HISTORY OF ANCIENT JAPANESE PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIONS 1

This course falls within the characterizing teachings of the "Japan" curriculum of the course "Language and Civilisation of Asia and Mediterranean Africa".
Its formative objectives are within the area of cultural and humanistic skills learning.

Knowledge and understanding:
- understand the cultural complexity of traditional Japanese religious experience in its historical and social context;
- acquire critical awareness of the different perspectives of analysis of religious phenomena.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- analyze philosophical and religious texts through the use of critical historical-religious and anthropological tools;
- critically apply the analytical methodologies of the sciences of religions;

Judgment skills:
- elaborate critical judgments on religious phenomena examined during the course;

Communication skills:
- critically re-elaborate the contents of the program without resorting to purely mnemonic preparation.

Learning ability:
- take notes, summarizing, in a clear way, the main topics covered during the lessons;
- integrate independently the study of different teaching materials;
- independently analyze topics not dealt with during lectures;
- study on texts in English;
- use the online teaching platform.

An intermediate level of English (B2) is required to deepen the topics covered in class, using the reference texts.

The course examines, from a historical-anthropological point of view, the roles that women have played in the religious traditions of Japan. In particular, the course aims to provide an analysis of political processes that have contributed to the formation and definition of gender identity in Japanese religious culture.

The topics covered will be the following: the creation myths in Shinto tradition, fertility cults, the female sexual imaginary of the Japanese religious culture, the social condition of women in Buddhism and Confucianism, the practices of gender identity construction in popular religion, female shamanism, the problem of relationships between women and religion from the Japanese feminist perspective.

Barbara R. Ambros, Women in Japanese Religions, New York and London, New York University Press, 2015 (from chapter 1 to chapter 7 included, pp. 1- 133).
Stephen Turnbull, Japan's Sexual Gods. Shrines, Roles and Rituals of Procreation and Protection, Leiden, Brill, 2015 (only chapters 5, 6, 7, pp. 94-188).
Teigo Yoshida, "The feminine in Japanese folk religion: polluted or divine?", in E. Ben-Ari, B. Morean and J. Valentine (eds.), Unwrapping Japan. Society and culture in anthropological perspective, Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press (pp. 58-77).
Miyake Hitoshi, "Prohibition of Women at Mt. Sanjō in the Ōmine Mountains", in Shugendō: Essays on the Structure of Japanese Folk Religion, Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan, 2001 (pp. 143- 158).

The exam is divided into two parts:

1 - Written exam (1 hour): three open questions on topics covered in the course.
2 -Presentation of a short written paper (maximum 10,000 characters, including spaces) in English or Italian on a topic covered in the course. The paper must be sent before the written exam.

Lectures, also with the help of power-point.

Italian

It will be possible to take the exam with the program carried out in this course (2018-19) only for the first four exam sessions.
Once these four exam sessions have passed, students will have to take the exam with the program of the new academic year.

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development