Note: The Department Waitlist policy for all courses is 2 - Go to the department office to get on a waitlist, and then attend the first class meeting. Policies and procedures for handling the waitlist will be explained there.
The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures offers intensive language instruction in Chinese and Japanese at the first-, second-, and third-year levels (Japanese 361, 362, 411; and Chinese 361, 362, 411, 421). These language courses are part of the Asian Summer Language Institute. They are officially listed as Summer Term courses, but PLEASE NOTE that they start several weeks before normal Summer Term courses (June 9 to August 15). South and Southeast Asia courses 365, 366, 369, 373, and 374 will run from June 26 until August 19.
See Summer Term section of this Course Guide for course descriptions. All students must apply for admission to the program. Contact the department at 936-3915 for more information.
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Culture Courses/Literature Courses
250. Undergraduate Seminar
in Buddhist Studies. (3). (HU). May be repeated with
Department permission.
Section 201 – The Dalai Lama and Tibet: Past and Present.
The current Dalai Lama is an international figure recognized for
a variety of different reasons: he is the most famous Buddhist
teacher living today, as well as an active participant in inter-religious
dialogue; he is the revered leader of the Tibetan people and the
symbolic embodiment of their nationalist cause; he is a Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate and the subject of recent Hollywood movies.
This course will examine the multiple religious and political
dimensions of this Tibetan Buddhist leader, focussing on what the Dalai Lama is, and has been, for the Tibetan people over the
centuries. The present Dalai Lama is counted as the fourteenth
in a series of continuous incarnations, all linked mythologically
to the enlightened founding father of the Tibetan people. We will
investigate how the Dalai Lama instituteion was formed in Tibet, a unique institution designed to unite ultimate religious and political authority in a single figure. Central to understanding the Dalai Lama institution are the religious rituals used for
identifying them as children, as well as the mysterious circumstances
surrounding their often premature deaths. Many of the Dalai Lamas, like the present one, were prolific writers, and we will read
selections from their works, which range from spiritual songs
on Buddhist topics, romantic love poems, in addition to their
political testaments. The current Dalai Lama's own teachings on
compassion, non-violence, and religious tolerance will be read
in light of some critiqes levelled against him by a few contemporary
Tibetan and Chinese writers. The course will serve as an introduction
to Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan history, and the current controversies
over the Dalai Lama today. (Bjerken)
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Times, Location, and Availability
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