An afternoon course open to the public as space permits
Mondays at 3 p.m.
Lectures by Robert Sharf
PFA is pleased to cosponsor with UC Berkeley's Center for Buddhist Studies the film-lecture series Seeing Through the Screen: Buddhism and Film. Like Film 50, this is an undergraduate course (offered in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures) that is open to BAM/PFA members and the public as space permits.
Taught by Professor Robert Sharf, director of the Group in Buddhist Studies, Seeing Through the Screen will, as the double entendre of its title suggests, be looking at Buddhism through film, and film through Buddhism-using the medium of film to explore various themes and issues in the study of Buddhism, and employing ideas culled from Buddhism to reflect back on the nature and power of film. In viewing a wide variety of international and domestic films, the class will consider such themes as the Buddhist notion of the “empty self,” and the epistemic status of the viewing subject; the role of imagination and visualization in Buddhist meditation, and the role of projection and fantasy in cinematic representations of Buddhism.
Screenings and lectures are held in the PFA Theater, Bancroft at Bowditch. Advance tickets are available at the PFA box office, at the BAM admissions desk, or charge-by-phone (510) 642-5249. Programs sometimes sell out in advance, but a number of additional tickets become available at the box office an hour before showtime, so arrive early!