ASR207 - Tibetan Buddhism

Unit details

Note: You are seeing the 2019 view of this unit information. These details may no longer be current.
Year:2019 unit information
Enrolment modes:

Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Cloud (online)

Credit point(s):1
EFTSL value:0.125
Trimester 1 Unit Chair:

Gillian Tan

Prerequisite:

Nil

Corequisite:

Nil

Incompatible with:

Nil

Scheduled learning activities - campus:

1 x 1 hour Class per week (livestreamed with recordings provided) and 1 x 1 hour Seminar per week

Scheduled learning activities - cloud (online):

Online independent and collaborative learning activities including 1 scheduled online seminar per week.

Note:

Commencing 2019

Content

The popularity of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, advocated by celebrities such as Richard Gere, raises interesting questions about the appeal of this particular “religion”. Concurrently, a rising trend in practices grounded in Tibetan Buddhism, such as meditation and mindfulness, are distinctly presented as “not-religious”. What is Tibetan Buddhism, and how can we begin to further understand the complexities of this conceptual and practical system, with its distinct history, culture, language and philosophy?

In this unit, Tibetan Buddhism is presented according to two broad approaches: the first, which sets a general introduction to the unit, is trans-disciplinary and includes an exploration of historical adaptations of Buddhism in Tibetan regions and philosophical underpinnings to the various traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, among others. The second focuses on the ethnography of Buddhism in Tibetan cultural areas and beyond. By examining rich and in-depth cultural and symbolic practices of Tibetan Buddhism and highlighting the complexities of this continually adapting system, we develop critical insights on the nature of “religion” in Tibetan cultural areas and compare these with adopted practices in supposedly secular societies.

Assessment

Assessment 1 (Individual) - Short Essay (1000 words) - 25%

Assessment 2 (Individual) - Online/Seminar exercises (1000 words equivalent) - 25%

Assessment 3 (Individual) - Major Essay, 50% (2000 words) - 50%

Unit Fee Information

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