Classes in Asian Religions Offered at Luther
Classes taught by Professor Gereon Kopf



Religion53 - Philosophy of Religion Religion 40 - World Religions Religion 43 - Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism
Religion 49 - Buddhism Religion 39 - Buddhism and Psychology Religion 39 - Mahayana Buddhism
Religion 70 - God and Nothingness Religion 70 - Self in Buddhism Religion 85 - Religion, Power, and Sex
Religion 48 - Hinduism Paideia II East Meets West: Encounters, Colonies and Religions

Religion 53: Philosophy of Religion
Full Syllabus

An attempt to bring rational justification and clarification to religious beliefs and practice, focusing primarily on the concepts of Christian theology. Topics will include: the existence and attributes of God, faith and reason, death and immortality, miracles and revelations, the problem of evil, and religious pluralism. The course will employ examples from a variety of religious traditions. In addition, the course will examine the notion of religion and the enterprise of philosophy of religion from various perspectives.

Religion 40: World Religions: Asia
Offered Every Semester
Full Syllabi
Spring 2002
Syllabi

This course introduces students to the religious tradition of South and East Asia, most notably, to Hinduism and Buddhism. The course will familiarize students with the history, scriptures, and beliefs of these religious traditions through readings from primary texts, lectures, videos, website analysis, and class discussions. Using a selection of primary and secondary tests, it will analyze the responses of different religions to common topics and problems, such as the absolute, the notion of self, the problem of human existence, as well as stereological and ethical issues. In addition, it will explore research resources provided by the internet and the world wide web. Finally , it will provide a methodology that enables the students to do research in the field of Asian religions. As a survey course, World Religions: Asia will introduce the basic concepts and tenets of Hinduism and Buddhism, but does not provide an in-depth study of these religious traditions. Even though the course will utilize a number of different approaches, priority will be given to a textual and conceptual methodology.

Religion 43: Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism
Offered Alternate Years Starting Spring 2000
Full
Syllabi

This course introduces the historical, textual, and doctrinal foundations of Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism; it examines the way these religious traditions are interwoven with each other as well as their intellectual and cultural influence on China and Japan. Particular emphasis will be given on their conceptions of religion and society.


Religion 49: Buddhism
Offered Alternate Years Starting Spring 1999
Full Syllabi

This course introduces the historical, textual, and doctrinal foundations of Buddhism as well as contemporary issues such as Engaged (socially active) Buddhism and the feminist study of Buddhism. Particular emphasis will be given to a philosophical formulation of the basic Buddhist ideas and their conceptual, ethical, and stereological implications.


Religion 48: Hinduism
Offered Alternate Years Starting Fall 1998
Full
Syllabi

This course introduces students to the religious and philosophical tradition of Hinduism. The course will familiarize students with its history, scriptures, social structure, and beliefs through readings from primary texts, lectures, videos, website analysis, and class discussions. Even though the course will utilize a number of different approaches, priority will be given to a textual and conceptual methodology. Using a selection of primary and secondary texts, it will analyze the Hindu response to common religious topics and problems, such as the absolute, the notion of self, the problem of human existence, as well as stereological and ethical issues. It will further explore contemporary issues in Hinduism such as Hindu nationalism, the status of women in Hinduism, Hindu universalism and Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence. Particular emphasis will be given to the revival of Hinduism at the beginning of the twentieth century and its conceptual, stereological, and social implications.


Religion 39: Buddhism and Psychology
Offered Fall 1999
Full
Syllabi

This course will explore the contributions of C.G. Jung's analytical psychology to the study of Zen Buddhism as well as Buddhism's contribution to psychology. Using Jung's model of the human psyche, the course will introduce and investigate two primers in Buddhist spirituality, Suzuki's Introduction to Zen and the Tibetan Book of Great Liberation. In addition, the course will examine the Buddhist understanding of the human psyche as presented in classical and contemporary Buddhist texts.


