The role of Buddhism in politics, law, social movements, war and peace-making. Students will examine case studies, original Buddhist texts and latest trends in research.
| Paper title | Buddhism, State and Society |
|---|---|
| Paper code | RELS236 |
| Subject | Religious Studies |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2023 (Distance learning) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $955.05 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- 36 points
- Restriction
- RELS 336, RELS 436
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music, Theology
- Contact
- Teaching staff
- Textbooks
All readings will be made available electronically.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
Communication, Critical thinking, Ethics, Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Scholarship, Self-motivation, Research
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.- Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the paper will have:
- A broad knowledge of the differing ways in which Buddhist thinkers have imagined the ideal relationship between religious and civil power, morality and politics, monks and kings
- A familiarity with the ways in which experiences of direct colonialism and indirect/internal colonialism (e.g. in Siam) have altered the relationships between political power and monastic life
- An ability to assess the ways in which Buddhist notions of governance accommodate, acknowledge and/or permit moral and soteriological diversity
- The ability to make connections between ideals of Ideal governance and historical religious and political realities so as to evaluate the ways in which the first might reflect, subvert or legitimate the other
- The ability to design a research paper, identify a clear research question, conduct independent research using appropriate primary and secondary source materials and to draft a cogent, persuasive and original written argument
