Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute

McMaster University

Introduction:

McMaster University continues to maintain its long tradition of research and teaching about India. As in the past, the major focus of interest is on Indian Religions, and the primary location for these activities is in the Department of Religious Studies. The Department offers relevant courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, and members of the department conduct research on themes related to India. We offer first- and second-year Sanskrit, and in recent years these courses have been taught by Dr. Chris Austin and Dr. Benjamin Fleming, both of whom recently obtained their doctoral degrees in Indian Religions at McMaster (see below for details). Graduate work and undergraduate courses cover Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. Undergraduate courses in Indian religions have proved very popular, and regularly draw high enrolments (e.g., about 150 students for Introduction to Buddhism; 105 for Storytelling in Indian Religions). Courses such as “Life, Work and Teachings of Mahatma Gandhi” and “Theory and Practice of Nonviolence” are perennial favourites with McMaster undergraduates.

Dr. Shayne Clarke teaches a variety of undergraduate courses on Buddhism in India, as well as “Storytelling in Indian Religion,” which focuses on religious themes in Sanskrit drama. His advanced seminar for fourth-year undergraduates is also devoted to Indian Buddhism. Dr. James Benn teaches courses on Buddhism, including Introduction to Buddhism, and a fourth-year seminar on Life Writings in Asian Religions, which included much Indian material. Dr. Mark Rowe, whose main focus is on religion in contemporary Japan, teaches courses that have a significant component dedicated to Indian precedents for Japanese traditions. Dr. Paul Younger, now Emeritus, continues to teach undergraduate courses on Hinduism. For the last few years the department has been most fortunate to have Dr. Anne Pearson as a contractually-limited member of the department. As an expert in Indian Religions (trained at McMaster), much of her undergraduate teaching is in that area. In addition, Tinamarie Jones teaches courses on Indian Religions on a sessional basis.
As can be seen below, PhDs have been awarded in recent years for topics in Indian Religions, and there are several graduate students at the doctoral and Masters’ level who are supervised in this area. The department receives a steady stream of applicants interested in graduate work on Indian religion and philosophy.

Faculty research on South Asia remains strong. Dr. Clarke is revising for publication a book manuscript on Indian Buddhist monasticism, and has presented his research at many international conferences.

The McMaster library system is particularly strong in materials for the study of Indian religion and society, and has been able to purchase many useful items thanks to the generosity of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute.

Among the activities dealing with South Asia on campus, special mention should be made of the periodic conferences and lecture series on Asian religions that are held in the Department of Religious Studies. These have been supported by funds from the University of Toronto/McMaster University Buddhist Studies Program. The topic of this year’s Numata conference, held at McMaster, was “Buddhism’s Occult Technologies.” Last year’s workshop on graduate education in Buddhist Studies in North America included many scholars who work on Indian Buddhism. Regular lectures and reading groups are also sponsored by the Numata Foundation and have included scholars such as Dr. David Drewes (University of Manitoba), Dr. Vesna Wallace (University of California, Santa Barbara), and Dr. Richard Salomon (University of Washington) who work on Indian materials.

The Department of Religious Studies hosted a series of events with Professor Gregory Schopen (University of California, Los Angeles) as the Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor for 2007-2008. Professor Schopen, a world authority on Indian Buddhism, who obtained his MA at McMaster, spoke on “The Life and Times of Buddhist Nuns in Early North India” and “Benedict, the Buddha, and the Gift of Boys to Monasteries and Monks.”

There is also interest in India in other parts of the University. The Centre for Peace Studies runs a highly-regarded annual lecture series entitled, “The Mahatma Gandhi Lectures on Nonviolence,” which brings people of national and international stature to McMaster to give public lectures on nonviolence. In addition, the Centre, in collaboration with numerous community groups, runs a large public event each fall to celebrate Gandhi’s birthday. This event is attended both by the community and by public dignitaries.

Dr. Rama Singh in the Department of Biology also conducts research on India and includes India in his courses. He is involved in the Center for Peace Studies and conducts research on biotechnology and globalization and their impact on the biodiversity in India. One of his courses includes a unit on the origin and evolution of the caste system in India.
[This report was drafted in June 2008]

McMaster University Faculty:

James Benn
Dr. Benn teaches a variety of courses on Buddhism and East Asian Religions. His current research centres on the religious and cultural history of tea in China.

Shayne Clarke
Dr. Clarke teaches courses on Indian Buddhism. His research focus has been on the study of Buddhist monastic law (Vinaya).