Religion 39: BUDDHISM in JAPAN
Offered J-term 1998, 2000 and 2002
Full Syllabi 1998
Full Syllabi 2000

Full Syllabi 2002

This course introduces students to Mahayana Buddhism with a particular emphasis on Zen Buddhism. It explores the relationship of Mahayana Buddhism with other religious traditions as well as its influence on culture.

The primary teaching method is experiential. The course entails a 3-week trip to Japan, and possibly, Nepal. Students will visit temples, have instructions by an abbot, participate in monastic life, and visit holy sites and places of pilgrimage. In addition to this experiential dimension, the course will familiarize students with the history, scriptures, and beliefs of Mahayana Buddhism through readings from primary sources, lectures, videos, and class discussions. It will further analyze the Buddhist response to general topics and problems such as the absolute, the notion of self, the problem of human existence as well as stereological and ethical issues.

For more information on this class, please visit the Luther in Japan section of this website.

Upper Level Courses


Religion 70: God and Absolute Nothingness

Full Syllabai Offered Spring 2000

The course introduces three versions of God and explores reflections on God and religion by leading thinkers of the Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist traditions. It offers a comparative analysis of different theological approaches to common themes and their religious and conceptual commitments. More concretely, the course will investigate and compare the main characteristics, the underlying metaphysical assumptions, the stereological commitments, and the ethical implications of the theological systems advanced by Paul Tillich, Sarvepalli Rahakrishnan, and NISHIDA Kitaro. In doing this, the course will identify common religious themes as well as structural differences, thus developing a methodology of comparative theology. The course applies a religious studies approach; its methodology is predominantly textual. Even though this course belongs to the area of religious students, it is in the nature of its topic to challenge the students personally and existentially as well as academically and intellectually.

This course is not an introductory but an upper-level course. This means that the course will not provide and in-depth background knowledge of the religious traditions of Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. It is thus suggested that the students exhibit some knowledge of at least one of these traditions or in philosophy of religion prior to this class.


Religion 70: Self in Buddhism
Offered Fall Semester 1998

This class will explore the conceptual implications of the Buddhist notion of no-self. In particular, it will examine its relevance to the problem of personal identity (that is, the question of whether I am the same person I was ten years ago) and the perennial mind-body problem. The course will explore Buddhist theories of personhood and the body as advanced in classical as well as contemporary texts with a particular emphasis on the theory of no-self as found in Theravada and Zen Buddhism. The course thus pursues a Buddhist philosophy of religion and selfhood.


Religion 85: Religion, Power, and Sex
Offered Spring Semester 1999

This course introduces methodological issues central to the academic study of religion. It discusses the classical methodologies as well as the implications of recent critical theory such as feminism, postmodernism, postcolonialism, and gay and lesbian studies for the study of religion. Using discourse analysis, the seminar examines the influence of power structures, gender roles, and life style issues on the study of religion.

Paideia II: East Meets West
Offered Spring Semester 2002

This course will discover the impact of ideological encounters between Christianity with those of the religious and philosophical traditions of the so-called East. It will be framed during the historical moments of European "explorations" of the "mystic" East, notably South Asia and the Japanese Islands. Further, the Course will examine the implications for religious beliefs and inter-religious encounters today colored by the contemporary political situation. In general, the Course attempts to explore the historical and ideological basis for the political, religious and cultural rhetoric of 'East Versus West', an ideology that continues to be pervasive. The foci of the Course will be colonial ideology, Christian theology of religion and mythology as well as postcolonial interpretations of the Colonial project. Special attention will be given to the ethical dimensions of the Colonial ideology and discourse. The Course is interdisciplinary in nature and will employ multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted methodological approaches. We are aware of the limited choices we have made regarding place, space, reading, and discourse; constraints of time and sheer scale of examining the expanse of every aspect, were reminders that gave us pause. This Course will require high degree of engaged reading from you. The onus of keeping abreast with the readings is on you. The pedagogical approach mixes lectures with discussions each day. The format is essentially based on textual discussion. The main component of the learning process is to conduct prolonged discussions that help us assess the complex intersections between ideology, religion, colonialism, resistance, and alternative sight. All views and ideas are welcome if based on sound contemplative and cogitative pondering.

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