Duncan Williams (East Asian Languages and Cultures)
(Buddhist St. C126, EALC C126)

The first half of the course focuses on Buddhist cosmological and doctrinal perspectives on the place of the human in nature and the relationship between the salvific goals of Buddhism and nature. The second half of the course examines Buddhist ethics, economics, and activism in relation to environmental issues in contemporary Southeast Asia, East Asia, and North America. This course engages students not only to critically think about the role of religion in forming views of the natural world, but also to consider how such cosmologies can be drawn on to formulate alternative visions of the human relationship to the environment.