At the end of the course, students are expected to have gained awareness of the complexity of the historical-religious dynamics of East Asia and to have a general overview of movements, currents, and religious or philosophical ideologies and their contribution to the cultural and social history of East Asia. Students should be able to orally present the content covered during the course and/or the contents of the texts in the syllabus, and to independently develop connections between themes and conceptual issues.
A basic knowledge of the historical processes in East Asia, particularly in the area related to the language(s) of study, facilitates understanding of the course themes but is not mandatory. During the course, the historical coordinates essential for an adequate understanding of the history of religions in East Asia will be outlined.
Lectures, class debates, individual or group projects (up to 3 people), viewing of documentaries and films. The educational path of the course aims to provide students with the knowledge and methodological tools necessary to develop critical thinking in relation to historical-religious issues and, more generally, historical-cultural dynamics concerning East Asia. During the course, activities such as peer-tutoring, guided research, and creative synthesis of the contents presented in the lectures will be proposed. Students must be able to reason about historical data and critically evaluate the historical-cultural dynamics in East Asia. Additionally, they must be able to recognise different methodologies used in the study of religions. Students must also be able to communicate ideas, doctrines, and notions effectively and learn to use appropriate terminology.
The examination consists of an oral test and a short project developed during the course. There are no interim assessments, but active participation in course activities will positively impact the final evaluation for attending students. The examination is conducted in Italian, except for foreign students with limited knowledge of Italian, in which case the exam can be conducted in English. The following aspects will be evaluated during the exam: accuracy of content, clarity of presentation, correct use of religious-philosophical terminology, and the ability to identify connections between thematic clusters.
Bernard Faure 2009. Unmasking Buddhism, Chichester. Wiley-Blackwell;
G. A. Scott, & S. Travagnin (Eds.) 2020, Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions : Volume II Intellectual History of Key Concepts, de Gruyter;
Randall L. Nadeau ed. 2012. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Chinese Religions;
Paul L. Swanson, Clark Chilson eds, 2006. Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions. University of Hawai'i Press;
Robert E. Buswell ed. 2007. Religions of Korea in Practice. Princeton University Press;
Stephan Feuchtwang ed. 2020. Handbook on religion in China. Edward Elgar Publishing;
Erica Baffelli, Andrea Castiglioni, and Fabio Rambelli eds. 2021. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Japanese Religions;
Juhn Young Ahn 2018. Buddhas and Ancestors: Religion and Wealth in Fourteenth-Century Korea. University of Washington Press.
Topics 1. Issues related to the notion of religion in East Asia. Methodological approaches;
2.Historical-religious developments in China, Korea and Japan in the premodern period;
3.Introduction to modern and contemporary East Asian religions;
4.Anthropological-religious themes in East Asia;
5. Outlines of East Asian philosophical traditions.
Italian
During the course, the aforementioned monographs will be presented in part or in full, and scientific articles will be discussed in class as a supplement to the program. Non-attending students are asked to email the teacher (cghidini@unior.it) to arrange the exam syllabus.
