Center for Multi-cultural Studie

In recent years, Professor 劉宇光 has taken "Sangha Education" and "Le Bouddhisme engagé / Engaged Buddhism" as his academic themes. The former puts Sangha education in a broader context of political and religious relations. In the latter, Professor 劉宇光 discusses his observations and ideas based on his continuous experience as a visiting professor at the International Graduate School of the Thai Sangha University in recent years, as well as interviews and field surveys he made when working with Thai Buddhist intellectuals. Its main purpose is to explore how traditional Asian Buddhist communities encounter, recognize, adapt and respond to challenges under the model of nation-states as the basic form of modern politics. It involves tensions and struggles in multiple directions, such as: Thai Theravada, Yunnan Dai Theravada, Tibetan Gelug Sect, post-war Hong Kong Buddhism, and international Buddhist wrestling between contemporary China and India, and Buddhist society vs. Buddhist community , Colonialism vs. Religious Nationalism, Traditional Clerical Society vs. Modern Secular Society, Separation of State and Church vs. Religious Fundamental Movement, Modern State Power vs. Civil Society, Modern Political Nation vs. Nationality and Religion, National Sovereignty vs. Religious Transnational Network , secularization ebb tide and religious resurgence, etc. Professor 劉宇光 brings impressive courses with his rich knowledge and self-awareness.

Another focus of this course is Buddhist monastic education, which is rarely discussed as a public issue in the Chinese literary circles and Chinese Buddhist intellectual circles. In Professor 劉宇光's knowledge, Sangha education is not a niche issue that is only concerned by the religious circles, but an issue in the public domain such as politics and social life. For Taiwanese students taking courses, although they are in a secularized country, they still have more or less experience in contact with Buddhism in their daily life. In recent years, there has been a lack of deeper understanding among the general public on many important religious issues, such as the initiative on the Basic Law of Religion. This course combs the development of Buddhism in East Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as in-depth case studies, so that students will have a more comprehensive understanding of these issues in the future.