TIBETAN CULTURES AND TRADITIONS

FOLKLORE/RELIGST 352

Survey of shamanism as a religious tradition and sociocultural force in Siberian, Asian, and Native American societies. Exploration of shamanic rituals, roles, cosmology. Cultural and political uses of shamanism in traditional and modern contexts.

ASIAN/RELIGST 307

By studying the distinctively Tibetan forms of Buddhism, we also examine more general issues, such as the relationship between theory and practice, ancient meditation and mind training, the politics of "world making", and the connection between identity and experience. Not open to students with credit for LCA 421 prior to Fall 2019.

ASIAN/RELIGST 236

Explores how different cultures in Asia conceive of and relate to the monstrous, ghostly, and divine, both in the past and in the contemporary world. These themes are approached from a range of different disciplinary perspectives, including religious studies, literature, anthropology, and history.

ASIAN/RELIGST 405

Introduces some of the most important deities of South Asia through visual representation, mythical narratives and rituals of worship. Topics include the development of iconographic forms and concepts, masculine and feminine aspects of the divine, the belief in human embodiments of divinities, the phenomenon of possession, modes of domestic and public worship and the symbolism of the temple structure.

ASIAN/RELIGST 430

Explores how ancient Indian traditions have been reframed for the modern age. Topics include the Ramayama in popular media, negotiations over sacred spaces, and popular Tantra. We will also examine recent controversies, such as the one surrounding the ancient Jain practice of fasting until death (sallekhana) in the modern age.