Mark Rowe
Dr. Rowe teaches primarily on Japanese religions with graduate teaching that also includes India. His research centers on Buddhism in contemporary Japan.

Paul Younger (Emeritus)
Anne Pearson (Full-time Contractually-limited Appointment 2005–2007; recently renewed for 2007–2009)

Adjunct members:
Jonathan Geen, King’s University College, University of Western Ontario
Kay Koppedrayer, Wilfrid Laurier University

McMaster Theses:
Completed:

• Religious Studies Ph.D. (1995). Blackstone, Kathryn R. “Standing Outside the Gates: A Study of Women’s Ordination in the Pali Vinaya.”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (1995). MacPhail, Richard Donald. “Santi’s Lila: God-Bearing In India.”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (1995). Waldock, Deborah Louise. “Text, Interpretation and Ritual Use of Tamil Śaiva Poems.”
• Religious Studies M.A. (1996). Boughtflower, Tanya “Devotion and Divinity in the Caitanya Caritamrta.”
• Religious Studies M.A. (1997). Cutbush, G. William “Women’s Mourning in the Striparvan of the Mahabharata.”
• Religious Studies M.A. (1998). Mann, Richard “Kingly Speech in the Mahabharata.”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (1998). Ren, Yuan “Manicudacavadana: The Annotated Translation and a Study of the Religious Significance of Two Versions of the Sanskrit Buddhist Story.”
• Religious Studies M.A. (1999). Boa, Krista. “Renunciation in Jain Stories.”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (1999). Laughlin, Jack C. “Aradhakamurti/Adhisthayakamurti: Popular Piety, Politics, and the Medieval Jain Temple Portrait.”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (2002). Geen, Jonathan. “The Marriage of Draupadi in the Hindu and Jaina Mahābhārata.”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (2003). Mann, Richard. “The Early Cult of Skanda in North India: From Demon to Divine Son.”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (2005). Vemsani, Lavanya. “Balarama: Change and Continuity in an Early Hindu Cult.”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (2005). Furda, Danya. “Karma and Grace in the Legend of Angulimala”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (2005) Dold, Patricia. “The Religious Vision of the Sakta Mahabhagata Parana”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (2007) Fleming, Benjamin. “The Cult of the Jyotirliṅgas and the History of Śaivite Worship.”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (2007) Turci, Ruebens. “Śraddha in the Bhagavad Gita.”
• Religious Studies Ph.D. (2008) Austin, Christopher. “Vedic Myth and Ritual in the Mahabharata: a Critical Study of the Mahaprasthanika and Svargarohana Parvans.”

In Progress:

• Religious Studies Ph.D. Spina, Nanette [Indian Religions in Toronto]
• Religious Studies M.A. Rego, Aurelius [Indian Buddhism]

McMaster University Courses:

Undergraduate

Religious Studies 1B06: World Religions
Codes: U/Y/50%
A comparative study of religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism with special reference to selected texts, traditions and thought.

Religious Studies 2BB3: Images of the Divine Feminine
Codes: U/T/35%
An examination of goddesses and female religious symbols in a variety of cultures: tribal, eastern, and western.

Religious Studies 2H03: Theory and Practice of Non-Violence
Codes: U/T/35%
An introduction to the history, theory, and practice of non-violence, with attention to the relations between religious representatives of the tradition such as Tolstoy, Gandhi, and King and secular or political figures such as Gene Sharp and James Scott.

Religious Studies 2I03: Storytelling in Indian Religions
Codes: U/T/100%
A survey of some of the many stories that were told by Buddhists, Jains and Hindus as a form of popular religious instruction and of the various uses made of humour and wit in religious teaching.

Religious Studies 2K03: Introduction to Buddhism
Codes: U/T/90%
A survey of the developments of the essential concepts, practices, and institutions of the Buddhist religion, emphasizing its role in the history and culture of Asian societies.

Religious Studies 2L03: Life, Work, and Teachings of Mahatma Gandhi
Codes: U/T/100%
A study of the central religious and ethical ideas of Gandhi in the context of his life; in particular: his doctrines of Non-violent Struggle and Truth-act; his place in contemporary consciousness, particularly in the struggle for human harmony and preservation of the earth and its living species; and his revolutionary view of truth itself as God.

Religious Studies 2W03: Religion and Ecology
Codes: U/T/25%
Attitudes toward nature or the environment in Native, Asian, and Western Religious Traditions; the underlying assumptions of our contemporary view of the natural world.

