A History of Meditation
This course focuses on a history of meditation from overlapping perspectives: traditional Buddhist practices, contemporary scientific research, and modern secular adaptations. Through exercises, assignments ,and encounters with primary texts, histories, and archival evidence, students will investigate how Buddhist meditation became secularized and what forms of contemplative practice were performed in Asia and how these practices were transformed and transplanted. Students will be exposed to MBSR (secular meditations), they will complete contemplative self-reflections and also do field work to observe meditative practices in their local settings firsthand. For their final project, students will explore a major type of meditation that relates to a variety of topics and practices—attention, insight, compassion, aesthetics, somatic work, visualization, open awareness, and more.
Professor: Dr. Cape
RLES 4003/6003
Spring 2023 – Classroom: Online, Webex sign in from iCollege
Class Meeting: T/R 5:30-6:45pm
Office Hours: In person Thursdays 12:30pm-3pm
and Online Office Hours R 6:45-7:30 by appointment
Overarching Goals of a Religious Studies Course
- Students will be able to distinguish between public, lived religion and academic approaches, becoming aware of and engaging critically the knowledge of religions that they bring into the classroom.
- Students will apply what they learn to daily public conversations about religion and its influence on societal change through engagement with community partners, scholarly debates, and cultural representations of religious traditions.
- Students will think intersectionally, understanding the embodied nature of religion, the interplay of religion, race, gender, class, and science.
- Students will develop a transferable skill set, including critical reading, strong writing and research skills, that can be used across the curriculum and for personal and professional pursuits. Students will express themselves clearly and persuasively in written and oral communication.
- Students will be able to recognize and critically engage scholarly conversations in Religious Studies.
Themes of this course
The course’s goals are to explore traditions of meditation in India, Tibet, and North America in their cultural contexts, to investigate scientific and humanistic research on meditation’s dynamics, to survey contemporary applications of meditation and experience meditation firsthand in Field Work.
The course blends four distinct components revolving around Buddhist meditation in Tibet with the goal of exploring tradition and modernity, humanities and sciences, theory and practice:
- Traditional Practices: learn the theory and history of original meditative practices in Tibetan Buddhism, and their deep relationships to philosophy, community, and ways of life.
- Modern Research: learn the scientific exploration of these practices and the neurological, biological, and psychological mechanisms of their effects.
- Contemporary Adaptations: learn about how people in an astonishingly varied array of fields are creating new secular adaptations of such practices.
- Contemplation Practice: learn secular contemplative practices in class first-hand within silence and sound, in body and in mind.
- Ethnographic Experience: Students will learn secular meditation in class and go in the field to attend secular or religious meditation classes in their local community, observing how religious traditions area adapted and changed in the local context.
Required Textbooks
There is one required textbook, “Disassociation, Mindfulness, and Creative Meditation,” There are no other required textbooks. Instead, you will read online and iCollege.
Daily Class Preparation
Readings and Review: Every one of the days involves reading the day’s texts and answering some simple questions in a quiz to help you make sure you got the main points, and also help me know you are doing the readings. The success of the peer-to-peer exchanges in class is based upon each student doing the readings. The quiz must thus be completed prior to the beginning of class for that day and will not be accepted late. Every quiz is open-book – but not collaborative, you have to do it by yourself without help. You will have 24 hours to complete each quiz. The first quiz will open Monday at 5:29pm and close Tuesday at 5:29. The second quiz will open Wednesday at 5:29pm and close Tuesday at 5:29pm.
Free Writing
Exercises: Free Writing will usually be based upon secular contemplative exercises that you have to do as homework before class and must be submitted before class in iCollege and which is then processed in the class peer-to-peer exchanges. These exercises can be found in Assignments in iCollege and they are non-religious, “Mindfulness” exercises from MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), or contemplative reflections about the questions you encounter in the reading, such as reflections on your own ability focus and concentrate, what distracts you, what helps you concentrate and so forth.
Free Writing is submitted on iCollege before class. Each should be no more than 2-4 sentences. *Free writing is a short informal piece of writing that you will get points for if you do it. There is no right answer or wrong answer, instead it should simply be a thoughtful, authentic reaction to the prompt (the question provided).
