Unit name | The Body in East Asian Thought and Practices |
---|---|
Unit code | THRS30098 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Lomi |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
Students enrolling in this unit must have taken at least one of the following units: THRS20103 3000 Years of Chinese Religions THRS20209 Introduction to Japanese Religions THRS20031 The Foundations of Buddhist Thought and Practice |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Religion and Theology |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit examines the ways in which the body has been imagined, represented, and problematised by different East Asian religious and philosophical traditions. We will do so by exploring a varies of texts, practices, as well as literary and visual sources. The first aim of this examination is to critically reflect on those conceptual tools developed to deal with the human body. The second is to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the body as primary site for religious practice and achievement.
The unit is arranged thematically, and each week we will focus on a specific way of framing the body. The themes covered will tackle the relationship between the body, the mind, the cosmos, and society, and will also allow space to discuss issues of pollution, gender and culturally defined functions of the body. By the end of the unit, it will become apparent how these ideas are intimately connected, often making us question the existence of clear-cut boundaries between, for example, religious and medical discourses.
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1 x three-hour seminar weekly
One 1,500-word portfolio (20%) [ILOs 1, 5]
One 15 minute group presentation (30%) [ILOs 2-4]
One 3000-word summative essay (50%) [ILOs 1-5]
Jia, Jinhua, Gender, Power, and Talent: The Journey of Daoist Priestesses in Tang China. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018.
Kasulis, T.P., Ames, R.T. and Dissanayake, W. eds., Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice. Albany, NY: State. University of New York Press, 1993.
Kasulis, T.P., Ames, R.T. and Dissanayake, W. eds., Self as Image in Asian Theory and Practice. Albany, NY: State. University of New York Press, 1998.
Kuriyama Shigehisa, The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine. New York: Zone Books, 1999.
Schipper, Kristofer, The Daoist Body, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
Tonomura, Hitomi, "Women and Sexuality in Premodern Japan." A Companion to Japanese History (2007): 349-371.