Religious Studies 2WW3: Health, Healing, and Religion
Codes: U/T/25%
An examination of the different ways in which religion and health are related. Ideas of sickness and techniques of healing will be studied in a variety of traditional and modern religious contexts.

Religious Studies 3AA3: Popular Religion in the Indian Tradition
Codes: U/T/100%
The music, dance, and festivals of Indian temples will be analyzed in terms of their social, psychological, and political implications.

Religious Studies 3C03: Islam and the Modern World
Codes: U/T/25%
The spread of Islam, Islam as a minority community, the role of women in Islam, and fundamentalism.

Religious Studies 3FF3: Gender & Religion
Codes: U/T/25%
A study of the status and roles of women and men in several religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

Religious Studies 3L03 / Arts and Science 3L03: The Indian Religious Tradition
Codes: U/T/100%
Readings of Indian religious texts in translation will centre around themes such as the nature of human nature; free will and determinism; personal identity and the quest for perfection; renunciation and social action; violence and non-violence; altruism and selfishness.

*Religious Studies 3U03: The Buddhist Tradition in India *
Codes: U/T/100%
A study of the origins and early development of Indian Buddhism, largely through readings in Buddhist scripture (pre-Mahayana and Mahayana) in translation.

Religious Studies 4H03: Topics in Asian Religions
Codes: U/T/up to 100%
Advanced seminar in Asian religions.

Sanskrit 3A06: Introduction to Sanskrit Grammar
Codes: U/Y/100%
Basic course in the elements of Sanskrit grammar. No previous knowledge of Sanskrit is required.

Sanskrit 4B06: Readings in Sanskrit Texts
Codes: U/Y/100%
Intermediate course with readings in selected texts.

Anthropology 1A03: Introduction to Anthropology: Culture and Society
Codes: U/T/
A general introduction to the study of human culture and society in all of its aspects. Examples and illustrations will be drawn largely from non-western societies.

Anthropology 2G03: Readings in Mythology
Codes: U/T/
This course will acquaint students with the myths of Ancient Greece, Ancient India, the Kelts, and the Norse. Other traditions may be examined.

Anthropology 4Y03: Developing Societies
Codes: U/T/
Topics may include, for example, the meaning of development, innovation and technological change, urbanization, and protest movements.

English 3R06 / Comparative Literature 3R06: Postcolonial Literature: Theory and Practice
Codes: U/Y/
A study of postcolonial literary theory and practice. Texts written in English from a variety of formerly colonized regions will be studies; these may include Africa, the Carribean, South and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The focus will be on such topics as imperialism, race, gender, ethnicity, nation, language, and representation.

History 3A03: Imperial Islam: The Ottomans
Codes: U/T/35%
A survey of the political, economic, and social history of the Ottoman Empire, with an emphasis on its influence on the cultures of both Asia and Europe.

English/SCST 4W13: Women and the Nation in Indian Popular Cinema
Codes: U/T/100%
An examination of Indian popular cinema (Bollywood) and its construction of the nation through representations of women. Themes may include: partition, religion, sexuality, minority, caste, diaspora.

Political Science 2N03: Politics of India and South Asia
Codes: U/T/100%
An examination of the political systems of South Asia with emphasis on the government, politics and administration of India and other selected countries in the region, such as Pakistan.

Political Science 2XX3: Politics of the Third World
Codes: U/T/
An examination of major theoretical approaches to the study of development and underdevelopment, such as modernization, politics of order, dependency, and modes of production.

Graduate courses

Religious Studies 6X6: Introductory Sanskrit
Codes: G/Y/100%

Religious Studies 701: Issues in the Study of Religions
Codes: G/T/varies

Religious Studies 705: Special Readings in Asian Religions
Codes: G/T/up to 100%

Religious Studies 706: Topics in Sanskrit Texts
Codes: G/T/100%

Religious Studies 707: Tools and Methods for the Study of Asian Religions
Codes: G/T/up to 100%

Religious Studies 708: Topics in Asian Religions
Codes: G/T/up to100%

Religious Studies 709: Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Asian Religions
Codes: G/T/varies

Religious Studies 711: Topics in Buddhist Thought and History
Codes: G/T/up to 100%

Religious Studies 714: Topics in Indian Buddhist Texts
Codes: G/T/100%

Religious Studies 715: Readings in Indian Buddhist Texts
Codes: G/T/100%

Religious Studies 718: Topics in Buddhist Studies: Recent Scholarship
Codes: G/T/up to 100%