3.3.1 Early Chan
The official title of this class is Buddhist Studies C223: Readings in Chinese Buddhist Texts (Fall 2008: Early Chan Buddhism, taught by Robert Sharf, Director of the Group in Buddhist Studies at UC Berkeley). The course has focused on three types of texts: Tantric texts in China, Early Chan texts from Dunhuang collections, and a synthetic work by Tang exegete Zongmi. Besides issues of textual reconstruction and translation, we have also compared Chan writings to Indian Madhyamika philosophy and considered if our texts should be “framed” as phenomenological, exegetical, or performative works.
3.3.2 Chinese Buddho-Daoism
The official title of this class is Buddhist Studies C220: Chinese Buddhist Texts in the Context of Chinese Religion. This is being taught by James Robson of Harvard University, who is currently UC Berkeley’s Numata professor for fall 2008. A goal of this class has been for us to read texts from diverse genres, especially those that fall outside the mainstream of Buddhist studies as traditionally conceived. For example, we have read a good number of Daoist and “Buddho-Daoist” texts, and have gained basic facility in the use of Daoist collections and resources, both in print and online.
3.3.3 Reading Japanese
The official title of this class is Japanese 100s. This class is for graduate student Sinologists who want to focus on reading (as opposed to speaking) Japanese, and is intended to substitute for the regular third-year Japanese course. We focus on reading academic writings in Japanese of the type that would be useful to our own research. Alan Tansman, chair of East Asian Languages and Cultures at UC Berkeley, runs the course.
3.3.4 Buddhist Studies Proseminar
The official title for this class is Buddhist Studies 200: Proseminar in Buddhist Studies. The purpose of this class, which everyone in the Group in Buddhist Studies takes every semester until they finish Qualifying Exams, is to gain increased exposure to work in religious studies and social theory and to reflect on the implications of such work for Buddhist studies. This semester, we have read and discussed the following: (1) the “virgin birth” debates, centering on the E. Leach-M. Spiro exchanges; (2) a draft of Ann Taves’s forthcoming book on religious experience, with Ann Taves herself attending our discussion; (3) Peter Berger’s 1967 classic, The Sacred Canopy; and (4) JZ Smith’s 1982 classic, Imagining Religion.
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