By Lauren Renteria | Published 4 hours ago

This fall, the UA Department of East Asian Studies will introduce its new Buddhist studies minor.

Buddhism, one of the most ancient religions, continues to thrive across the globe. With more than 350 million adherents, Buddhism makes up approximately 6 percent of the worlds population, making it the worlds fourth largest religion.

Hoping to further educate Arizona students in the diverse and colorful cultures around the globe, the new Buddhist studies minor will be available for the 2015 fall semester.

The new minor will target students from a wide variety of disciplines to expand knowledge on what East Asian studies professor Jiang Wu describes Buddhism as not just a religion but a cultured tradition.

With the new Buddhist studies minor, students will be able to gain better insight into other cultures and lifestyles that contribute to life around the world.

This new minor will help the students appreciate the different cultures that have been influenced by Buddhism, said Albert Welter, head of the Department of East Asian Studies, and [it will] overall change how they look at the world.

Students can take an assortment of different classes concerning Buddhism. From the introduction to East Asian Buddhism to Zen Buddhism, there is a wide variety of courses to choose from. UA students will also have the option to take classes pertaining to ancient, medieval and modern Japanese religion, as well as those pertaining to other East Asian countries.

While the program will not be available until the fall semester, students said they are excited for what the minor has to offer.

Florence Luna, a UA senior studying business economics and East Asian studies, with a minor in Mandarin, said she will also be adding the Buddhist studies minor to her repertoire. Luna said that with this minor, students can gain further knowledge in other cultures and have the opportunity to discuss topics they would not have been able to explore before.

Original post:
Studying Buddha