The Final Stretch

Greetings,

Just wanted to write a quick update on the final couple weeks of class this term (can you believe how fast all these exciting weeks have passed?!):

Nov. 24: Online Group Topic – for this group topic I want you to focus on daily life at Dunhuang. What is the socio-political situation at the site, and how does Buddhism figure in? What do we know, and what do we not know, that might help us reconstruct the actual practice of Buddhism in the Dunhuang region?

Dec. 1: Short Paper 3 is due, which is to be a short (1-2 pages max) critical summary or precis on Sharf’s “Introduction” found in the course reader.

See you all next Tuesday. -akg

Nov. 17, Short Paper 2 Due

Greetings,

As noted on the weekly class schedule, your second short papers are due this Tuesday, Nov. 17. I’d like you to write a short critical summary of

Stanley Abe’s article “Inside the Wonder House: Buddhist Art and the West” found in the course reader. Remember, the goal of the short critical summary or precis is NOT to repeat all the points raised by Abe, but to lay out the key ideas and intellectual moves, so to speak, that Abe makes in his article. That is to say, what are his main points, how does he make them, and why?

And please be sure that you have read through last week’s readings on Indian Buddhism. It will help with this week’s assignment. See you Tuesday. -akg

Nov. 10 CLASS CANCELLATION

Tomorrow’s Silk Road class has been cancelled. We’ll meet again after the fall break.

-akg

Oct. 29 Numata Buddhist Studies Lecture at UofT

For those of you interested in Buddhist history, Buddhist art, and the history of the Silk Road:

 

Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009, 2 – 4 pm, Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto, Jackman Humanities Building Room 317

A Lecture by Professor Christian Luczanits (University of Vienna):

“Inconceivably Remote Future Accessible Now The Bodhisattva and Future Buddha Maitreya during the Kuṣāṇa Period”

Oct. 27 GROUP TOPIC: Studying Religion

While we will NOT be meeting next week, Oct. 27, you are expected to complete the work for our first Group Topic. The topic for Oct. 27 is the Study of Religion, and the required readings include an article on “Religion” from the Encyclopedia of Anthropology (found in the course reader), as well as the separate essays found on the following website from the University of Georgia:

http://web.as.ua.edu/rel/studyingreligion.html

That site, called “Studying Religion,” addresses a variety of topics related to the academic study of religion, including essays on the history of the development of the field, critical terms, biographies of key scholars, and so on. I’d like you to spend some time looking through that site in order to begin to think through some very big questions, including just what it is that we’re doing in a Religious Studies class at all.

Specifically, I’d like you to give some thought to the object of our study, that is “religion” itself. What is “religion,” anyway? How do scholars define the term, and what is it that they set out to do in their research? What concepts, methods, and theories are key to their work?

Each of you have been assigned to a blog group, and this week we’ll put those groups to use. After reading through the required materials, I would like you to reflect on the questions outlined above (and any other that may arise after completing the weekly readings) in a blog entry. Because this is a group topic, our goal is to create a kind of virtual discussion on the blogs. To that end, you are asked to read through the responses posted by your group-mates, and post comments to each.

We will meet again on Nov. 3 to begin our discussion of ancient Persian traditions, including Zoroastrianism. For Nov. 3 you are required to write a blog entry on some aspect of the weekly readings, specifically the early Zoroastrian texts found in the course reader (translated by Malandra). Read through those translations carefully, and try and identify the key themes/concerns that come across in those early texts.

See you then. -akg

This week: The Sogdians

This coming week we’re going to be discussing the role of the Sogdian merchants in the transmission of ideas and objects along the Silk Road. In addition to the article in the course reader, please go through the translation of the “Ancient Sogdian Letters” found at the following address:

http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/sogdlet.html

Also, for those of you who still do not own a copy of the Wood book, please look under ‘Course Documents’ on Blackboard for Chpt. 5. By the way, you are encouraged to obtain a copy of the book from any source possible, including, but not limited to, the Toronto Women’s Bookstore, as soon as possible.

Your next blog entry should address a Sogdian-related topic of interest to you. Remember, the blog entries are there to allow you to organize and think through the issues/themes raised in the weekly readings before we meet to discuss them in person. The specific theme or issue is up to you.

So happy reading and writing. And see you Tuesday. -akg

Han dynasty PowerPoint

Just wanted to let you know that I’ve uploaded some of the images from today’s PowerPoint under the Image section of this blog. The maps have also been added under the Map section. And hopefully all this interest in the Scythians means we’ll be seeing more of these images in the weeks and months to come on your blogs! See you next week. -a

Kabul Museum Update

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/world/asia/07afghan.html

Oct. 12 Reading Assignment: The Hou Hanshu

In addition to Chpt. 4 from the Wood reader (see Blackboard if you do not yet own a copy of that book), I would like you to read through the “Western Regions” section of the Hou Hanshu for Oct. 12. Please note that the translation of the Hou Hanshu we are reading was made available by Professor Daniel Waugh of Silk Road Seattle/Univ. of Washington, and can be found at the following address: http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html.

As you write your blog entry for next week, think about what exactly constitutes historical writing in your mind, and whether you would classify the Hou Hanshu in that genre. Also, what did you make of the “ethnographic” descriptions in the text? Finally, take a look at the Great Wall section on our “Mapping” website (linked here on the right) for information about some of the nomadic peoples chronicled in the Han dynastic records, along with information about the construction of the Great Wall(s) itself.

One final note regarding your blog entries. In order to allow your group members time to read and think through your comments, please post your entries as early as possible. And do let me know if your blog has been misplaced or is missing from the Blog Groups (again, listed here on the right).

See you next week.   -akg