Here are some possible topics for your 1st essay. You don’t have to choose any of these listed below, and feel free to develop your own topic or to modify my suggestions to suit your own interests and thoughts. Any topic you choose, however, should be based on one (or more) of the texts that we have studied during the 2nd section of the class—i.e., the reading after Plato and Chuang Tzu. You can discuss Plato and/or Chuang Tzu in your essay if you like (as well as any other secondary or primary source), but the essay should focus on any of the reading from the 2nd section of the class.
This is a short essay (5 pages), and so stay focused on the article you choose. Your primary goal should be to give a critical analysis of the article by examining the author’s argument, raising challenging questions, thinking through the problems presented in the text, and by offering your own supported thoughts, opinions, and reflections. Look at my “tips” for essay writing on the course website to give you some guidance, and don’t hesitate to share you ideas with me or Professor Katie as you develop the essay. Best of luck!
1.What is David Loy’s (Buddhist) criticism of the attempts to solve poverty by large organizations such as the World Bank? What is the Buddhist standard of poverty and how does this differ from traditional economic standards of poverty? What is the Buddhist solution to poverty, according to Loy, and what do you think about the Buddhist critique and the solution that Loy suggests?
2.In his article, “Asian Values and Global Human Rights,” Fred Dallmayr suggests that the discourse of human rights as universal might come into conflict with other Asian values—in particular Confucianism. What is the problem with human rights that Dallmayr outlines in this article, and why does he think “human rights-talk” might conflict with Confucian values? Analyze Dallmayr’s argument and offer your own thoughts and reflections on the “conflict” he discusses.
3.What is the idea of “gendered Orientalism” that Maryam Khalid outlines in her article “Gender, Orientalism, and Representations of the ‘Other’ in the War on Terror”? How is gendered Orientalism different from other accounts of Orientalism that don’t focus on gender, and what is Khalid’s argument about how gendered Orientalism is used in the “War on Terror”?
4.What are the two popular arguments about the causes of violence that Amartya Sen outlines in his article, “Violence, Identity, and Poverty”? Why does Sen’s criticize these arguments, and what approach does he suggest for a better understanding of the relationship between violence, identity, and poverty? Do you think Sen’s criticisms of the two argument are correct, and what do you think of his own approach to the problem?