Spring 2027

Proseminar in Buddhist Thought

A proseminar in Buddhist thought examining theories of contemplative practices like mindfulness and their interaction with psychology and cognitive science.

offering recorded2–3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 John Dunne

Summary

1 / 2

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2007: 3.83 GPA, 83.3% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2017: 3.93 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Spring 2022: 3.75 GPA, 87.5% A/AB (n=8 letter grades).

What you’ll be able to do

  • Describe in detail the historical development of the four schools.

  • Examine and assess Buddhist theories about the relationship between behavior, belief, and experience.

  • Based on the focus for this year's seminar, explain how Buddhist thought and practice is relevant to contemporary issues.

  • Drawing on the diversity of commentarial interpretations, explain why epistemological approaches became dominant in South Asian Buddhist thought.

  • Assess and critique Buddhist claims around the notion that neither persons nor material elements ultimately exist.

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Junior standing

  • Junior standing
ASIAN/RELIGST 650

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Junior standing

Professors

Spring 2027

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2017: 3.93 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Spring 2022: 3.75 GPA, 87.5% A/AB (n=8 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JOHN DUNNE is recorded teaching in Spring 2017, Spring 2022, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
SEM 001Classroom Instruction0 / 200
SEM 001Classroom Instruction0 / 200

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2007: 3.83 GPA, 83.3% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2017: 3.93 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Spring 2022: 3.75 GPA, 87.5% A/AB (n=8 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Contemplative practices including mindfulness and compassion
  • Intersections of Buddhist theory, psychology, and cognitive science

Skills

  • Analyzing theories of contemplative practice mechanisms
  • Evaluating interactions between Buddhist tradition and modern scientific theory

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2022— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2022

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
ASIAN/RELIGST 650 · Spring 2027

Proseminar in Buddhist Thought

Recorded 2026-10-14
ASIAN/RELIGST 650 · Spring 2027

Consciousness

Recorded 2026-10-14
ASIAN/RELIGST 650 · Spring 2027

Proseminar in Buddhist Thought

Recorded 2026-10-14
ASIAN/RELIGST 650 · Spring 2027

Consciousness

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:185:018199",
    "course_id": "ASIAN/RELIGST 650",
    "course_uid": "course_1121b4a27bb5ad0393537d1f",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "018199",
    "source_subject_id": "185",
    "title": "Proseminar in Buddhist Thought",
    "credits_min": 2,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Occasionally"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:185:018199.17",
    "course_id": "ASIAN/RELIGST 650",
    "course_uid": "course_1121b4a27bb5ad0393537d1f",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "018199.17",
    "source_subject_id": "185",
    "title": "Consciousness",
    "credits_min": 2,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Occasionally"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:856:018199",
    "course_id": "ASIAN/RELIGST 650",
    "course_uid": "course_1121b4a27bb5ad0393537d1f",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "018199",
    "source_subject_id": "856",
    "title": "Proseminar in Buddhist Thought",
    "credits_min": 2,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Occasionally"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:856:018199.17",
    "course_id": "ASIAN/RELIGST 650",
    "course_uid": "course_1121b4a27bb5ad0393537d1f",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "018199.17",
    "source_subject_id": "856",
    "title": "Consciousness",
    "credits_min": 2,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Occasionally"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews

No records available.

Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "3846464ba305e6d19f3523da1eab2b9baece64dd2eba57765c9d6add4e2ad6d9",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}