HISTORY OF ANCIENT JAPANESE PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIONS 1

This course falls within the characterizing teachings of the "Japan" curriculum of the course "Language and Civilisation of Asia and Mediterranean Africa".
Its formative objectives are within the area of cultural and humanistic skills learning.

Knowledge and understanding:
- understand the cultural complexity of traditional Japanese religious experience in its historical and social context;
- acquire critical awareness of the different perspectives of analysis of religious phenomena.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- analyze philosophical and religious texts through the use of critical historical-religious and anthropological tools;
- critically apply the analytical methodologies of the sciences of religions;

Judgment skills:
- elaborate critical judgments on religious phenomena examined during the course;

Communication skills:
- critically re-elaborate the contents of the program without resorting to purely mnemonic preparation.

Learning ability:
- take notes, summarizing, in a clear way, the main topics covered during the lessons;
- integrate independently the study of different teaching materials;
- independently analyze topics not dealt with during lectures;
- study on texts in English;
- use the online teaching platform.

An intermediate level of English (B2) is required to deepen the topics covered in class, using the reference texts.

The course examines, from a historical-anthropological point of view, the roles that women have played in the religious traditions of Japan. In particular, the course aims to provide an analysis of political processes that have contributed to the formation and definition of gender identity in Japanese religious culture.

The topics covered will be the following: the creation myths in Shinto tradition, fertility cults, the female sexual imaginary of the Japanese religious culture, the social condition of women in Buddhism and Confucianism, the practices of gender identity construction in popular religion, female shamanism, the problem of relationships between women and religion from the Japanese feminist perspective.

Barbara R. Ambros, Women in Japanese Religions, New York and London, New York University Press, 2015 (full text).
Any other bibliographical references and useful links to the in-depth study of the topics will be reported during the course and provided on the moodle platform.

The exam consists of three parts:

1. Written reports on the following articles assigned during the course (in English or Italian):

a) Kobayashi, Naoko, Sacred Mountains and Women in Japan. Fighting a Romanticized Image of Female Ascetic Practitioners, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2017, 44/1, pp. 103–122.
b) Gerald, Groemer, Female Shamans in Eastern Japan during the Edo Period, Asian Folklore Studies, Volume 66, 2007, pp. 27–53.
c) Lori Meeks, The Disappearing Medium: Reassessing the Place of Miko in the Religious Landscape of Premodern Japan, History of Religions, Vol. 50, No. 3, New Studies in Medieval Japanese Religions, 2011, pp. 208-260.
d) Milla Micka Moto-Sanchez, Jizō, Healing Rituals, and Women in Japan, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 43, No. 2, 2016, pp. 307-331.
e) Emiko Namihira, Pollution in the Folk Belief System, Current Anthropology, Vol. 28, No. 4, Supplement: An Anthropological Profile of Japan, 1987), pp. S65-S74
f) Komatsu Kayoko, Spirituality and Women in Japan, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 44, No. 1, Gendering Religious Practices in Japan, 2017, pp. 123-138
g) Matsuo Kenji, Official Monks and Reclusive Monks: Focusing on the Salvation of Women, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 64, No. 3 (2001), pp. 369-380
h) Jessica Starling, Neither Nun nor Laywoman: The Good Wives and Wise Mothers of Jōdo Shinshū Temples, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 40, No. 2 (2013), pp. 277-301


The reports consist of a brief critical analysis of the article; each report must not exceed 1000 characters, spaces included (see attachments on moodle). The papers must be sent by email at least ten days before the exam date. Indicate in the file (in .pdf format) name and surname, date (day of the exam), serial number and email address. Send the pdfs to the email address giovanni.bulian@unive.it

Graphic criteria to be used for writing the text:

Times New Roman font, body 12.
Line spacing 1.5
Top margin: 2.5 cm
Lower margin: 2.5 cm
Right margin: 3 cm
Left margin: 3 cm

2. Oral presentation of a topic chosen by the student (with the possible aid of a powerpoint).

3. Questions relating to the topics covered in the reference book (Barbara R. Ambros, Women in Japanese Religions, New York and London, New York University Press, 2015).

Lectures, also with the help of power-point.

Italian

It will be possible to take the exam with the program carried out in this course (2018-19) only for the first four exam sessions.
Once these four exam sessions have passed, students will have to take the exam with the program of the new academic year.

written and oral