The above course carries Arts and Humanities & Culture Studies A
distribution credit for the College of Arts and Sciences.

This course is an introduction to the major religious traditions of
South and East Asia, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism,
Daoism, and Shinto.  Religion in South and East Asia has influenced
the intellectual climate of these regions as extensively as it has
in the West.  The understandings of self, society, and cosmos that
religious traditions transmit affect many aspects of culture,
including art, literature, economics, and politics.  Despite sturdy
claims of continuity however, these understandings vary
considerably, depending on place and time.  We will examine some of
the outstanding texts, concepts, places, events, practices, and
people involved in each of these traditions.  There are no
prerequisites for taking this course.
Texts:
	Hawkins, Bradley.  Introduction to Asian Religions.  New
York: Longmen, 2004.
	Fieser, James and John Powers, eds.  Scriptures of the
East.  New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998; 2nd ed. 2004.