ASIAN 6609 - Heavens, Hells & Purgatories: Buddhist and Christian Notions of the Afterlife

Fall. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Co-meets with ASIAN 3310/RELST 3310.

D. Boucher.

This course will explore a variety of ways people have envisioned and prepared for the afterlife. We will concentrate on how Buddhists and Christians have described supreme states of bliss, have warned their followers of the perils of perdition, and have guided them through states in between. We will seek to understand both the religious doctrines and social practices that support and contest such notions so as to situate these views within their historical contexts. (RL)