Religion in East Asia

Catalog description

This course focuses on East Asian religious history, starting with the formation of several major traditions in ancient China and ending with major religious trends in the modern era. The course examines major religious developments and traditions in China, Japan, and Korea and ways that these religious traditions influenced each other. The course examines connections between religion, intellectual currents, political transformations, gender roles and social customs, the natural environment, and, in the modern era, national identity formations. Students will explore the multiple approaches that historians have taken in interpreting East Asian religions and will consider how such approaches shape the production and reception of historical scholarship.