Free Writing is scored in this way:
“0” = not completed or not serious submission;
“1” = partial work or went over four sentences.
“2” = solid work.
Final Project/Paper Guidelines for Honors Students
Honors students will additionally complete a 20 entry bibliography for their work, using Chicago-style bibliography citations. See the Chicago Manual of style. Each entry should be scholarly references related to their subject and at least five of these should be integrated into their paper/presentation/topic.
Grades & Requirements
Undergraduates
Assignments 60% – Daily Exercises 20% – Attendance/Participation 20%
Graduate Students
Daily Exercises 20%
Attendance/Participation 20%
Assignments 60%
*Graduate students will write an 5-10 page paper in lieu of multi-media options
-
- Reading & Lecture quizzes 20 points
- Ethnography & Field Reports Assignment 20 points
- Final Assignment: Choose Paper (2-4 pages), Documentary (15 min), or Podcast (15 min) 20 points.
Grades are based on the following:
Assignments: each of the 3 assignments are 20% apiece, totaling 60% of your grade.
Reading & Lecture quizzes (open book) 20 points
These are open book quizzes. The three lowest quiz grades will be dropped. Quizzes are available for twenty four hours, take as long as you would like to complete them within that twenty-four hour period. Monday 5:29-Tuesday 5:29 and Wednesday 5:29-Thursday 5:29.
Ethnography & Field Reports Assignment 20 points
This will require you to go to take four classes in person at a local meditation center. Then you will give an oral presentation and one page essay that will be your field report. If the classes you attend are online instead of in person the final grade for the field report will have a ten point reduction, because places and interactions with people are vital to ethnography. The one page essay will be double space, 12 point, Times New Roman Font. Your oral report will be eight minutes long. Reports longer than 10 minutes will lose a grade point for each additional minute in order to ensure each student receives the same fair amount of time. If there are issues preventing ethnographic engagement, a second paper reading ethnographies may be submitted instead, discuss this with your instructor in advance.
Final Project: Choose Paper (2-4 pages), Documentary (15 min), or Podcast (15 min) 20 points.
For the final assignment, focus on one type of meditation, or one way that meditation is applied in the contemporary context. Discuss its purpose, history, and contemporary adaptations using scholarly sources. Critically analyze it utilizing sources used in the course. The final project may be delivered as a paper, documentary, or podcast. Guidelines will be provided. Honors students will additionally be required to submit a bibliography of 20 citations related to their topic. It must formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style.
Daily Exercises: 20%. This often includes secular meditation practices, a free writing assignment and in-class dyad work on the basis of that homework. They will be graded based upon fullness of completion with serious content, with points taken off if parts are not done or the content is clearly not serious.
Attendance/Participation/Free Writing: 20%. Receive full attendance credit by attending online from start to finish and having your camera on. Receive full participation credit by participating in class discussions in large groups and small groups. The two lowest attendance/participation grades will be dropped, therefore you can miss two classes without losing point. Absences beyond two classes will result in a loss in points. Consult the extra credit section if you have a significant number of absences. You do not need to contact the instructor to make arrangements prior to your absence.
Grading System
A + 99-100 A 93-98.99 A- 90-92.99
B+ 87-89.99 B 83-86.99 B- 80-82.99
C+ 77-79.99 C 73-76.99 C- 70-72.99
D 60-69.99 F 59.9
Schedule Overview
Module One: Traditional Buddhist Meditation in India & Tibet
Week One Tuesday Jan 9
Introductions
Meet and Greet. First Contemplative Exercise.
Free Writing assignment, experiment with Walking Meditation.
Two Days of Free Writing due before next class, submit on iCollege.
Week One Thursday Jan 11
Introduction to Buddhism & Ordinary Preliminaries.
Two days of Free Writing Walking Meditation due before this class.
Pair and Share on Walking Meditation.
Week Two Tuesday Jan 16
Calm Meditations: Focused Attention in Buddhism
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Rubert Gethin, translation of Turning of the Wheel of Truth sūtra (4 pages).
