Exploring Buddhism: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Challenges?

Can a 2,500-year-old tradition help us respond to the urgent challenges of our modern world? This course introduces Buddhist traditions through a study of their interactions with contemporary issues ranging from climate change and environmental degradation to questions of social justice, gender equality, racial reconciliation, and economic inequality. After a historical introduction to the variety of Buddhist traditions, we will carefully study contemporary applications of Buddhist thought and practices, exploring how Buddhism functions as a living, adaptive tradition that both offers resources for addressing modern challenges and at times presents structural obstacles to progressive change. Through global case studies, we will investigate how Buddhist communities worldwide have responded to contemporary crises, while critically examining the tensions between traditional spiritual goals and social activism, as well as the secular appropriation of Buddhist practices. Through a combination of lectures and student-led discussions, students will develop skills in cross-cultural interpretation, critical analysis, civic dialogue, creative thinking, and understanding of Buddhism as a dynamic, multiple tradition shaped by historical and contemporary contexts.