From this year in September, there is a Buddhism course in English established by the International Center (ISC). The aim of this course is to make Buddhism globalized. This goes hand in hand with the ISC’s Saturday’s Buddhist Ceremony. The ISC thought the ceremony by itself was insufficient and concluded that an English course was necessary.
The professor of this course is a foreigner and the course will be taught entirely in English. Students can thus learn both English and about Buddhism at the same time. There are two kinds of Buddhism courses and they are Buddhism Basics, and The Heart Sutra: Thought and Meditation. In the Buddhism Basics course, students can learn about the concepts, history and culture of Buddhism.. The other course, The Heart Sutra: Thought and Meditation, teaches about the Buddhist sutras and there will be time for Zen Meditation. The courses will end this October after four weeks from September 18th. After the courses finishes, they will begin again for another four weeks.
The courses are not only open to Dongguk students, but also to students from other universities and ordinary citizens. If anyone wants to learn English and Buddhism at the same time, these courses could be the answer.