NEH Enduring Questions Course on Self-Discipline and Asceticism

FAIN: AQ-228744-15

Lewis and Clark College (Portland, OR 97219-8091)
Jessica Starling (Project Director: September 2014 to June 2019)

The development and teaching of a new undergraduate course on asceticism.

What good is self-discipline? This introductory-level religious studies course on asceticism asks what is at stake in disciplining the self, focusing on the tenuous line between virtuous acts of self-discipline and forms of self-denial that cross over into self-violence. The course explores both private and public meanings of ascetic acts, surveying a variety of explanations of the goal of ascetic practice, including the liberation of the spirit from the flesh, attaining a mystical union with the divine, or the transformation of society. Drawing from multiple disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, students examine phenomena such as fasting and eating disorders from a variety of perspectives. Readings include short stories, memoirs, popular news articles, ethnographies, and the writings of Greek philosophers, Jain saints, Buddhist sages, and Christian mystics. The class will visit a Trappist monastery, during which students will conduct ethnographic fieldwork.