Contemporary Buddhism
The summer school has been cancelled due to the global Covid-19 emergency.
About the summer school
The days of the summer school will be broken into blocks of time with a variety of teaching formats and activities. There will be formal lectures and group discussions led by leading scholars of Contemporary Buddhism who engage in research in different parts of the world.
Students will be introduced to key concepts and seminal work within the field of Contemporary Buddhist Studies. There will also be blocks for discussion, group work, writing assignments, learning fieldwork methods and ethnography, and field visits where students will gain a firsthand experience of how contemporary Buddhism manifests in new places such as Denmark.
The summer school seeks to cultivate knowledge and understanding of:
- Recent research within the fields of Contemporary Buddhist Studies
- Theoretical and conceptual approaches for analysing Buddhism in the contemporary world
As well as skills in:
- Finding and structuring knowledge about a particular research topic and issue
- Critical reading and analysis of academic texts and popular media resources related to this topic
- Discussing and problematizing the topic through analyzing how this topic is written about in primary and secondary literature
- Writing an academic assignment, including citing sources appropriately
- Critically engaging with Buddhism and the ways in which Buddhism is propounded and practiced in the contemporary world in Asia and beyond
- Conducting an analysis of texts, primary and secondary
- Handling and integrating theory into the written and oral assignment
Undergraduate (BA-level) students who have completed at least one year of bachelor studies and graduate (MA-level) students with an interest in contemporary Buddhism are encouraged to apply. The summer school combines approaches from the Humanities and Social Sciences, but interested students from other disciplines are also welcome to apply.
If students have no previous experience studying Buddhist Studies or Contemporary Buddhist Studies, we highly recommend reading two suggested books before coming to the summer school:
- Harvey, Peter 2013. An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. (521 pages)
- Keown, Damien 2013. Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, Oxford University Press. (158 pages)
The required syllabus readings will be announced upon enrolment.
The course is open to Danish as well as international students. Good English skills are required.
Students must apply by 1 April 2020 by submitting application including relevant documents. Deadline for second round of applications in case of remaining seats is 1 June 2020.
Access the application form: Application form for International Summer Programme - Contemporary Buddhism
Students must include a motivation letter expressing why they would like to take this course, any previous experience with Buddhist Studies, and plans for future studies (maximum one page).
Accepted students will be notified before the end of April.
Further details including procedure, fees and other useful information can be found here: https://humanities.ku.dk/education/summer/
For Danish students: Hvis ansøgningsfristen ligger delvist i ferieperioden kan du - hvis dit Studienævn er på ferie - eftersende forhåndsgodkendelse senere. Du skal stadig ansøge til fristen 1. april, men kan angive, at du eftersender forhåndsgodkendelse fra dit institut i starten af april.
The exam is based on active participation. Active participation, understood as:
- Active class attendance (75% attendance as documented in the attendance records)
- Participation in group work and discussions
- Delivering 3-4 shorter written assignments and delivering one oral presentation on a topic of interest
The summer school is equivalent to 7.5 ECTS (42 contact hours, 40 fieldwork and field trip hours and 124 hours for syllabus self-study, and pre-summer school readings)
Figures are estimates only.
Accommodation:
Monthly rate approximately: DKK 4000-6000. Deposit: one month’s rent.
Miscellaneous:
Living expenses: Approx. DKK 2500 for three weeks
Tuition fee
Unfortunately, the University of Copenhagen does not offer scholarships or tuition fee reductions.
Summer school participants are responsible for finding and funding accommodation during their stay in Copenhagen. Students can use different online portals to search for accommodation, such as:
- UCPH Housing Foundation (acceptance letter from UCPH required)
- Airbnb
- Housing Anywhere
- Hostel World
- Danhostel
For additional information, please refer to: Housing for international summer school students
Questions can be directed to: buddhism@hum.ku.dk
Note: this course is not meant for students interested in learning about Buddhist philosophy and the tenets of Buddhism. In this course, we focus on ‘lived Buddhism’ not on text-based studies of Buddhism.