Exploring Buddhism: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Challenges

Catalog description

How does a 2,500-year-old tradition respond to the urgent challenges of our contemporary world? This course examines Buddhist communities' and teachers' creative engagement with issues ranging from climate change and environmental degradation to questions of social justice, gender equality, racial reconciliation, and economic inequality. Through careful study of the contemporary applications of classical Buddhist sources, we will explore how Buddhism functions as a living, adaptive tradition that both offers resources for addressing modern challenges and at times presents structural obstacles to progressive change. Through global case studies, we will investigate how Buddhist communities worldwide have responded to contemporary crises, while critically examining the tensions between traditional spiritual goals and social activism, as well as the secular appropriation of Buddhist practices. Students will develop skills in cross-cultural interpretation, critical analysis of religious responses to social issues, and understanding of Buddhism as a dynamic, multiple tradition shaped by historical and contemporary contexts.