Tung Lin Kok Yuen
Tung Lin Kok Yuen 東 蓮 覺 苑 Gift for Buddhist studies
The donation of $4 million from Tung Lin Kok Yuen 東 蓮 覺 苑 (Hong Kong) is a significant contribution to Buddhist Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
The benefits of this generous gift are profound and far reaching. It supports regular opportunities for scholars from around the world to teach on the Scarborough campus through a Visiting Professor and Lecturer Program, it provides ongoing funding for conferences and public lectures by noted Canadian and international scholars, and it offers student scholarships in Buddhist studies.
Initiatives supported by Tung Lin Kok Yuen 東 蓮 覺 苑 emphasize multiple perspectives in the study of Buddhist thought and culture, including linkages among history, literature, philosophy, religion, and the visual and performing arts. Within the context of UTSC's multi-disciplinary Department of Historical & Cultural Studies, the Tung Lin Kok Yuen 東 蓮 覺 苑 Gift greatly enhances our offerings in Global Asia Studies, and it continues to support important ongoing conversations about cultural pluralism and diversity within Canadian society.
Courses 2012 - 2013
GASB33H3 - Buddhism & Society - Buddhism, like other religions, has throughout its history had a close relationship to the societies of which it formed a part. This course looks at this relationship. After a brief introduction to Buddhism, the first few weeks of the course discusses what we know about how and why Buddhism first developed, and examines the ways in which it became part of societies in India and elsewhere in Asia. In the later sections we look at three Buddhist societies in modern times: Tibet, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
GASD03H3 - Buddhism & Science - Buddhism has been described as a scientific and rational tradition, but is it really compatible with modern science? The course begins by looking at the development of the Buddhist understanding of mind, consciousness and the universe. We examine how Buddhism came to be seen as a rational and scientific tradition in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We then look at some major areas of interaction between Buddhism and modern science: brain research and meditative states; Buddhist health and medical traditions; Buddhism and the environment; and Buddhism and the cognitive science of religion.