The Evolution and Impact of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) within the Buddhist Landscape

This research essay project is a team assignment (teams of 4-5 people) and is divided into two major components: 1) textual research component, and 2) a limited fieldwork component. It is expected that the completed report will be approximately ten to twelve pages in length, double-spaced, one-inch borders, twelve-point font, and includes a complete bibliography. Please use either the Chicago Manual of Style or MLA method of citation.

Note: The essay is a team effort – only one copy from each team is to be submitted to the Assignment Area (see Course Calendar for exact dates)

1.            Component 1 – Textual Research 

   1. Each group will decide on a religious tradition(s) and a few of various communities (suggestions of 2-3) and will research the historical origins and development of that particular tradition(s). Students will focus on aspects of the tradition such as the thea/theological development of the community (important – this should include divisions within the community), the use of sacred texts and rituals, community building (both social and architectural) and rebuilding (if it applies), the formation of hierarchical structures within the community, and gender roles within and outside the religious centre.

       

      Each member of the group may wish to choose either one theme (e.g. changing gender roles in all the Christian traditions) or one tradition compared to another (e.g. Roman Catholic vs. Byzantine Christianity). Please don’t hesitate to use our course textbook as a guide to themes you might want to use in the essay.

      Component 2 – ‘Fieldwork’

      In the second component the group (or a member or two of the group) will survey a local example of a church, mosque, temple, or other religious institution that represents the tradition the group is researching in Component 1. For example, if the team does their research on the origins of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition (e.g., the origins of Tibetan Buddhism and Japanese Zen Buddhism) then they would find examples of a Tibetan and Zen Temple within the GTA area and provide the following data:

       

      • Location of the institution (address, website if applicable, telephone number, etc.).
      • Contact Person (e.g., Priest, Minister, Rabbi, Imam, or community leader).
      • The institution’s religious/theology statement (e.g., how do they adhere to the origins of the religious tradition or how have they modified the tradition within the North American context, what is the religious ethos, what is their eschatology, what are their rituals – see our textbook for these discussions).
      • Community Activities (e.g., what social organizations do they have within the institution, do they have youth programs, do they involve themselves