Imagining the Buddha: Images of Buddhism in Asia and the West
Course Number: RELI 240 / EAS 240
Instructor: Dr. Rae Dachille
In-Person Course Fall 2021: Tu/Th 3:30-4:45pm
What role do images play in the history, theory, and practice of Buddhism in Asia as well as in cultural encounters between Buddhism and Europe and the U.S.? Today art critics continue to discuss “Buddhist” elements in the work of iconic artists like Georgia O’Keefe and Mark Rothko, Tibetan mandala coloring books are being used for stress relief, and “Zen” aesthetics inform a broad range of fashion and design platforms. This course provides theoretical tools for critically reexamining the categories of “East” and “West” within this cultural moment. Considering how images of Buddhism have functioned across time and space for over two thousand years from its origins in India, robust expansion throughout Asia as well as transformations in colonial encounters, globalization, and immigration allows us to better comprehend how those categories were formed and perpetuated. In the process of learning to engage with the “images” of Buddhism they encounter in their everyday lives, students are exposed to an interdisciplinary curriculum spanning the fields of religious studies, art history, and visual culture.