BUDDHIST VIEWS OF NATURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The course seeks to orient students toward the Asian Environmental Humanites. According to the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2014 report, Asia, with its tropical coastal megacities and vast populations is one of the world regions most vulnerable to global warming and with severe effects on the world. For example, the Himalayas and Himalayan plateau (circum-Himalaya) are the source of Asia’s ten largest rivers that sustain close to a billion people in over ten countries. Mammoth dam building and other diversion projects are affecting the livelihood of many species and tens of millions of people, often leading to global outmigration. A still more immediate impact of environmental and climate developments in Asia affecting the world refers to the global supply-chain networks whose production and integration nodes are concentrated in Asia (though for global consumption). Major climactic events such as the Japanese tsunami and the Thai floods of 2011 severely disrupted these flows and raised their costs and insurance rates for many in the industry. This course asks to what extent is Buddhism involved in both problematizing and seeking solutions in the context of the relationship between humans and the natural world.

Knowledge and understanding:
- to know and understand the heterogeneity and complexity of the discourses and languages that make up the Buddhist experience of modern and contemporary environmentalism.
- to deepen, through the analysis of religious experiences and their textual and ritual expressions, the understanding of the close relationship between religious doctrines and the historical and social context in the modern and contemporary world.

Applying knowledge and understanding:
- to be able to critically analyse, interpret, and contextualise religious phenomena and sources of various types.

Making judgments:
- to be able to develop personal and well-structured critical evaluations of the religious phenomena examined during the course;
- to be able to subject various types of sources to critical examination.

Communication skills:
- to be able to rework and express the programme content personally, clearly, and in a well-structured manner;
- to be able to write an academic essay based on thorough research of primary and secondary sources;
- to be able to communicate the results of one’s research effectively.

Learning skills:
- to be able to integrate the study of different sources in a personal and critical way;
- to be able to undertake independent study and research.

No previous knowledge of the subject is required.

The relation between Buddhism and contemporary environmental and ecological concerns has become one of the most important dimensions for the development of Buddhist thought as applied to contemporary issues. Even if the supportive function of Buddhism in relation to their environmental concerns seems unproblematic and obvious to many practitioners, closer readings of texts and historically and philosophically informed explications of traditional Buddhist doctrine have led to a large body of discussion and critique. In general, the discourse on Buddhism and environmentalism takes place within a wider discourse on the social relevance of Buddhism most commonly known as “engaged Buddhism.” Engaged Buddhism itself developed out of Buddhist modernism. This is in contrast to the institutional role of Buddhism during most of its history throughout Asia, where it was largely either in active support of state power or in reclusive separation from the state, but in neither case did it take an active role in trying to effect social change.

Capper, Daniel, Roaming Free Like a Deer: Buddhism and the Natural World (Ithaca, NY, 2022; online edn, Cornell Scholarship Online, 19 Jan. 2023), https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759574.001.0001

This is a blended course. I.e. it consists of both lectures and online activities. For each week it is indicated wether a lesson is scheduled or time is allotted to carry on online activities. At any rate, under each week you will find relevant resources (readings, video) for the topic addressed in that week.

Concerning the online activities, you must fulfill the following tasks:

1) To proactively interact with teachers, tutors and other colleagues in the Course Forum. More in detail, you are expected to respond by the end of this course at least at 2 posts made by the Tutor and/or the Instructor, and to give a feedback to at least 2 posts made by your colleagues.

Forum interaction between students should be done in the perspective of mutual learning and with a proper netiquette. Forum posts should be around 200-500 words and are expected to enlarge and enrich the discussion with further data and insight, preferably with reference to scientific sources.

Forum interaction is expected especially in the weeks devoted to online activities, but it could be that the Tutor or the Instructor deliver additional posts also during lecture weeks. Accordingly, students may interact in the forum also during these weeks. Also, students are encouraged to start their own threads.

2) To deliver a mid-term essay (digital research), a final essay preparation paper and a final essay. Detailed instructions can be found below in the specific sections.

For the final evaluation, the final essay and its discussion account for 70%, while the rest of the online activities account for 30%.

written and oral

Assessment methods
The exam consists of three parts:
- participation in the 5 online activities (30% of the final grade);
- individual essay (around 3000 words). The selected topic will be agreed upon with the lecturer. The essay (.doc) should be sent to the lecturer through Moodle at least one day before the day of the oral exam (60% of the final grade);
- discussion of the essay (10% of the final grade).
Type of exam
Written (individual essay) and oral
Grading scale
A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- sufficient knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- limited ability to analyze and interpret philosophical and religious texts;
- sufficient communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.

B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- fair knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- discrete ability to analyze and interpret philosophical and religious texts;
- fair communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.

C. Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- good or very good knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- good or excellent ability to analyze and interpret philosophical and religious texts;
- fully appropriate communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.

D. "lode" will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and applied understanding, excellent judgment and excellent communication skills.
Teaching methods
This course is offered in a blended mode, with 10 in-person lectures and 5 online lectures. In-presence lectures aim to introduce students to a given topic by providing the tools to understand it and to connect it to knowledge gained in other courses. During the online lectures, students are required to work on a critical analysis of sources of different nature (textual primary sources, visual sources, academic sources) applying the knowledge acquired during the previous in-presence lectures and developing the skills necessary to write the paper required for the exam. For each lesson scheduled as “online,” students will find on Moodle a short introduction to the topic and an activity to be completed and handed in via the appropriate tool within a week.

This is a blended course. I.e. it consists of both lectures and online activities. For each week it is indicated wether a lesson is scheduled or time is allotted to carry on online activities. At any rate, under each week you will find relevant resources (readings, video) for the topic addressed in that week.

Concerning the online activities, you must fulfill the following tasks:

1) To proactively interact with teachers, tutors and other colleagues in the Course Forum. More in detail, you are expected to respond by the end of this course at least at 2 posts made by the Tutor and/or the Instructor, and to give a feedback to at least 2 posts made by your colleagues.

Forum interaction between students should be done in the perspective of mutual learning and with a proper netiquette. Forum posts should be around 200-500 words and are expected to enlarge and enrich the discussion with further data and insight, preferably with reference to scientific sources.

Forum interaction is expected especially in the weeks devoted to online activities, but it could be that the Tutor or the Instructor deliver additional posts also during lecture weeks. Accordingly, students may interact in the forum also during these weeks. Also, students are encouraged to start their own threads.

2) To deliver a mid-term essay (digital research), a final essay preparation paper and a final essay. Detailed instructions can be found below in the specific sections.

For the final evaluation, the final essay and its discussion account for 70%, while the rest of the online activities account for 30%.

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