Oriental languages and civilizations

The course provides transversal principles and fundamental notions necessary for the knowledge of the Religions and Philosophies of East Asia with reference to Buddhism and the major autochthonous traditions, namely, Taoism, Korean Shamanism, and Shinto (Dublin Descriptor 1). The above-mentioned knowledge is aimed at the development of the management skills of users vis-à-vis the understanding of the emic and ethical components of the subject-matter as related to the socio-anthropological aspects characterizing the oriental cultures studied (DD2). The activities capable of developing critical and judgmental skills will consist of critical-analytical audio-vision of multimedia material, and meetings with experts and scholarly conferences focused on specific topics (DD3). The activities aimed at the ability to communicate and transmit the acquired knowledge will be characterized by hermeneutical exercises on the basis of the teaching and reference material provided and the tutoring of the teacher (DD4). The teaching strategies related to the course involve the transmission of methodological techniques fostering an optimized organization vis-à-vis the learning activities at stake, inspired by maieutic and heuristic principles which are in turn supported by pertinent teaching and reference material, proposed to facilitate independent perusal as well as future individual in-depth analysis of the treated subject-themes (DD5). At the end of the course the students must be able to demonstrate: a) a general knowledge of the diachronic structures of the main themes; b) specific knowledge of at least one thematic area; c) critical knowledge of the relationship between present and past; d) ability to think in scientific terms, pose problems, and propose hypotheses.