1)
Cover Sheet
Select
one:
____
Project Grant
____ Core and Core Area Grant
____
Seed Grant
X Dissemination Grant
Name: Stephen J. Laumakis, et al. Dept./Program: Philosophy
Mail # 4181 Phone # 25363 E-mail: sjlaumakis@stthomas.edu
The date of my initial full-time
employment at UST was: 9-1-90 and the status of my present employment
(tenured, tenure-track, limited term, adjunct) at UST is: Tenured.
1. Title of
proposed project: An Inquiry-based Approach to Teaching and Learning Buddhist
Philosophy
2. Description
of project suitable for use in publicity and reporting to a general audience
(not to exceed 50 words; avoid use of jargon):
Four
students and I will be participating in a panel discussion of the pedagogical
goals and methodology used in my Buddhism class. I will speak about the inquiry-based
instruction used in the class, and my students will offer their reflections on
the writing exercises from the course as well as present versions of the papers
they wrote for the class.
3.
Intended start
date: April 15-17, 2004
Project duration (in months): N/A
4. Total amount requested: $2,995
5. Have you previously received 2002-05
Bush Grant funds? X _ Yes
___ No
If yes, please describe: Drs. Degnan, Discher, Barnes and
Laumakis received
A Bush Grant (Using the Philosopher's Tool Kit) in the
Summer of 2003. I also received a Core and Core Area Grant
(Exploring and Teaching Chinese
Conceptions
of the Human Person and Ethics) to help sponsor a Philosophy Department
Workshop with Professor Roger Ames of the University of Hawai’i in the Fall of
2003.
Budget Format page
BUDGET
ITEM Grant Request Other Funding Total
1.
Director Stipend
Personnel
2.
Travel expenses $1125 $0 $1125
a.
Lodging $1125 $0 $1125
b. Transportation $150 $0 $150
c. Meals $300 $0 $300
d. Conference Fee $295 $0 $295
e. Other (give detail) $0 $0 $0
3. Supplies, e.g. books
and
refreshments $0
4.
Duplicating, postage, telephone $0
5.
Other (provide detail) $0
TOTAL
REQUESTED: $2995 $0 $2995
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Budget Explanation
1.
Director Stipend: NA
2.
Travel expenses: 5 roundtrip tickets to Kansas City—5 x $225 = $1125
a. Lodging: 3 nights x 3 rooms x $125 = $1125
b. Transportation: Airport Shuttle:
5 x $30 = $150
c. Meals include: 3 dinner x 5x $20 = $300
d. Conference Fee: $95 (faculty) + 4
x $50 (student) = $295
3.
Supplies: NA
4.
Duplicating: NA
5.
Other: NA
Proposal
Narrative:
Michael Johnson, Laurel Stack, Jacob Tuttle, Megan
Yelle and I will be participating in a panel discussion of the pedagogical
goals and problem based learning methodology used in my Buddhism class. Our proposal fits under both Categories A and
C, as we are requesting funds to disseminate results of faculty/student
collaborative work as well as to present results about the pedagogy
employed. We will be presenting our work
as a panel at the Tenth Annual Asian Studies Development Program (ASDP)
National Conference, April 15-17, in Kansas City. This national
meeting is an opportunity for ASDP-involved faculty and others to present
research and models for developing Asian studies courses and programs. The two-day program includes: papers, panels,
workshops, and keynote presentations by outstanding scholar-teachers in the
field of Asian Studies.
The purpose of our panel is twofold: first, to explain
the pedagogical goals and methodology used in a class on Buddhism, and second,
to provide a forum for student reflections on the pedagogy as well as
discussion of their work from the class.
As panel organizer I will begin with a brief account of my pedagogical
goals and strategies for the course, and then outline two different writing
exercises used in class. The first
assignment asked students to make a philosophical case for what they take to be
the single, most important/fundamental/basic idea in Buddhism. They were first asked to develop their ideas
through on-line discussion of the various teachings of the Buddha, and then
write a paper defending their own version of the most
important/fundamental/basic idea in Buddhism.
My students were then asked to present their ideas and papers to class
and defend their positions in public.
Finally, they were given the opportunity of revising and even changing
their papers based on the classroom discussion and debate, and my own editorial
comments. The final versions of these
papers were quite impressive.
The second assignment involved a semester long exercise
of cultivating Buddhist practice by having students wear WWBD (What would
Buddha do?) bracelets and then write a paper in which I asked them to reflect
on the differences between what they thought the Buddha would do and what they
would normally do in any given situation.
The second paper was to begin with an account of their own “Noble
Truths” about life and its “Path” and then compare this account with the
teachings of the Buddha. Finally, students
were instructed to include an assessment of what they thought the Buddha got
right and what he got wrong and why. The
four student panelists will offer their reflections on the pedagogical
effectiveness of these writing exercises and other activities employed in the
course (i.e., our visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and a fall
cemetery meditation walk), and then present edited versions of the papers they
wrote for the class.