Teaching Buddhism

Todd T. Lewis is the Murray Distinguished Professor of Arts and Humanities in the Religious Studies Department at The College of the Holy Cross, where he has taught since 1990. Professor Lewis is one of the world's leading authorities on the religions of the central Himalayan region and the social history of Buddhism.Gary deAngelis has taught Asian Religions for forty six years at Boston University, Brandeis University, Clark University and for the last twenty nine years at Holy Cross College, also serving as the Associate Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at Holy Cross. His primary areas of teaching and scholarship have been Chinese and Japanese religions with a particular emphasis on scared space, pilgrimage, and ritual.

• Acknowledgments Editors' PrefaceIntroduction: Tensions in the Field of Religious and Buddhist Studies - John StrongNote on Transliteration of Asian LanguagesList of ContributorsPart 1: Updating Perennial Course Subjects1) Teaching Buddhism as Philosophy - Mark Siderits2) Teaching Nagarjuna - Roger R. Jackson3) Teaching Yogacara Buddhism Using Cognitive Science - William S. Waldron4) Teaching Tantric Buddhism in an Undergraduate Classroom Context - David B. Gray5) Rethinking the Teaching of Zen Buddhism - Steven HeinePart 2: Reimagining the Content of "Buddhism"6) In Defense of the Dharma: Buddhists and Politics - Thomas Borchert and Ian Harris7) Conveying Buddhist Tradition through its Rituals - Todd LewisPart 3: Issues in Teaching, Practice, and Connecting Students with the Tradition8) Teaching Buddhism in the Western Academy - Jan Willis9) Teaching Buddhist History to Buddhist Practitioners - Rita M. Gross10) Deconstructing Identity Categories and Cultivating Appreciation for Diversity: Teaching Buddhism and Feminism - Hsiao-Lan Hu11) Teaching Buddhism in the World Religions Course - Challenges and Promise - Gary DeAngelisPart 4: Buddhism and the American Context12) When The Iron Bird Flies: Seeking Western Buddhism in the Classroom - Charles Prebish13) Conveying Buddhism in the Classroom: Working with Assumptions on Family and Children - Vanessa R. Sasson14) Teaching Engaged Buddhism in Uncertain Times - Christopher QueenPart 5: Buddhism in New Academic Fields15) History of Buddhist-Christian Dialogue - Paul O. Ingram16) Teaching Buddhist Bioethics - Damien Keown17) Buddhist Environmentalism - Leslie E. Sponsel and Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel18) Buddhism and Economic Development - Laszlo Zsolnai19) "We Can Do No Less:" Buddhism and Social Justice - Anna BrownIndex

Despite the myriad books on Buddhism currently available, this book is a solid contribution to Buddhist studies in general and fills a niche as a pedagogical tool by providing an overview of best practices for the classroom. Lewis and DeAngelis (both, College of the Holy Cross) have brought together respected scholars of Buddhism and perhaps even more important, for the purpose of the book, respected, practicing, classroom educators. The combination of acumen in various subject areas and the "boots on the ground" approach makes this publication a real gem. The contributors provide a welcome international perspective on the various branches of Buddhism with their discussions of various interpretations of the dhamma and practices among its followers...Highly recommended.