The course begins with a survey of the origins of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent in the mid-first millennium BCE, as well as its transformation in the first millennium CE into the Sanskrit-language-based Mahayana Buddhism(s) that permeated the monastic traditions and flourished in India until around 1100 CE, and that persists up topresent dayin East Asia, Central Asia, and Vietnam. The Tibetan aspect of this course surveys the Tibetan and Central Asian reception and development of these Indian Buddhist traditions that occurred in two distinct historical periods: (1) from 650 CE until ca. 850 CE, and (2) from ca. 950 CE to the present. During the first period, the Indians’ and Tibetans’ massive efforts to translate into the Tibetan language the Sanskrit and Prakrit contents of the great Indian monastic university libraries resulted in the reception and preservation in Tibetan of the most essential parts of what was destroyed in India during the Persian, Turkish, and Tajik invasions and occupations in the early second millennium CE. These translations also enabled that Indian style of Buddhism to spread into the Mongolias and the Manchu empire in China. In addition to addressing such reception and preservation, wewill alsosurvey the unique ways in which these Indian forms of Buddhism were further developed in the Tibetan and Central Asian cultural spheres (throughout their histories, and especially in the second period that began after the destruction of Indian Buddhism). Finally, we will explore 20th-21st century manifestations and developments of Tibetan Buddhism throughout the global modern world. Although in the modern era Tibet itself has lost its Buddhist culture internally due to the Chinese communist occupation and cultural revolution, that Buddhist culture has been maintained and developed in exile and diaspora, and its worldwide spread is a remarkable phenomenon in the history of American and European forms of world Buddhism.
An excellent online course offered by edX: how it works
edX courses consist of weekly learning sequences. Each learning sequence is composed of short videos interspersed with interactive learning exercises, where students can immediately practise the concepts from the videos. The courses often include tutorial videos that are similar to small on-campus discussion groups, an online textbook, and an online discussion forum where students can post and review questions and comments to each other and teaching assistants. Where applicable, online laboratories are incorporated into the course.
edX offers certificates of successful completion and some courses are credit-eligible. Whether or not a college or university offers credit for an online course is within the sole discretion of the school. edX offers a variety of ways to take courses, including verified courses where students have the option to audit the course (no cost) or to work toward an edX Verified Certificate (fees vary by course). edX also offers XSeries Certificates for completion of a bundled set of two to seven verified courses in a single subject (cost varies depending on the courses).
An edX learning programme under Other Experiences
