Themes in Comparative Religion (482-0-20)

Topic

Beauty and Meaning: Aesthetic Experience in the St

Instructors

Mark Richard McClish

Meeting Info

Crowe 4-130 Rel Studies Sem Rm: Mon 2:00PM - 5:00PM

Overview of class

Beauty and Meaning: Aesthetic Experience in the Study of Religion

What is beauty? What experiences does this concept evoke, and what might be the value of such experiences? What related concepts can be found in different cultures, and how have they understood the value of such experiences? What might exploring all of this disclose about conceptions of the human condition? What, in other words, might an engagement with beauty and related concepts tell us about being human and living a meaningful life?

Although the idea of beauty has long been exiled from art theory and aesthetic theory, it remains a vital concept in daily life that points to commonly-experienced moments of special significance. For a number of artists, thinkers, religious traditions (e.g., Kashmiri Śaivism, Zen Buddhism) and cultures (e.g., Diné; Yoruba), beauty and related concepts have been central to a general understanding of what gives human life meaning and signficance.

This class will explore practices, philosophies, religious traditions and cultures for which the experience of beauty (and closely related concepts) is of particular or greatest importance. What does it mean to put experiences of beauty at (or near) the center of human existence, to consider them to be uniquely and profoundly meaningful? How might this affect our sense of what it means to be human? And how have such dispositions served to connect humans in different times and places to presences, communities, and powers beyond (or within) the everyday?

This course will emphasize collaborative, student-led inquiry, challenging participants to develop their own interpretations and innovate their own approaches to subject.

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for graduate students or permission only.