Joy Brennan has been studying Buddhist thought ever since meeting a Buddhist teacher as a teen. As an undergraduate philosophy major, she spent a year in China learning Chinese and reading Chinese religious and philosophical texts. Her time there — and another year in China as well as a stay at a Taiwanese monastery — set her on the path that has landed her here: still learning from Chinese Buddhist texts and teaching Buddhism and East Asian religions here at Kenyon since 2014.
Brennan devotes her time to sorting out the meaning of Chinese Buddhist texts and the Sanskrit texts that gave shape to some of the ideas found in them. Her particular interest is the Yogacara or mind-only school of Buddhist thought, which beat Sigmund Freud to a sophisticated theory of the unconscious by almost 2,000 years. She also studies Chinese religiosity independently of Buddhism as well as the landscape of Buddhist ideas and practices in the contemporary U.S, particularly the developing relationship between…
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Joy Brennan has been studying Buddhist thought ever since meeting a Buddhist teacher as a teen. As an undergraduate philosophy major, she spent a year in China learning Chinese and reading Chinese religious and philosophical texts. Her time there — and another year in China as well as a stay at a Taiwanese monastery — set her on the path that has landed her here: still learning from Chinese Buddhist texts and teaching Buddhism and East Asian religions here at Kenyon since 2014.
Brennan devotes her time to sorting out the meaning of Chinese Buddhist texts and the Sanskrit texts that gave shape to some of the ideas found in them. Her particular interest is the Yogacara or mind-only school of Buddhist thought, which beat Sigmund Freud to a sophisticated theory of the unconscious by almost 2,000 years. She also studies Chinese religiosity independently of Buddhism as well as the landscape of Buddhist ideas and practices in the contemporary U.S, particularly the developing relationship between psychological and psychoanalytic frameworks and concepts and practices drawn from Buddhist traditions.
As a teacher of religious studies, she thinks students do best to toggle back and forth between taking an insider’s and an outsider’s perspective, between empathetically imagining their way into the lives and minds of an adherent to a given tradition and holding the tradition at arm’s length to ask questions an insider might not ask. As a great believer that it’s more fruitful to live with questions than with answers, she hopes students leave her classes with more and better questions than they came in with.
For information on her CV and publications, visit: https://works.bepress.com/joy-brennan/
Areas of Expertise
Buddhism, East Asian religions.
Education
2015 — Doctor of Philosophy from University of Chicago
2007 — Master of Arts from Indiana University
2002 — Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University, summa cum laude
Courses Recently Taught
PHIL 493
Individual Study
PHIL 493
Individual studies are offered to those students who are highly motivated in a specific area of inquiry and who are judged responsible and capable enough to work independently. Such courses might be research oriented, but more usually are readings-oriented, allowing students to delve in greater depth into topics that interest them or which overlap or supplement other courses of the philosophy department. Students must seek permission of the instructor and department chair before enrolling. They are urged to do this in the semester prior to the one in which they hope to be enrolled. Individual study is at the discretion of the instructor, and schedules may limit such an addition. An individual study cannot duplicate a course or area being concurrently offered. Exceptions to this rule are at the discretion of the instructor and chair. Individual study is usually considered an advanced course. Required work should be viewed as on a par with a seminar or a 300- or 400-level course. The instructor and student(s) should establish and agree upon the extent and nature of the work expected. The work may take one of the following forms: several short papers, one long paper, one in-depth project, a lengthy general outline and annotated bibliography, public presentation(s), etc. An individual study can apply to the major or to the minor with permission of the department. Individual studies may be taken for either 0.25 or 0.50 credits. This decision must be agreed upon with the instructor. The student(s) and instructor will meet on a regular basis. The frequency of contact hours is to be determined by the instructor in consultation with the student. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study preferably the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval before the established deadline.\n
RLST 101
Encountering Religion in Its Global Context: An Introduction
RLST 101
This course includes brief introductions to four or five major religious traditions, while exploring concepts and categories used in the study of religion, such as sacredness, myth, ritual, religious experience and social dimensions of religion. Traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism and Native American traditions are presented through their classic scriptures and traditional practices. Readings vary among sections but typically include important primary sources on Hindu thought and practice (e.g., the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-gita), Buddhist thought and practice ("The Questions of King Milinda," "The Heart Sutra"), Jewish life and thought (selections from the Hebrew Bible, "The Sayings of the Fathers"), Christian origins (one or more Gospels, selected Pauline letters), Islam (selections from the Qur'an and Sufi mystical poetry), Confucianism (the Analects), Taoism (the Tao Te Ching) and modern expressions of religion (e.g., Martin Buber's "I and Thou"). Many of the primary sources are studied in conjunction with relevant secondary sources (e.g., Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy," important articles by anthropologists of religion). This counts toward the core course requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every semester.
