Research Guides: Buddhist Studies: Teaching Buddhist Studies

Modern Pedagogy

Questions That Promote Deeper Thinking
A very concise and helpful document to asssist teachers incorporate of more deep thinking questions into their syllabi as opposed to 'surface memorization". How to pose open questions, be it for assignments or lectures, that encourage creativity.
Decolonizing Education Certificate
There are several training modules explained here on decolonizing education that one can register for in any order. Prof. Frances Garrett personally highly recommend Wilfrid Laurier as a leader in decolonial education. If one cannot attend in person, it might be possible to attend online or schedule an appointment to discuss how to decolonize one's teaching approaches.
Special Emphasis: Indigenous Education and Decolonization
A concise yet thorough explanation of how to introduce decolonial learning into any course, including those in Buddhist Studies, through informing students about the aboriginal land on which U of T stands.
What does religious literacy mean in your context?
Podcast with several Religious Studies scholars on the topic of Religious Literacy and how this term changes depending on one's classroom and sub-field.
RESOURCES AMIDST COVID19
Katherine Cho webpage with general resources relevant to teaching amidst Covid-19 - "These resources have ranged from tips about how to build community online; to the history of Yellow Peril and the current framing of anti-Asian rhetoric; resources about teaching, and much much more.
Tiny Maneuvers: On Changing Our Instincts as Teachers
A great article on syllabus making, and rethinking teaching in general
Reflective practice exercise
Reflective practice exercise by Kate Norlock
Moving Classes Online Is Hard. Online Discussion Can Help.
An article discussing ways to increase student engagement and collaboration in an online learning environment
Podcast: "Listening to Students"
This episode explores some of the benefits we can get, and improvements we can make, if we essentially talk less and listen more.
Unconventional teaching ideas that work: Mindfulness meditation in the philosophy classroom (by Sara Protasi)
Unconventional teaching ideas that work: Using monastic meditative reflection in the classroom (Jake Wright)

Meditation and Mindfulness

Sitting with the Buddha
Guided meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Trailer of "The Dhamma Brothers" (2008)
A maximum-security prison in Alabama is dramatically changed by the influence of an ancient meditation program. THE DHAMMA BROTHERS tells a tale of human potential as it documents the stories of the prison inmates at Donaldson Correction Facility who enter onto an arduous and intensive path towards emotional freedom.
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This website shows the trailer of "The Dhamma Brothers" (2008) and offers a free discussion guide along with other related resources that complement the documentary and stimulate critical thinking. The full documentary is available on https://alexanderstreet.com/ and it should be possible to access it through any university library.
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (CMind)
The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society supports higher education with resources on contemplative/introspective practices.
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Resources include a bibliography of contemplative education, practices, pedagogies, and approaches in higher education from 2008-2019, a contemplative community building toolkit and guided meditation practices.
English Exercises - Therapy Assistance Online (TAO)
These are guided meditations and mindfulness exercises to help us manage stress and anxiety
Wisdom 2.0
Wisdom 2.0 conference with lots of video talks on mindfulness - lots of different topics
Unconventional teaching ideas that work: Mindfulness meditation in the philosophy classroom
By Sara Protasi
Unconventional teaching ideas that work: Using monastic meditative reflection in the classroom
By Jake Wright
Mind & Life online guided meditations & other contemplative practice resources
Coursera course on Tibetan Buddhist Meditation and the Modern World: Lesser Vehicle
Taught by David Germano
Leiden University Coursera course on De-Mystifying Mindfulness

Experiential learning

The Life of the Buddha
The life of the Buddha represented in a mirador viewer with interactive text and image, based on murals at Puntshokling Monastery in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The viewer includes annotations based on 16th–17th century Tibetan scholar Tāranātha's text "The Sun of Life . . .," the mural inscriptions themselves, notes from a painting manual, and canonical sources. Includes both Tibetan and English annotations. Project directed by Andrew Quintman and Kurtis Schaeffer.
PENSIVE / Soyoung Lee
A narrated slideshow (featured on the Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC page noted above) where curator Soyoung Lee reflects on the meaning of a bodhisattva and the presence of the "Pensive Bodhisattva" (mid-seventh century, Korea) sculpture in the Met galleries.
Sacred Spaces: Tibetan Buddhist Shrines
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art (Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery): Overview on the variety of Tibetan Buddhism’s sacred shrine spaces. The page includes neat sections on (1) shrines in situ and (2) shrines in action with respective sub-categories (e.g. domestic shrines, monastic shrines, cave shrines, etc.) as well as a page with a shrine room tour.
Nekhor
The website complements the book Following in your Footsteps: The Lotus-Born Guru in Nepal (Vo.1) in order to "revitalize and restore the great holy places of Guru Padmasambhava, forefather of Buddhism in Tibet, by providing guidance through online resources, print publications, and on-the-ground expertise.
MoNA - 360º Virtual Exhibitions
Virtual tour of Museum of Nepali Art in Kathmandu
Virtual Tour of Room 33 of the British Museum
Tibetan, Chinese, and South Asian Exhibits
Association for Experiential Education
ArcGIS StoryMaps
ArcGIS Story Maps is a useful tool for students and teachers to interactively develop creative content and have the ability to map their research. This program is useful for students who are interested in mapping and using GIS tools to tell digitial stories of places. No coding is required for GIS. Easy to use interface.
ASEAN Cultural Heritage Digital Archive
The ASEAN Cultural Heritage Digital Archive (ACHDA) celebrates the rich and diverse cultural heritage of ASEAN, and showcases a veritable treasure trove of exemplary artefacts and history.
Visual display of key words
"Nice visual display of key words, that lead to short descriptions of the following terms:
arhat, bodhisattva, buddha, Dalai Lama, the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, gau, lama, mahasiddha, mandala, Padmasambhava, Shakyamuni, stupa, thangka, the Tibetan Buddhist world, Tsongkhapa, vajra, Vajrayana, wrathful deities, yab-yum, yogini"

Dharma lectures

Online Dhamma lectures by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Offers online audio lessons from Buddhist masters covering a range of topics.

Research Guides

Buddhist Studies

Modern Pedagogy

Meditation and Mindfulness

Experiential learning

Dharma lectures

Online lectures

Library links

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