E-Learning Courses on Women in Buddhism
E-Learning Course on Asian Buddhist Women (2016)
Auch im Jahr 2016 bietet das Numata Zentrum für Buddhismuskunde einen E-Learning-Kurs an, dieses Mal zu dem Thema asiatische buddhistische Frauen. Der Kurs wird in Kooperation mit dem Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts organisiert. Abwechselnd werden verschiedene internationale WissenschaftlerInnen ihre Forschung vorstellen, wobei sowohl die Situation von buddhistischen Frauen im südostasiatischen Raum wie auch in Tibet und China berücksichtigt wird.
Recorded Lectures
14 April
Anālayo The Karma of Female Birth
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
21 April
Reiko Ohnuma Mothers and Motherhood in Indian Buddhist Literature
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
28 April
Vanessa Sassoon Children in the Pali Canon
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
5 May
Ayako ItohA Nascent Bhikkhunī Sangha in North-east Thailand
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
12 May
Lilian Handlin Depictions of Women in Myanmar Gandhakuti(s) During the Second Millenium
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
26 May
Ranjini Obeyesekere Buddhist Women in Sri Lanka
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
2 June
Lori Meeks Women in (Premodern) Japanese Buddhism
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
9 June
Monica Bethe: Japanese Imperial Convents, A Short History
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
16 June
Sarah Kirchberger Women and Buddhism in Communist China
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
23 June
Ester Bianchi Chinese Buddhist Nuns and Laywomen in a Changing World: Harmonizing Tradition and Modernity throughout 20th and 21st Century China
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
30 June
Karma Lekshe Tsomo Women in Tibetan Buddhism
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
7July
Jampa Tsedroen Gender Constructions and Gender Relations from a Tibetan Buddhist Perspective
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
14 July
Dhammadinnā Women's Soteriological Agency, Text Transmission and Buddhist Institutions
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Handout
E-Learning Course on Women in Indian Buddhism (2015)
The Numata Center for Buddhist Studies in cooperation with the Women in Buddhism Study Initiative offers an e-learning course on the topic of women in Indian Buddhism. The course consists of a series of lectures by a group of international scholars who will present their research on the situation of women during various periods in the history of Indian Buddhism and in comparison with other Indian religious traditions, based on textual studies and archaeological evidence. Participation is free of charge but requires online registration.
Course outline
The Numata Center for Buddhist Studies in cooperation with the Women in Buddhism Study Initiative offers an e-learning course on the topic of women in Indian Buddhism. The course consists of a series of lectures by a group of international scholars who will present their research on the situation of women during various periods in the history of Indian Buddhism and in comparison with other Indian religious traditions, based on textual studies and archaeological evidence. Participation is free of charge but requires online registration.
Course Dates
The course will be held every Thursday during the summer semester 2015, starting 16 April, from 2.15 to 3.45 pm CET. The course consists of 13 lectures and related coursework. Registration, which is required for participation, will be open from 15 February to 15 March on this website.
Recorded Lectures
16 April
Women in Indian Buddhism 1
Bhikkhu Analayo: Women in Early Buddhist Discourse
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
23 April
Women in Indian Buddhism 2
Amy Langenberg: Female Agency in Two Sanskrit Vinayas
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
30 April
Women in Indian Buddhism 3
Mari Jväsjarvi Stuart: Women in medieval Buddhist and Jain monasticism
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
7 May
Women in Indian Buddhism 4
Nalini Balbir: Women in the Buddhist and Jain traditions
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
14 May
Women in Indian Buddhism 5
Ute Hüsken: Women in the Theravāda Vinaya and the Brahminical Tradition
21 May
Women in Indian Buddhism 6
Reiko Ohnuma: The Nun Thullanandā
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
28 May
Women in Indian Buddhism 7
Shobha Rani Dash: Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī Narratives
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
4 June
Women in Indian Buddhism 8
Liz Wilson: Hagiographic Buddhist Texts on Women
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
11 June
Women in Indian Buddhism 9
Rita Gross: Women in Mahāyāna Sūtra Literature
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
18 June
Women in Indian Buddhism 10
Alice Collett: Women in Early Buddhist Inscriptions
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
25 June
Women in Indian Buddhism 11
Naomi Appleton: Women in the Jātaka Collection
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
2 July
Women in Indian Buddhism 12
Monika Zin: Buddhist Women in Indian Art
Audio Recording on Lecture2Go.
