"CONTEMPORARY BUDDHISM" INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL

International Summer School:

Contemporary Buddhism

University of Copenhagen

International summer school

(BA and MA-levels, 7.5 ECTS)

University of Copenhagen ⋅ 27 July–7 August 2020

Deadline for applications:

1 April 2020

NOTE: Second round of applications: 1 June 2020

This summer school is geared towards students who are interested in learning more about contemporary Buddhism - a burgeoning field which has not yet taken root in universities and study programmes around the world.

The summer school  offers a rich learning environment with a diversity of teaching formats that will help to immerse the student in contemporary Buddhist studies, thereby acquiring a great amount of knowledge in just two weeks. The summer school enquires into contemporary Buddhism as an interdisciplinary topic of investigation through bridging area studies, religious studies, anthropology, sociology and political science.

Building upon an introduction to some key concepts of Buddhism, we explore how ‘Buddhism’ is employed within various contexts in Asia and beyond, while paying attention to possible contradictions, contentions and contentment with contemporary issues, which include:

• Buddhist modernity and secularism
• Commodification of Buddhism and the spiritual marketplace
• Entanglements of Buddhism with politics
• Buddhism and environmentalism
• Buddhism and new media
• Travels and cultural translations

The summer school will offer lectures by foremost scholars of contemporary Buddhist studies, engaged discussion groups with scholars, sessions on research methodologies including field visits to sites of contemporary Buddhism, and individual research projects on a topic of the student’s choice to go more in-depth in a particular field of interest related to contemporary Buddhist studies. Moreover, throughout the course we will work with various media formats and discuss how to engage with public scholarship through twitter, blogs, and other social media sites.

The exam is based on active attendance. Requirements for passing the course is 75% attendance, participation in classroom and group discussions, delivering a number of shorter written assignments and delivering one oral presentation on a topic of interest.

The summer school will take place from 27 July to 7 august 2020 and is organized by Dr. Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg and Dr. Trine Brox, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies and Center for Contemporary Buddhist Studies with support from the Asian Dynamics Initiative.

Lecturers:

• Saskia Abrahms-Kavunenko, Junior Fellow, Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt
• Jørn Borup, Associate  Professor, Head of Department, School of Culture and Society - Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University
• Trine Brox, Associate Professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen. Director, Center of Contemporary Buddhist Studies
• Niklas Foxeus, Research Fellow, Department of Ethnology, History of Religions and Gender Studies, Stockholm University
• Duncan McCargo, Director, NIAS – Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen
• Levi McLaughlin, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, NC State University
• Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg, Assistant Professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen. Co-Director, Center for Contemporary Buddhist Studies