AS 070.256 - Monsters, Beasts & Aliens: Cosmology in Asian Religious Traditions

Institution:

Johns Hopkins University

Subject:

Description:

This course examines the types of beings that act as agents in Asian religious worlds. Using primary sources, along with literature from Anthropology and Religious Studies, we will explore issues of narrative, belief, personhood, otherness, and marginality. Some of the central questions of the course are: What types of creatures populate the Buddhist and Hindu cosmos? How do we make sense of worlds that contain different beings than own? What makes us, or others, “believe” in the beings that are beyond our perception? Do religious traditions need monsters and beasts in the world in the same way they need gods? The course is organized around a three-part cosmology, found in many Asian religious traditions, which divides the universe into the realms (1) above the earth, (2) on the earth, and (3) below. The course thus first explores encounters with beings of the underworld and graveyards (“monsters”), and investigates religious practices and beliefs related to these monsters. The “beasts” section of the course turns to beings encountered on the earth: from local spirits and mountain deities, to monkey-men and yetis. Finally, we will look at transcendent or non-terrestrial beings (“aliens”), and examine how they act upon, or through, humans.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.jhu.edu

Phone Number:

(410) 516-8000

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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