Race: An African American
Baptist-Buddhist Perspective," in Buddhist Women at the
Edge, 81-91.
- Shosan Victoria Austin, "Suzuki Sensei's Spirit," in
Buddhist Women at the Edge, 209-217.
Recommended Reading
- Alice Walker, In Search of Our Mother's Gardens (New
York: Harcourt Brace, 1984).
Additional Information
Suggestions on the Readings and Schedule (see below):
We will be reading one longer work per week
together with briefer selections from secondary readings. Most of the
secondary readings are from the edited collection, Weaving the
Visions. The rest are in packets on reserve. The secondary
readings are designed to provide a theoretical framework and
conceptual points of reference for reflecting on the longer readings.
The first week has relatively few readings. If you read as much as
possible from the required selections from Weaving the Visions
during the first week, then you can come back to them just to
refresh your memory during the assigned weeks. The longer readings
are assigned so that you will have them finished by the section
meetings on Mondays and Wednesdays. Some of you may not finish the
readings until Friday, but this way, we will be able to discuss the
whole text in the section meetings.
Note about information technologies:
1. "The computer ate my diskette" is not a good
excuse. You are responsible for keeping a back-up of your own work.
Responsible use of technology comes with enjoying its benefits.
(Think of those who used to type their papers on
typewriters!)
2. You can print on-line materials from any
network printer. If you have difficulty doing this and wish to have a
hard copy, ask me, and I will obtain some help for you.
Schedule: Themes and Readings for Women's Spiritual
Journeys
(readings to be completed by class meeting)
Week 1: January 4-8 Introduction and Historical Context
- 4: Introduction: Course Overview
- 6: Guest Speaker: Carolyn Fure-Slocum
- Readings: Ursula King, "Introduction: Gender and the
Study of Religion" (packet).
- Plaskow and Christ," Introduction," Weaving the
Visions.
- 8: History, Tradition, and Text
- Readings: E. Fiorenza, "In Search of Women's
Heritage," Weaving the Visions, 29-38
- J. Plaskow, "Jewish Memory," Weaving the Visions,
39-50.
- G. Anzaldua, "Entering the Serpent," Weaving the
Visions, 77-86.
- Kathleen Norris, Dakota-A Spiritual Geography,
1-64.
Week 2: January 11-15 Dakota: A Vision of Christian
Spirituality in the Plains
- 11 & 13 Reading: Kathleen Norris, Dakota-A
Spiritual Geography, 64-220.
- 15 Readings: Sallie McFague, "God as Mother,"
Weaving the Visions, 139-150.
- Rosemary Ruether, "Sexism and God-Language," Weaving the
Visions, 151-162.
- Temple Grandin, Thinking in Pictures, 11-38, 40-54,
60-69, 73-95.
Week 3: January 18-22 Thinking in Pictures:Thinking,
Feeling, and Acting
- 18 & 20 Reading: Temple Grandin, Thinking in
Pictures, 96-166, 174-206.
- 22 Readings: Daniel Boyarin, "Gender" (packet),
117-135.
- Broughton Coburn, Aama in America, 1-66.
Week 4: January 25-29 Aama in America: Inner and Outer
Pilgrimage
- 25 & 27 Reading: Broughton Coburn, Aama in
America, 67-299.
- 29 Readings: Broughton Coburn, Aama in America,
219-299.
- Shinobu Matsuura, Higan-Compassionate Vow, 5-48.
Short exam in class.
Week 5: February 1-5 Higan-Compassionate Vow: Compassion
on the Other Shore
- 1 & 3 Reading: Shinobu Matsuura,
Higan-Compassionate Vow, 49-180.
- 5 Readings: Kate Wheeler, "Bowing, Not Scraping," 57-67
(packet).
- Shosan Victoria Austin, "Suzuki Sensei's Spirit," 209-217
(packet).
Week 6: February 10-12 Reflections in Mid-Winter
- 8 No class. Mid-term break
- 10 Readings: R. N. Brock, "On Mirrors, Mists, and
Murmurs," Weaving the Visions, 235-243.
- Sharon Welch, "Ideology and Social Change," Weaving the
Visions, 336-343.
- Jan Willis, "Buddhism and Race: An African American
- Baptist-Buddhist Perspective," in Buddhist Women at the
Edge, 81-91 (packet)
- 12 Reading: Maura "Soshin" O'Halloran, Pure Heart,
Enlightened Mind, 1-94.
Week 7: February 15-19 Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind:
From West to East
- 15 & 17 Reading: Maura "Soshin" O'Halloran, Pure
Heart, Enlightened Mind, 97-311.
- 19 Readings: C. Keller, "Feminism & the Ethic of
Inseparability," Weaving the Visions, 256-266.
- Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life (Through entries for
Feb. 19, 1942).
Week 8: February 22-26 An Interrupted Life: Death in
Life, Life in Death
- 22 & 24 Reading: Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted
Life (Remainder of An Interrupted Life).
- 26 Reading: Alice Walker, The Color Purple,
1-97.
Week 9: March 1-5 The Color Purple: Purple is to Lavendar .
. .
- 1 & 3 Reading: Alice Walker, The Color Purple,
98-295.
- 5 Readings: Mary Daly, "Befriending," Weaving the
Visions, 199-207.
- Audre Lorde, "Uses of the Erotic," Weaving the Visions,
208-213.
- Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands/ La Frontera, 1-91.
Week 10: March 8-12 Borderlands/ La Frontera: Periphery
and Center
- 8 & 10 Reading: Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands/ La
Frontera,101-113, 164-169, 194-195.
- Second hour of class: Discussion-Endings and Beginnings.
Drafts due in class.
Week 11: March 16 Final Papers due at 5:00 p.m.
Leighton 318.