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BTI Consortium | Last Updated August 15, 2025 - 11:00AM
BUDDHIST STUDIES
School
Boston University Graduate Program in Religion
GRS RN612
Buddhism in America
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
The transplantation and transformation of Buddhism in the United States. Time period ranges from the eighteenth century to the present, but the emphasis is on contemporary developments, including the new Asian immigration, Jewish Buddhism, feminization, and engaged Buddhism.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Laura Harrington
TR
2:00PM-3:15PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3056
Spiritual Formation on the Buddhist Path
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
This course focuses on the Buddhist spiritual Path or marga through the lens of spiritual formation theories. Students will be introduced to religious and secular theories of spiritual formation, human development, and moral growth. They will then examine Buddhist literature on the Path from Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana sources for their applicability to contemporary human spiritual development. Students will gain the ability to analyze and compare Buddhist and other models of spiritual formation, articulate important aspects of their own spiritual path, and facilitate the growth of others along their own spiritual path(s). Texts will be read in English translation; no scriptural languages needed. If the course reaches its enrollment cap, the professor will email potential students to notify them to submit a 1-page statement relating their vocational objectives to course description. Admission will be based on vocational alignment with course outcomes, degree program, and year. Enrollment in the class will then be announced no later than the end of the first week. (If the cap is not reached, all students will be admitted automatically.)
Professor
Class Day & Time
Sanford
TR
03:00pm-04:15pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Admission will be based on vocational alignment with course outcomes, degree program, and year. Enrollment in the class will then be announced no later than the end of the first week. (If the cap is not reached, all students will be admitted automatically.)
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3777
Modern Buddhism and Fiction
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
An examination of how fiction is a vehicle for religious imagination and reflection in the modern Buddhist world. The genres of fiction will include both the novel and the short story, with examples drawn widely from across the Buddhist world and beyond. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1741.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hallisey
T
09:00am-11:00am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1741.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 4056
Reading Post-Canonical Pali I
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
This course is a continuation of HDS course offerings in Pali (Elementary Pali and Intermediate Pali) and focuses especially on the reading and interpretation of Theravada Buddhist commentarial texts composed in Pali. Course will include learning how to read Pali texts printed in non-Roman scripts; in the fall term, some texts will be read in Thai script. Prerequisite: Intermediate Pali II or equivalent (with instructor permission)
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hallisey
MW
09:00am-10:15am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Prerequisite: Intermediate Pali II or equivalent
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3053
Compassion and Heart Cultivation: Buddhism and the Clinical Approach
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
In the Buddhist view, compassion involves a response to suffering that is fully engaged while remaining free of judgment and imbued with the wisdom of unconditional caring for self and other. This ideal, however, can pose challenges to those in professional caregiving roles who strive to balance giving compassion, sustainability in the midst of suffering, and applying these to one�s own spiritual growth. In this course, we will explore the Buddhist view of compassion and will draw on traditional texts, contemplative approaches, and applied contemporary methods in counseling, social engagement and clinical practice based in compassion theory to consider skillful means in compassionate care. Consideration will also be given to the process of relational compassion (�intersubjectivity�) in direct clinical care, as well as its place in Buddhist ethics, as well as scientific research into brain physiology, neuroplasticity, and the effects of compassion-based meditation. Finally, we will consider notions of compassion fatigue, self-compassion, compassion aversion, and various approaches to compassion training. The seminar will consist of readings, lectures, meditation practices, counseling practice with peers, and case studies.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Berlin
R
03:00pm-05:30pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
This is a limited enrollment course and requires instructor permission. Interested students can email the instructor prior to the first class meeting, to assess their interest and be placed on a preliminary class list. In the event that the course is over-enrolled, prospective students will be asked to write a paragraph during the first class meeting to indicate their degree program, school, year, and rationale for taking the class. Selected students will then be invited to enroll in the course via email by the end of that first day.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3244
The Lotus Sutra: Engaging a Buddhist Scripture
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
A critical introduction to the literature and religious thought of the Lotus Sutra, considered in the light of the historical contexts of its formation and the contexts of its reception across Buddhist Asia, including commentarial, devotional, and artistic contexts.�Close attention will be given to both ecumenical and sectarian engagements with the Lotus Sutra. This course is part of a series of five courses on the critical interpretation of Buddhist scriptures; unlike the others, the foci of which are defined by key interpretive issues in the study of Buddhist scriptures generally, this course focuses on the range of interpretive demands made by a single Buddhist scripture, albeit a very important one.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hallisey
R
09:00am-11:00am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3830
Buddhism, In Theory and Practice
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
This class aims to give students the resources to understand and appreciate major themes and insights in the history of Buddhist thought, practice, and historical communities, and their visions of human flourishing. We will read classic Buddhist writings as well as later literary works from South, Central and East Asia on the nature of meditation, discipline, and creativity. Key themes are the moral relationship between self and other, the education of the emotions, and the (im)possibility of perfection. We will study how these themes shifted as Buddhism spread through Asia, and recently to the rest of the world, as received by 19th century Transcendentalists, Beat poets, and socially engaged Buddhism. Throughout we will consider the relevance of this material to our own views of the world and how we should lead our lives. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1714.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Gyatso
TR
01:30pm-02:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1714.
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