Reading Online iCollege: Rupert Gethin. The Stilling of Thoughts. 152-155.
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Week Two Thursday Jan 18
Stages of Meditation
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Kamalashila, “Stages of Meditation,” Book One. Luis O. Gomez, translator, “Serenity and Insight,” In Donald S. Lopez, Jr., editor, Buddhist Scriptures. New York: Penguin, 2004. pp. 361-369.
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Week Three Tuesday Jan 23
Insight Meditation
Synchronous Meeting
Guest Lecture: Khenpo Kunchok
Reading Online iCollege: Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, Clarifying the Natural State: A Principal Guidance Manual for Mahamudra. Eric Pema Kunsang, translator. Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2001. Pp. 26-39 (Vipashyana). (Pair & Share, Guest Speaker, Ocean, and then in class we will do deep reading on page 31 and wave on water 33).
Reading Online iCollege: Tsongkhapa, “The Union of Serenity and Insight,” translator Eva Natanya. See PDF Tsongkhapa – The Union of Serenity and Insight.pdf (12 pages)
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Week Three Thursday Jan 25
Emptiness Meditations: Contemplative Deconstruction in Buddhism
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva. Boston & London: Shambhala, 2006. Read the famous 9th chapter – which is on Wisdom (pp. 137-161).
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Week Four Tuesday Jan 30
Compassion Meditations
Synchronous Meeting
Reading We will continue to discuss reading from the last class.
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Week Four Thursday Feb 1
Models of Compassion in Contemporary Psychology
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins. Part Two, Chapter Two, “Arousing bodhicitta, the root of the Great Vehicle”, first part only, pp. 218-234 [PDF: Patrul Rinpoche – Words of My Perfect Teacher Selections.”]
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Review Field Work Rubric.
Week Five Tuesday. Feb 6
Ritual as Meditation, Ngondro Extraordinary Preliminaries Meditations
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Jigme Lingpa, “Instructions on the Unique Great Perfection Preliminaries of the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse.” As translated in Cortland Dahl’s Entrance to the Great Perfection: a Guide to the Dzogchen Preliminary Practices, Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications, pp. 61-80. Jigme Lingpa is an 18th century Tibetan and this is a classical presentation in brief form of the extraordinary (here called “unique”) preliminaries meditations.
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Week Five Thurs Feb 8.
Identity as Meditation, Deity Yoga – Performative Visualization in Buddhism
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Padmasambhava, “Vajrayana Mind Training: The Unexcelled Mind Training of Secret Mantra, Instructions on Practicing a Deity with Attributes,” in Dakini Teachings: A Collection of Padmasambhava’s Advice to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal. Eric Pema Kunsang, translator. Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, pp. 113-134.
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Week Six Tuesday Feb 13 and Thurs. Feb 15
Six Yogas, Perfection Phase Meditations
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Shamarpa Chokyi Wangchuk, “The Quintessence of Nectar: Instructions for the Practice of the Six Dharmas of Naropa,” in Peter Alan Roberts, Translator and Editor, Mahamudra and Related Instructions: Core Teachings of the Kagyu Schools. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2011. pp. 333-372.
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Week Seven
Tuesday. Feb 20
Tummo: Fierce Heat, Six Yogas, Esoteric Meditations Continued
Synchronous Meeting
Watch video: Sheehy, Michael. Tummo Fierce Lady of Yogic Heat. University of Toronto Ho Center for Buddhist Studies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfGj888DN_4
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Module 2 Mindfulness and Meditation in America
Week Seven Thursday. Feb 22
Meditation in America, Mindfulness Meditations
Buddhist Roots of Mindfulness
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Sarah Shaw, “The Establishing Mindfulness Discourse,” and “Chapter 9: The Recollections: The four mindfulnesses.” Buddhist Meditation: An Anthology of Texts from Pāli Sources. London: Routledge, 2006. 76-85 and 135-162.
Week Eight Tuesday Feb 27.
