Course Description:

This study tour will immerse students in Thai culture and religion, and will focus on the Engaged Buddhist movements in Thailand that apply traditional Buddhist principles to contemporary issues of poverty, human rights, environmental destruction, gender inequality, and global justice. The study tour will begin with pre-departure meetings during Spring semester ’25, and our in-country travel will begin by visiting a number of traditional Buddhist temples and Buddhist sites in Thailand, and will then explore various alternative Buddhist communities and meet with leaders of the Engaged Buddhist movement in  monasteries and temples throughout Thailand. The students will have the opportunity to experience and learn about Buddhism in a traditional Asian context, and to learn about the connections between justice and Buddhist spirituality from Buddhist leaders and practitioners.

Our meetings prior to the study tour in Thailand (12 hours) will explore traditional and contemporary Buddhist views on the relationship between Buddhist wisdom and social justice. The readings are divided into two sections: The first readings are from the Classical Buddhist texts, the Pali Nikayas, which describe the basic philosophical and religious tenets of early Buddhism; and the second group of readings are from the Engaged Buddhist tradition that applies its interpretations of Buddhism to issues of poverty, globalization, environmental destruction, war, feminism, and so on. We will read thinkers such as, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama, the famous Indian Buddhist Ambedkar, the Thai activist Sulak Sivaraksa, the Myanmar Buddhist activist Aung San Suu Kyi, and the American Buddhist-feminist Rita Gross.

Pre-Departure Readings: TBA

In-Country Readings: TBA

Course Requirements:

1. Preparation for, attendance at, and participation in class sessions; 10%.

2. Journal; 20%. Students will be required to write a daily reflection during the tour as well as a reflection on each pre tour class.  The journal will be graded for the students critical thinking as well as completeness.

3. Participation during the tour 30%

4. Final Essay; 40%. The students will be asked to find one particular point of interest on the tour and write a 10 page research paper.  We will use the last part of the tour to evolve each student’s thesis, as well as steer them towards helpful resources. The paper is due August 1.