Am I a Buddhist Because I am Vegetarian? Teaching at the Intersections of Religion and Food
Issue: Vol 46 No. 2 (2017)
Journal: Bulletin for the Study of Religion
Subject Areas: Religious Studies Buddhist Studies Islamic Studies Biblical Studies
DOI: 10.1558/bsor.33093
Abstract:
Food can be a wonderful way to approach the theoretical realm in studying and teaching on the concept of religion. In this article, I share what I find to be a successful approach for teaching social theory via my own research on food and religion. This approach is as much about how the categories of food and religion “intersect,” as it is about comparing how they are socially constructed and how social relations are constantly being constituted in these processes. I provide two short examples of how I go about this task followed by some final remarks on what helps structure my courses in this manner. This is but a brief glimpse into the trajectory I aim for in my teaching methodology- one that helps students see the relevance of social theory in their everyday lives.
Author: Jason W. M. Ellsworth
References :
Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined Communities. London: Verso.
Brown, Dan. 2003. The Da Vinci Code. New York: Doubleday.
Dalai Lama. 1999. Live in a Better Way: Reflections on Truth, Love, and Happiness.
Edited by Renuka Singh. New York: Penguin Compass.
Ellsworth, Jason W. M. 2010. “Transcending Cultural Borders via the Sak
Yant: Angelina Jolie’s Adoptive Buddhism.” Over Dinner: The Laurier
M. A. Journal of Religion and Culture 2: 133–46.
———. 2017. “Is Tom Brady Vegan, Vegetarian, or Just Another
Ominvore?” Culture on the Edge blog. https://edge.ua.edu/chp2/is-tom-brady-vegan-vegetarian-or-just-another-ominvore/.
Howard, Dan, John Calley, Brian Grazer, and Akiva Goldsman. 2006. The Da Vinci
Code. Directed by Dan Howard, Columbia Pictures.
Chaudhuri, Soma. 2013. Witches, Tea Plantations, and Lives of Migrant Laborers
in India: Tempest in a Teapot. Plymouth, UK: Lexington Books.
Martin, Craig. 2012. A Critical Introduction to the Study of Religion. London:
Routledge.
McCutcheon, Russell T. 2001. Critics Not Caretakers. Albany: State University
of New York Press.
———. 2014. Studying Religion: An Introduction. London: Routledge.
Nattier, Jan. 1998. “Who Is a Buddhist? Charting the Landscape of Buddhist
America.” In The Faces of Buddhism in America, edited by Charles S. Prebish
and Kenneth K. Tanaka, 183–95. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Ramey, Steven. 2014. “Changing Symbols and the Swastika.” Culture
on the Edge blog.
https://edge.ua.edu/steven-ramey/who-are-you-im-a-vegetarian/.
Tweed, Thomas. 2002. “Who Is a Buddhist? Night-Stand Buddhists and Other
Creatures.” In Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia, edited by Charles
S. Prebish and Martin Baumann, 17–33. Berkeley: University of California
Press.