women in buddhism
Readings are organized by week. To view PDFs, you'll need a secret password which you'll receive in class.
Unit 1: Basic Buddhism
Papers/Projects for this unit (from Chloe) due no later than Sunday, April 7 at 11:59pm.
Week 1
Tuesday 3/26 - Introductions
No reading
Thursday 3/28 - Who was the Buddha?
Read the syllabus (Yes, read the whole thing. Carefully.)
Introduce yourself on our discussion board
Week 2
Tuesday 4/2 - Basic Buddhist Doctrines
Unit 2: What do Buddhist texts say about Buddhist women?
Papers/Projects for this unit (Papers from Maria, Rachel, and Elliot; Project from Kelsey) due no later than Sunday, April 21 at 11:59pm.
Week 2
Thursday 4/4 - Mahāprajāpatī, the first Buddhist nun
(Elliot leads the first 30 min of class)
Ohnuma, "Debt to the Mother: A Neglected Aspect of the Founding of the Buddhist Nuns' Order"
Week 3
Tuesday, 4/9 - Rules for Buddhist women
Thursday 4/11 - Writings of early Buddhists
Theragatha: Verses of the Elder Monks
- Chapter 1: 1, 16, 21, 39, 43, 56, 57, 61, 111, 118
- Chapter 2: 16
- Chapter 3: 5, 13
- Chapter 5: 1, 9
- Chapter 6: 9
- Chapter 7: 1
- Chapter 10: 5
- Chapter 14: 1
- Chapter 16: 7
Therigatha: Verses of the Elder Nuns
- Chapter 1: 11, 17
- Chapter 2: 2
- Chapter 3: 2
- Chapter 4: 1
- Chapter 5: 2, 12
- Chapter 6: 2
- Chapter 12: 1
- Chapter 13: 2
- Chapter 14: 1
Week 4
Tuesday, 4/16 - Switching Genders in the Lotus Sutra
(Martha leads the first 30 min of class)
Peach, "Social Responsibility, Sex Change, and Salvation: Gender Justice in the Lotus Sutra"
Unit 3: What do Buddhist women say about Buddhism?
Papers/Projects for this unit (Papers from Lizzy, Kelsey, and Martha; Projects from Martha, Maria, Rachel, Chloe, and Sarah) due no later than Sunday, May 12 at 11:59pm.
Week 4
Thursday 4/18 - Being a Buddhist nun
(Dominique leads the first 30 min of class)
Week 5
Tuesday 4/23 - The Economy of Merit
(Kelsey leads first 30 min of class)
Thursday 4/25 - Zen Meditation
Taizan Alford, a Zen Priest, will be visiting our class to lead us in meditation. There's no new reading for today, but please wear clothing that will enable you to comfortably sit on the floor, and come to class with questions in mind to ask him after our meditation!
Week 6
Tuesday 4/30 - Himalayan women across centuries
(Chloe leads 30 min of class)
Midterm Reading Period
Week 7
Tuesday 5/7 - Switching gender, revisited
(Lizzy and Sarah each lead 30 min of class)
Tsomo, "Change in Consciousness: Women's Religious Identity in Himalayan Buddhist Cultures" (Note that this is a link to an ebook in a weird format. You only need to read chapter 9, which you can find by clicking on the table of contents on the left side of the page. There's also a PDF on Yammer.)
Crane, "Becoming a Nun, Becoming a Man: Taiwanese Nuns' Gender Transformation"
Thursday 5/9 - Tan Yangzi
Prof. Brigid Vance will visit our class for the first hour.
(Maria leads the last 60 min of class)
Reading TBD.
Unit 4: Buddhist feminism / Feminist Buddhism
Papers/Projects for this unit (Papers from Dominique and Sarah; Projects from Dominique, Lizzy, and Elliot) due no later than Sunday, May 26 at 11:59pm.
Week 8
Tuesday 5/14 - A Feminist Sketch of Buddhist History
Gross, Buddhism After Patriarchy, "Orientations", and
"Toward an Accurate and Usable Past" (selections)
Thursday 5/16 - A Feminist Analysis of Key Concepts in Buddhism
(Rachel leads first 60 min of class)
Gross, Buddhism After Patriarchy, "The Dharma is Neither Male nor Female" (selections)
Week 9
Tuesday 5/21 - Queer and Trans perspectives
Readings posted on Yammer
Thursday 5/23 - Modern Buddhist Women
Chef's Table: Jeong Kwan (film, approx. 60 min)
Week 10
Tuesday 5/28 - Lingering questions
See our discussion board for info on what's happening this week.
Thursday 5/30 - Wrap up / Catch up
No new reading!