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    Overview

    An examination of some of the ways in which body, gender and sexuality are constructed and practiced in cultures dominated by Hindu and Buddhist ideals.

    This paper explores the confluence of Asian religious and academic concerns with the body through consideration of technologies of the body (such as asceticism, self-mortification, celibacy, sexual control, exercise, and bodily care), idealised representations of the body (as heroic or divine), and the ambivalent role of the body as both a hindrance and a vehicle for spiritual progress.

    In this paper, we will also critically examine how notions of gender, morality and social belonging are mediated in and through the body, connecting such conceptual issues to our own contemporary context and lived experiences.

    About this paper

    Paper title The Body in Asian Religions
    Subject Religious Studies
    EFTS 0.15
    Points 18 points
    Teaching period Not offered in 2024 (Distance learning)
    Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) $981.75
    International Tuition Fees Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website.
    Prerequisite
    18 200-level RELS or RELX points
    Restriction
    RELS 209, RELX 209, RELX 309
    Schedule C
    Arts and Music, Theology
    Notes
    (i) May not be credited together with RELS233 or RELS333 passed in 2005. (ii) Students who have not passed the normal prerequisite may be admitted with approval from the Head of Department.
    Contact

    Dr Lina Verchery

    Teaching staff

    Dr Lina Verchery

    Paper Structure

    The paper is divided into six modules:

    • What is the Body? Theoretical Contours and Framing Questions;
    • The Body: Friend or Foe, Hindrance or Help?;
    • Self-mortification and the Power of Pain;
    • Celibacy and Sexual Power;
    • Bodily Virtuosity;
    • Everyday Embodiments and Bodily Boundaries.

    Assessment:

    • Weekly reflections - 20%
    • Essay 1 - 20%
    • Essay 2 (2,000 words) - 25%
    • Exam (3 hours) - 35%
    Teaching Arrangements

    The Distance Learning offering of this paper is taught remotely.

    On campus: Two 1-hour lectures per week
    Distance: Online discussion

    Textbooks
    A coursebook containing lecture notes and readings is available for this paper. Printed copies will be available through the printshop. The coursebook is also available as a PDF through Blackboard.
    Course outline
    View a sample course outline for RELS 309
    Graduate Attributes Emphasised
    Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Information literacy.
    View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.
    Learning Outcomes

    Students who successfully complete the paper will be able to demonstrate

    • A sound factual knowledge of issues relating to gender, sexuality, asceticism and bodily care in a variety of Asian religious traditions;
    • An appreciation for how the comparative study of religion can highlight similarites between religious traditions in different times and places, without losing sight of differences and particularities that reflect unique historical, cultural and geographic contexts;
    • A nuanced understanding of the body as a locus of tension between the socially-constructed and the biologically-given, and of the various ways the body functions as a mediator between the individual and the collective.

    Timetable

    Not offered in 2024

    Location
    Dunedin
    Teaching method
    This paper is taught through Distance Learning
    Learning management system
    Blackboard
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