Japanese Religion and Culture Seminar

Zojoji temple entrance

 

Program Overview

The program will offer students the chance to experience the rich religious and cultural life of Japan. Students will visit temples, shrines, lay Buddhist movements and museums, and attend lectures by Dr. Covell, Japanese scholars and others. The tour will be led by Dr. Stephen Covell who lived in Japan for ten years where he worked as a translator, studied to be a Buddhist priest, and conducted research on contemporary Japanese religions. Dr. Covell has drawn on his experience and contacts in Japan to put together a unique behind the scenes tour of Japanese religious life for students.

Click here to get personal accounts of the program by students.

 

Housing

Accommodations will be mainly in temples and hotels. On some nights, students will stay at a major temple in the Tokyo area (Zojoji, depicted above). Other nights will be at temples and hotels in the Tokyo and Nikko areas.

Click here to get stories from students about their stay in Tokyo and Nikko and the pleasures and pains of sleeping on the floor, eating with sticks, and umbrella etiquette.

 

Cost

The cost of the program includes tuition for 3 credit hours and fees, hotel accommodations, temple homestays, train travel within Japan, some meals, health insurance, visits to religious and cultural sites. Not included are: airfare to and from Japan, most meals, passport, and personal expenses.

Financial Aid

Students who are eligible for federal or state financial aid can use their awards for studying abroad. After a student has been accepted to the program, he/she must complete required paperwork with the Financial Aid staff in order to apply financial aid to the program costs. It is the student’s responsibility to complete the paperwork prior to departure and to maintain compliance with financial aid regulations while studying abroad.

Interested?

Applications are available from Dr. Stephen Covell, Moore Hall and from the Study Abroad office.

Dr. Stephen Covell, Department of Comparative Religion, Moore Hall 2006, scovell@wmich.edu, 387-4365.

 

Pictures

Here are some more pictures taken by students, the students wrote the captions, too. Enjoy. Additional pictures are located on the personal accounts pages.

 

Links

Click here for links to other sites with course information, pages about the places visted on the trip, and other pages full of useful knowledge.

 

 

If you missed the links above:

personal accounts page 1 and page 2