RELG 445. Modern Buddhism.

Examination of how Buddhist doctrines, practices, and texts are (re)interpreted in the process of rapid modernization and globalization, and how Buddhism plays a role in shaping societies, economics, and politics.The intellectual trends and ideologies that have shaped the representation of Buddhism as a philosophical, rational, and scientific world religion. How Buddhist ethics and doctrines are transformed in facing the challenges of modernity, including the Buddhist response to environmentalism, gender and sexuality, race, social activism, and war and peace.