RLST 251
East Asian Religions
RLST 251
This course surveys the religions of East Asia, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto, Christianity, and the shamanic practices of China, Korea and Japan. We will read primary literature in its conceptual and historical contexts and study major themes that cross national and religious boundaries, such as gender, space and landscapes, ritual and political power. This counts toward the Buddhism and East Asian Religions requirement for the major. Offered every other year.
RLST 260
Buddhist Thought and Practice
RLST 260
Buddhism has been one of the major connective links among the varied cultures of South, Southeast and East Asia for over two millennia, and in this century it has established a solid presence in Europe and North America. This course surveys the ideas and practices of Buddhism in South Asia, East Asia and Tibet, and ends with an introduction to Buddhism's transmission to the West. Readings include both primary texts and secondary sources. This counts toward the Buddhism and East Asian religions requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every year.
RLST 360
Zen Buddhism
RLST 360
This course covers the central ideas and practices of Zen Buddhism in China, where it originated and is called Chan; Japan, where it has influenced many aspects of Japanese culture and from where it was exported to the West; and the United States. Readings include both primary texts and secondary studies and are supplemented by films. This counts as an elective for the major. Prerequisite: RLST 260 or permission of instructor. Offered every three years.
RLST 370
Modern Buddhism
RLST 370
This course explores key Buddhist people, concepts and movements around the world from the 19th to the 21st centuries. Topics of study may include: how Buddhism in traditionally Buddhist cultures has been shaped by modern political and social forces; how colonialism and its aftermath have influenced Buddhist institutions and practices; the application of Buddhist ideas to theories of race, gender and sexuality; the intersections of Buddhist practices and concepts (particularly meditative practices) with scientific and psychological discourses; the Critical Buddhism movement in Japan; and Engaged Buddhist movements. Our focus will be on primary texts, supplemented by secondary readings. This counts as an elective for the major. Prerequisite: RLST 260 or permission of instructor. Offered every other year.
RLST 390
Approaches to the Study of Religion
RLST 390
This course acquaints students with major theoretical approaches to the academic study of religion. The course will cover phenomenological, psychoanalytical, sociological and anthropological approaches to religion. Authors to be discussed will include Frazer, Marx, Freud, Weber, Durkheim, Eliade, Lévi-Strauss, Douglas, Geertz and Turner. This counts toward the core course requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every fall.
RLST 480
Religious Communities
RLST 480
This course examines traditional and innovative forms of monastic or communal religious life and spirituality. We read widely across space and time, studying varying traditions including Christian ascetic communities in third-fourth century North Africa, medieval Zen communities and contemporary Daoist communities in China, Orthodox Jewish communities in Israel and alternative spirituality communities in the Unites States. We also watch documentary films and narrative accounts of the ascetic or communal religious life. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Offered every four years.
RLST 493
Individual Study
RLST 493
The department reserves individual studies to highly motivated students who are judged responsible and capable enough to work independently. Such courses might entail original research, but usually they are reading-oriented, allowing students to explore in depth topics that interest them or that supplement aspects of the major. Students may pursue individual study only if they have taken all the courses offered by the department in that particular area of the curriculum. An individual study course cannot duplicate a course or topic being concurrently offered. Exceptions to this rule are at the discretion of the instructor and department chair. Students must secure the agreement of an instructor to provide guidance and supervision of the course. The instructor and student agree on the nature of the work expected (e.g., several short papers, one long paper, an in-depth project, a public presentation, a lengthy general outline and annotated bibliography). The level should be advanced, with work on a par with a 300- or 400-level course. The student and instructor should meet on a regular basis, with the schedule to be determined by the instructor in consultation with the student. Individual studies may be taken for 0.25 or 0.5 units, at the discretion of the instructor. A maximum of 0.50 units of IS may count towards major or minor requirements in RLST department. A student is permitted to take only one 0.5-unit class of IS in the department (one 0.5-unit course or two 0.25-unit courses). A student must present a petition with compelling reasons in order to obtain special permission to take an additional IS course. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study preferably the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval before the established deadline. Prerequisite: GPA of at least 3.0. Exceptions (e.g., languages not taught at Kenyon are granted at the discretion of the instructor, with the approval of the department chair.)\n
RLST 497Y
Senior Honors
RLST 497Y
Prerequisite: permission of department chair.
RLST 498Y
Senior Honors
RLST 498Y
Prerequisite: permission of department chair.