Meditation in America, Mindfulness Meditations
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. New York: Delta, Revised Edition 2013. Pages 1-30
Optional Watch Video Online: Shaeffer, Kurtis. “Tibetan Buddhist History, A Brief history of Meditation in America.” Meaningful Sayings to Live a Dharmic Life, YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT22BUfbKOM
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Week Eight Thursday Feb 29
MBSR: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Jon Kabat-Zinn, “The Body Scan Technique,” Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. New York: Delta, Revised Edition 2013. Pages 75-93
Optional: Reading Online iCollege: Schaeffer, Kurtis. The Story of MBSR (University of Virginia, Unpublished).
Lecture today will also be on “How to Plan Your Final Project.” Review Final Project/Final Paper Rubric in Class.
Free Writing due before class.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
Week Nine Tues March 5
Secularization of Buddhist Meditation
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online iCollege: David McMahan, “Chapter 2” and “Chapter 7,” The Making of Buddhist Modernism. Oxford University Press, 2008. (Find this under “week eight” in content in iCollege).
Free Writing due before class: gratitude practice.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
**Class Lecture, “Principles of Ethnography”
Week Nine Thurs March 7
Secularization of Buddhist Meditation
Complete Field Work: Meditation in the field class one. No class meeting that is synchronous. Instead, watch the asynchronous video below.
A-Synchronous Meeting
Reading Textbook: Purser, Ronald E. “Chapter One What Mindfulness Revolution?,” and “Chapter Four Privatizing Mindfulness,” and Chapter Five “Colonizing Mindfulness,” and “Chapter Nine Mindful Merchants.” McMindfulness, How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality.” (London: Repeater Books, 2019).
No Free Writing due before class, use this time to work on ethnography instead.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class.
————————–Spring Break March 12 and 14—————————————-
Module Three: The Attention Economy
Ethnographic Research Is Completed During the Month of March
Your ethnographic field work consists of witnessing meditation as it is taught in secular or religious environments in your local setting, visiting sites of meditation, critically examining how these practices relate to source texts, adaptations, and innovations you encountered in your readings. See “Principles of Ethnography,” handout and lecture for details.
Week Ten Tues March 19
The Attention Economy
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Textbook: Williams, James. “The Age of Attention,” and the other chapter up to page 40 Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy. 12-40
Complete Field Work: Meditation class in the field
No Free Writing, Work on Ethnography instead.
Reading & Lecture quiz due before class.
Week Ten Thurs March 21st
The Attention Economy
A-Synchronous Meeting
Complete Field Work: Meditation in the field class two. No class meeting that is synchronous. Instead, watch the asynchronous video below and use this time for the first of your four field work visits.
Watch Asynchronous lecture on icollege plus this video: Watch first twenty-two minutes of this asynchronous Guest Lecture: Germano, David. Contemplation in Contexts: Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Across the Boundaries of the Humanities and Sciences. Mind and Life Institute, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEciEIaAUMM
No Free Writing, Work on Ethnography instead.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class time.
Optional Reading Online: Bhargava VR, Velasquez M. Ethics of the Attention Economy: The Problem of Social Media Addiction. Business Ethics Quarterly. 2021;31(3):321-359. doi:10.1017/beq.2020.32
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-ethics-quarterly/article/ethics-of-the-attention-economy-the-problem-of-social-mediaaddiction/1CC67609A12E9A912BB8A291FDFFE799
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class time.
Module Four Meditation, Science & Psychology
Week Eleven Tuesday Mar 26
Meditation and Attention Span
Asynchronous Meeting
Complete Field Work: Meditation in the field class three.
Watch Asynchronous Lecture and Online Video on Stolen Focus: “Stolen Focus Summary (Animated) — Why Your Attention Span Sucks & How To Regain Your Concentration” Four Minute Books. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iamHnp_awA
Other than that video there is **no new reading** Continuing to discuss last week’s reading.
No Free Writing, Use this time to work on Ethnography instead.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class time.
Week Eleven Thursday Mar 28
Meditation and Attention Span
Synchronous Meeting
Reading Online: Basso, Julia C., Alexandra McHale, Victoria Ende, Douglas J. Oberlin, and Wendy A. Suzuki. “Brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators.” Behavioural brain research 356 (2019): 208-220. Find it here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016643281830322X
No Free Writing, Work on Ethnography instead.
