CAS is pleased to announce a new course in Asian religions this spring: Women in Buddhism.Â
Buddhist texts depict an array of female figures: cajoling goddesses, prostitute temptresses, enlightened queens, numinous hags, ardent nuns, scorned wives, celestial maidens, flesh-eating demonesses and more. This new course explores diverse representations of the female in Buddhist literature as well as the social realities of actual Buddhist women in different historical contexts.
Women in Buddhism delves into the following topics through case studies that traverse Buddhist Asia:
- monastic views of gender and the female body
- philosophical analyses of the emptiness of gender
- idealized images of the feminine in Buddhist tantra
- contemporary issues such as the nun's revival moment
This course is cross-listed in Religious Studies and Women and Gender Studies as RLST 3750 and WMST 3750. During Spring 2013, it meets Tuesday and Thursdays 2:00-3:15pm.
The course will be led by Holly Gayley, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies. Dr. Gayley teaches courses on Buddhism, gender, ritual, and hagiography.Â