HISTORY OF JAPANESE PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIONS 1

This is one of the core courses of the Corso di Laurea "Languages, Cultures and Societies 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 aims to provide students with a thorough understanding of classical philosophical thought and major Japanese religious traditions. Special attention will be given to the fundamental doctrines and religious practices of the Shinto, Taoist and Buddhist traditions in Japan, analyzing their historical development, their mutual influences and their impact on Japanese culture and society.

Reference books for the course will be indicated later.

Exam duration: 1 hour.

Written exam: 4 questions.

The exam serves to assess knowledge pertinent to the various Japanese religious traditions and the ability to study and learn. The questions serve to evaluate the ability to apply knowledge to the discussion of the topics covered and the autonomy of judgment in the analysis, as well as the ability to express the student's arguments concisely and effectively.

written

The grading will be divided according to the following criteria:

A. Score range 18-21:
- Sufficient knowledge and understanding of the program, with an adequate ability to apply it;
- Limited ability to collect and interpret information, with few independent judgments;
- Sufficient communication skills, with basic use of specific language.

B. Score range 22-25:
- Fair knowledge and understanding of the program;
- Good ability to collect and interpret information, with acceptable independent judgments;
- Good communication skills, with proper use of specific language.

C. Score range 26-30:
- Good or excellent knowledge and understanding of the program;
- Good ability to collect and interpret information, with well-formulated independent judgments;
- Very good communication skills, with precise use of specific language.

D. Honors:
Honors will be awarded for an excellent performance, with superior knowledge, judgment skills, and communication abilities.

Lectures, also with the help of power-point.

It will be possible to take the exam with the program carried out in this course (2025-26) 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.