Reading & Lecture quiz due before class.
———————Field Reports Begin in April—————-
Week Twelve Tuesday April 2
Buddhism and Psychology, Mental Imagery
Synchronous Meeting.
Field Reports
Reading Online iCollege: Ricard, Mattheiu “Buddhist Perspectives on Mental Imagery,” Anne Harrington and Arthur Zajonc, Editors, The Dalai Lama at MIT. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006: pp. 69-78.
Complete Reading & Lecture Quiz before class time.
Week Twelve Thursday April 4
Models of Compassion in Contemporary Psychology
Synchronous Meeting
Listen to Field Reports: Demonstrate active listening by naming three key points in the student’s lecture
Reading Online: Jennifer L. Goetz, Dacher Keltner, and Emiliana Simon-Thomas, “Compassion: An Evolutionary Analysis and Empirical Review.” Psychological Bulletin 136/3 (2010), pp. 351-374.
Free Writing due before class: updated Final Project proposal and time-line for completion.
Reading & Lecture quiz due before class.
Week Thirteen Tuesday April 9
Psychology & Trauma Informed Meditation
Synchronous Meeting
Listen to Field Reports: Demonstrate active listening by naming three key points in the student’s lecture
Reading Textbook: Forner, Christine C. Dissociation, mindfulness, and creative meditations: Trauma-informed practices to facilitate growth. Taylor & Francis, 2017. Read Preface – 43.
Pair and Share: discuss your final project proposal, plan, and timeline.
Reading & Lecture quiz due before class.
Week Thirteen Thursday April 11
Psychology, Trauma & Mindfulness
Synchronous Meeting
Listen to Field Reports: Demonstrate active listening by naming three key points in the student’s lecture
Reading Textbook: Reading Textbook: Forner, Christine C. Dissociation, Mindfulness, and Creative Meditations: Trauma-informed Practices to Facilitate Growth. Taylor & Francis, 2017. 65-84
Reading & Lecture quiz due before class.
Week Fourteen Tuesday April 16
Psychology, Trauma & Creative Visualizations
Synchronous meeting
Field Reports
Reading Textbook: Reading Textbook: Forner, Christine C. Dissociation, mindfulness, and creative meditations: Trauma-informed practices to facilitate growth. Taylor & Francis, 2017. 107-155
Reading & Lecture quiz due before class.
Week Fourteen Thursday April 18
Zen and the Art of Basketball
Asynchronous meeting.
Videos of Chicago Bulls Coach
Phil Jackson discussing integration of Mindfulness and Sports.
The Chicago Bulls during the 1990s, under the guidance of coach Phil Jackson, famously incorporated meditation into their routine. Phil Jackson, known for his interest in Eastern philosophy and Zen meditation practices, introduced these techniques to help his players focus, reduce stress, and improve their performance on the court. His approach was considered innovative at the time and contributed to the team’s mental and physical preparation, helping the Bulls to win six NBA championships during the 1990s. Jackson’s success with the Bulls and later with the Los Angeles Lakers has often been attributed in part to his holistic approach to coaching, which included meditation practices.
Watch Online Video 1: How NBA Coach Phil Jackson Taught His Teams Mindfulness | SuperSoul Sunday |Oprah Winfrey Network https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqz7R-QalqY
Watch Online Video 2: Zen Principles Phil Jackson Used to Coach Dennis Rodman | SuperSoul Sunday Oprah Winfrey Network https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKAEH_L-v98
Watch Online Video 3: Phil Jackson on integrating mindfulness practice with the Chicago Bulls team
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ9eGjgJagI
Watch Online Video 4: Phil Jackson Mindfulness Training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcVFB5Softc
No Weekly Quiz this week, use this time for your papers.
Reading Online iCollege: Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper Perennial, 1990: chapters 1, 4, 9.
