Buddhist Traditions in India
Buddhist Traditions in India An introduction to the development of Indian Buddhist thought, practice, and institutions. The course will begin with an examination of the life of the Buddha and the formation of the early tradition. It will then explore developments from early Nikaya Buddhism, through the rise of the Mahayana, and culminating in Tantric Buddhism. Attention will be given throughout to parallel evolutions of doctrine, practice, and the path to Nirvana.
Bill Waldron is a wonderful person and a solid teacher. It’s a lecture-based class with tons of neat history/philosophy, and several of Waldron’s Buddhist analogies I think about in my everyday life. Go to his office hours, too! He’s very enjoyable to talk to and has had some interesting life experience. I usually found classes to be somewhat meditative.
Intro to Buddhism is a great class if needed for a distribution requirement. Although many long and confusing readings are assigned each week, they are not necessary to read to do well in the class. The lectures are pretty boring and confusing if you aren't well informed or interested in Buddhism to begin with. The class assignments are only 3 papers, in addition to a percent of your grade dedicated to participation. I found it often hard to participate because of the confusing material.
Intro to Buddhism is a great class if needed for a distribution requirement. Although many long and confusing readings are assigned each week, they are not necessary to read to do well in the class. The lectures are pretty boring and confusing if you aren't well informed or interested in Buddhism to begin with. The class assignments …Read more
William Waldron is a very nice guy. He lectures all classes and discussion are quite straight forward. Content was interesting and he presents it in a tolerable format. Readings are dense but explained well. paper based grading and participation. Recommend this as a chill course
I took this class to fill the distribution requirement, and for an easy class. There are 3 essays throughout the year and readings for each class. The readings are not necessary at all for the essays. I didn't do a single reading all semester and did well on the essays by just looking back at the PowerPoint/videos on canvas. Besides the class being extremely low work and effort, it is extremely boring and very hard to sit through the class. If you are looking for an easy religion class then you should take this one, but be prepared to be bored.
I took this class to fill the distribution requirement, and for an easy class. There are 3 essays throughout the year and readings for each class. The readings are not necessary at all for the essays. I didn't do a single reading all semester and did well on the essays by just looking back at the PowerPoint/videos on canvas. Besides …Read more
Waldron is really nice and knowledgable and I didn't have trouble with the concepts he taught. My only issue was the way he would not take into account South Asian students in the room if there were any uncomfortable comments made. For example, I am Hindu and they compare the two religions a lot in this course, and many times I would hear from other students comments like "oh well Hinduism was super oppressive that's why people moved on to Buddhism", and he wouldn't really counter those arguments which was not always fun.
Waldron is really nice and knowledgable and I didn't have trouble with the concepts he taught. My only issue was the way he would not take into account South Asian students in the room if there were any uncomfortable comments made. For example, I am Hindu and they compare the two religions a lot in this course, and many times I would …Read more