Buddhist Modernism

This course examines the specifically modern form of Buddhism often encountered by Americans and Europeans in recent decades that has come to be known as Buddhist Modernism. In tracing the roots and development of this phenomenon, we will consider the relation between Buddhist Modernism and themes such as the historical process of modernization in Asia, Romanticism, demythologization, science, literary Modernism, and recent ideas about ecological interdependence. We will also consider the claims of scholars who question or reject the category of Buddhist Modernism as a framework for understanding Buddhism.