Week Fifteen Tuesday April 23
The Neuroscience of Meditation Last Day of Class
Synchronous meeting
Reading Online iCollege: Antoine Lutz, John D. Dunne, and Richard J. Davidson, “Meditation and the Neuroscience of Consciousness: An Introduction,” in Philip David Zelazo, Morris Moscovitch, Evan Thompson, Editors, The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness. Cambridge University Press, 2007: Read only, but carefully, pages 499-521 (this is the first part of the article only).
Field Reports in class day four
Final Projects due on the last day of class.
Extra Credit: Additional Optional Readings
Do an extra reading and give a one page paper for 1 extra credit point. Maximum 3 extra credit points. No A+ will be awarded through extra credit, A+ has to be earned naturally without extra credit points. These are also useful sources for your paper. Remember to incorporate sources from the syllabus in your paper including these readings.
(See more readings folder in iCollege for additional resources)
Optional Reading Online iCollege: Valentine, Elizabeth R., and Philip LG Sweet. “Meditation and attention: A comparison of the effects of concentrative and mindfulness meditation on sustained attention.” Mental health, religion & culture 2, no. 1 (1999): 59-70.
Optional Reading Online: Tang, Yi‐Yuan, Michael I. Posner, and Mary K. Rothbart. “Meditation improves self‐regulation over the life span.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1307, no. 1 (2014): 104-111. Find it here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4176767/
Optional Reading Online: Zeidan, Fadel, Susan K. Johnson, Bruce J. Diamond, Zhanna David, and Paula Goolkasian. “Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training.” Consciousness and cognition 19, no. 2 (2010): 597-605. Find it here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810010000681
Optional Reading Online: Stephen M. Kosslyn, Daniel Resiberg, Marlene Behrmann, “Introspection and Mechanism in Mental Imagery, ” Anne Harrington and Arthur Zajonc, Editors, The Dalai Lama at MIT. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006: pp. 79-90.
Optional Reading Online: “Dialogue: Imagery and Visualization,” Anne Harrington and Arthur Zajonc, Editors, The Dalai Lama at MIT. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006: pp. 91-114.
Optional Reading Online: Zhu, Jenney, Christine Wekerle, Ruth Lanius, and Paul Frewen. “Trauma-and stressor-related history and symptoms predict distress experienced during a brief mindfulness meditation sitting: moving toward trauma-informed care in mindfulness-based therapy.” Mindfulness 10 (2019): 1985-1996. Find it here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-019-01173-z
Optional Reading Online iCollege: Emptiness by Geshe Tashi Tsering. The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, volume 5. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2009. Read the following pages: Chapter 6: Establishing Emptiness (pp. 91-108)
Optional Reading Online iCollege: Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, Clarifying the Natural State: A Principal Guidance Manual for Mahamudra. Eric Pema Kunsang, translator. Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2001. pp. 9-26 (Shamatha). This is a sixteenth century Tibetan work by a Kagyü author who presents calm and insight meditations as a prelude to the post-tantric Great Seal meditations.
Optional Reading Online: Shauna Shapiro, Kirk Warren Brown, John Astin, “Toward the Integration of Meditation into Higher Education: A Review of Research Evidence”. Teachers College Record 113/3 (2011): pp. 493-528.
Optional Reading Online: Hutcherson, Cendri A., Emma M. Seppala, and James J. Gross. “Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness.” Emotion 8, no. 5 (2008): 720. Find it here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23302107_Loving-Kindness_Meditation_Increases_Social_Connectedness
Optional Reading Online: Zeng, Xianglong, Cleo PK Chiu, Rong Wang, Tian PS Oei, and Freedom YK Leung. “The effect of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions: a meta-analytic review.” Frontiers in psychology 6 (2015): 1693.
Final Project/Paper Grading Rubric
Department of Religious Studies
General Syllabus Statement Spring 2024
Welcome to Religious Studies at Georgia State University! GSU is home to a fantastically diverse student body, and our classrooms are spaces for respectful teaching and learning. As a student taking a class in Religious Studies, you are responsible for reading and understanding department, college, and university policies. Students in our classes are held to in the Student Code of Conduct and other policies discussed in the Student Handbook. If you have questions about the policies below or policies included in the Student Code of Conduct or Student Handbook, please ask your instructor.
