“What we study and how we study it are inextricably tied to questions of theory and method, which may not always be obvious. The goal of this class is to encourage students to do so consciously, to learn how to think about and articulate their own assumptions and the assumptions of the broader community of scholars who engage Buddhist traditions within the contexts of modernity and postmodernity.” — Patrick Lambelet, PHL450 Syllabus, Spring 2024

Sections
Religious Studies   |   Buddhist Studies   |   Theology   |   Modernism   |   Media

Religious Studies

  • Cabezón, José Ignacio, and Sheila Greeve Davaney, eds. 2004. Identity and the Politics of Scholarship in the Study of Religion. Routledge. JABL
  • Olson, Carl. 2003. Theory and Method in the Study of Religion: A Selection of Critical Readings. Wadsworth Cengage Learning. JABL

Buddhist Studies

  • Blumenthal, James A. “Target Audiences, Translator Training, and the Presumptions and Consequences of Style:  Some Considerations for the Role of a Buddhist University.” (Unpublished paper).
  • Doboom Tulku, ed. 1995. Buddhist Translation: Problems and Perspectives. Manohar. JABL (archive.org)
  • Lopez, Donald S, Jr. 1995. Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism Under Colonialism. University of Chicago Press. JABL
  • Lopez, Donald S., Jr. 2005. Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism. University Of Chicago Press. JABL
  • Lopez, Donald S., Jr. 2018. Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. University Of Chicago Press. JABL
  • Queen, Christopher S, Charles S. Prebish, and Damien Keown, eds. 2016. Action Dharma: New Studies in Engaged Buddhism. Routledge. JABL
  • Schopen, Gregory. 1997. Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks: Collected Papers on the Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Texts of Monastic Buddhism in India. University of Hawaii Press. JABL

Theology

  • Moschella, Mary Clark, and Susan Willhauck. 2018. Qualitative Research in Theological Education: Pedagogy in Practice. SCM Press. JABL
  • Jackson, Roger R., and John J. Makransky. 2000. Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections by Contemporary Buddhist Scholars. Routledge. JABL.

Modernism

  • Childs, Geoff H. 2004. Tibetan Diary: From Birth to Death and Beyond in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal. University of California Press. JABL
  • Dge-‘dun-blo-gros, Dge-bshes. 1992. Walking through Walls: A Presentation of Tibetan Meditation. Snow Lion JABL
  • Gleig, Ann. 2019. American Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Modernity. Yale University Press. JABL
  • Hackett, Paul, ed. 2017. The Assimilation of Yogic Religions through Pop Culture. Lexington Books. JABL
  • McMahan, David L. 2008. The Making of Buddhist Modernism. Oxford University Press. JABL
  • Samuels, Jeffrey, Justin McDaniel, and Mark Rowe, eds. Figures of Buddhist Modernity in Asia. University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2016. WorldCat (on order JABL)
  • Tonkinson, Carole. 1995. Big Sky Mind: Buddhism and the Beat Generation. Riverhead Books. JABL
  • Tsering Dondrup. 2019. The Handsome Monk and Other Stories. Columbia University Press. JABL

Media

  • Garfield, Jay L. 2008. “Turning a Madhyamaka Trick: Reply to Huntington.” Journal of Indian Philosophy. 36 (4): 507–527. academia.edu
  • Huntington, C. W. 2007. “The nature of the Mādhyamika trick.” Journal of Indian Philosophy. 35 (2): 103–131. pdf
  • Madhyamaka & Methodology: A Symposium on Buddhist Theory and Method (April 23–25, 2010 at Smith College) YouTube
Subject Guides
Action Research Project   |   Bodhisattva Ethics   |   Buddha Nature   |   Buddhist Psychology   |   Calm Abiding   |   Chittamatra   |   Classical Tibetan, Texts, Translation   |   Death and Dying   |   Ganden-Kagyu Mahamudra   |   History of Buddhism in India and Tibet   |   Kangyur and Tengyur   |   Lamrim   |   Lojong   |   Madhyamaka   |   Songs of Realization   |   Tantra in Tibet  |  Theories and Methods in Buddhist Studies   |   Tibetan Medicine