Video Recording on Olat.
Handout
9 July
Women in Indian Buddhism 13
Petra Kieffer-Pülz: Summary and Outlook on Scholarship on Women in Buddhism
Proposed Learning Objectives
Participants in the class will gain knowledge of the complexity of the situation of women in Indian Buddhism based on current academic research, alerting them to the different facets of the problem of gender discrimination as well as to the agency of women and the strategies women have adopted in order to pursue their aspirations.
E-Learning Course on Bhikkhuni/Bhikshuni Ordination (2014)
The e-learning course to be held in 2014 builds on the foundation of the 1. International Conference on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha, which was held at the University of Hamburg in 2007, by continuing the same theme, namely the topic of bhikkhuni/bhikshuni ordination. This topic is of high priority at present in the Theravada and Mulasarvastivada monastic traditions. The course intends to offer sound academic research on the legal questions, based on a study of the relevant Vinaya material, followed by an updated regional survey on the current situation of nuns in the Theravada and Mulasarvastivada traditions.
The first e-learning course would offer a starting point for further e-learning courses to be offered in subsequent semesters to further explore the various themes within historical and modern topics on Women in Buddhism.
Course Outline
The course will begin with the Madhyama-agama version of the foundation of the bhikkhuni order, thereby continuing the e-learning course series of the last three years which have focused on Madhyama-agama discourses.
Following this introductory lecture, a series of lectures will cover the topic of bhikkhuni/bhikshuni from the viewpoint of the canonical Vinayas, and, building on this foundation, proceed to present the actual situation of ordained women in detail. The latter series of lectures would focus on bhikkhunis, wherever such an order has come into being, and on the other nun traditions in Asian countries, i.e., the dasasil matas in Sri Lanka, the mae chis in Thailand, the thila shins in Burma and sramanerikas in the Himalayan countries.
Course Dates
The course will be held every Thursday from 17 April to 10 July, from 2.15 to 3.45 pm CET. The course consists of 13 lectures and related coursework.
Those who have registered can view the lecture on the online platform at any time during the duration of the entire course, according to their personal convenience and local time requirements, and will have access to the online forum for discussions related to each lecture.
Recorded Lectures
- 17 April: Ven. Analayo, Numata Centre for Buddhist Studies, University of Hamburg: The Foundation of the Bhikkhuni Order
Lecture
Audio
Handout - 24 April: Ann Heirman, Centre for Buddhist Studies, Ghent University: The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya on Bhikshuni Ordination
Lecture
Audio
Handout - 1 May: Petra Kieffer-Puelz, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz: The Theravada Vinaya on Bhikkhuni Ordination
- 8 May: Ven. Damchoe Diana Finnegan, University of Wisconsin-Madison: The Mulasarvastivada Vinaya on the Formation of Bhikshunis
Lecture
Audio
Handout - 15 May: Nirmala Salgado, Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill.: Dasasil Matas in Sri Lanka
- 22 May: Susanne Mrozik, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass.: Bhikkhunis in Sri Lanka
- 29 May: Martin Seeger, University of Leeds: Mae chees in Thailand
- 5 June: Ven. Dhammananda, Abbess of Wat Songkhammakalayani, Thailand: Bhikkhuni Sangha in Thailand
Lecture
Audio
Handout - 12 June: Hiroko Kawanami, Lancaster University: Thila Shins in Burma
Lecture
Audio
Handout - 19 June: Ven. Jampa Tsedroen, Akademie der Weltreligionen, University of Hamburg: The Bhikshuni Ordination Rite in the Tibetan Translation of the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya
Lecture
Audio
Handout - 26 June: Ven. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, University of San Diego, Cal.: Sramanerikas in the Himalayas
Lecture
Audio
Handout - 3 July: Peter Skilling, École française d’Extrême-Orient: Bhikshunis in Indian Inscriptions
Lecture
Audio
Handout - 10 July: Ven. Karma Lekshe Tsomo: Bhikshuni Ordination across cultures
Lecture
Audio
Handout
Proposed Learning Objectives
Participants in the class will gain knowledge of the three Vinaya schools in regards to bhikkhuni ordination, and, taking an academic approach, develop the ability to analyze the complexities involved in applying the Buddha's ideal of the Fourfold Sangha in the conventional world. Finally, students will learn about the strategies women have adopted in order to pursue their renunciant aspirations, in the context of challenges they have faced due to gender bias.