Respect & Civility
Faculty and students in Religious Studies courses commit to supporting diversity and inclusion. We strive to construct a safe and inclusive environment by respecting each other’s dignity and privacy. We honor each class member’s experiences, beliefs, perspectives, and backgrounds, regardless of race, religion, language, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identification, ability status, socio-economic status, national identity, or any other identity markers.
- Faculty in the Department of Religious Studies are committed to fostering belonging in our classrooms and programs. Instructors in Religious Studies are continually engaged in learning about and implementing welcoming and inclusive pedagogies; we are sharing and developing related resources and support for students; we are including voices and media from many perspectives in our classes; and we are engaged in mentoring initiatives anchored in belonging. In particular, we actively work to identify and interrupt microaggressions in our classroom exchanges. (See handout on microaggressions.)
- Please use the names and pronouns preferred by students and faculty. Students who wish to use a name or pronoun other than what is available on the class roll may introduce themselves to the class using it, or they may contact the instructor via email.
- In instances of sexual misconduct, instructor(s) and teaching assistants are designated as Responsible Employees and are required to share with administrative officials all reports of sexual misconduct for university review. If you wish to disclose an incident of sexual misconduct confidentially, there are options on campus for you do so. For more information on this policy, please refer to the Sexual Misconduct Policy which is included in the Georgia State University Student Code of Conduct (https://codeofconduct.gsu.edu/).
- Students who wish to request an accommodation for a disability must do so by registering with the Access and Accommodations Center (AACE) located in Student Center East, Suite 205. Students may only be accommodated upon issuance of a signed Student Accommodation Letter through the AACE. The signed Student Accommodation Letter may be submitted electronically to the course instructor or hand delivered by the student to all classes in which the student is seeking accommodations.
Academic Honesty & Netiquette
- While the penalty for academic dishonesty is a matter of the instructor’s discretion in the Department of Religious Studies, the customary penalty for a violation of the academic dishonesty rules is an “F” in the course. See the University Policy on Academic Honesty on the reverse of this sheet.
- The selling, sharing, publishing, presenting, or distributing of instructor-prepared course lecture notes, videos, audio recordings, or any other instructor-produced materials from any course for any commercial purpose is strictly prohibited unless explicit written permission is granted in advance by the course instructor. This includes posting any materials on websites. Unauthorized sale or commercial distribution of such material is a violation of the instructor’s intellectual property and the privacy rights of students attending the class and is prohibited.
- In keeping with USG and university policy, instructors will make every effort to maintain the privacy and accuracy of your personal information. Specifically, unless otherwise noted, your instructor will not actively share personal information gathered from the course with anyone except university employees whose responsibilities require access to said records. This course may use websites and technologies such as iCollege. As such, some information collected from iCollege, websites, or other technologies may be subject to the Georgia Open Records Act. This means that while your instructor does not actively share information, in some cases your instructor or university officials may be compelled by law to release information gathered from the site. Also, the course will be managed in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which prohibits the release of education records without student permission.
Deadlines & Withdrawal
- Students are responsible for confirming that they are attending the course section for which they are registered. Failure to do so may result in a WF or F for the course.
- The midpoint is Tuesday, February 27th. The withdrawal period begins Tuesday, January 16th and ends Tuesday, February 27th. Please view the calendar for other dates and information.
- Students who are involuntarily withdrawn may petition the department chair for reinstatement into their classes.
- A student may be awarded a grade of “W” no more than 6 times in their career at Georgia State. After 6 W’s, a withdrawal is recorded as a WF on the student’s record. A WF counts as an F in a GPA.
- By University policy and to respect the confidentiality of all students, final grades may not be posted or given out over the phone. To see your grades, check the web (student.gosolar.gsu.edu).
- Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at Georgia State University. Upon completing the course, please take the time to fill out the online course evaluation.
Finally, please keep in mind that your instructor’s syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be necessary.
Credits;
Elements of the first third of this syllabus were inspired by and adapted by:
Schaeffer, Kurtis and Germano, David. Buddhist Meditation in the Modern World for J-Term 2020. Charlottesville, University of Virginia: 2020.