The gift of Indian higher learning traditions to the global research university

ABSTRACT

The paper begins with a brief vignette of Angkor Wat in Cambodia as a great center of learning, and then highlights the traditions of Indian monastic institutions which had deeply influenced its development. It then turns the main features of the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism, showing how they created a space for women’s scholarship to flourish. The next section focuses on the development of shuyuan or academies in China that arose out of the patterns of Buddhist monasteries, demonstrating another aspect of their progressive influence. Throughout the paper comparisons are made with the European university tradition, and the conclusion considers the gifts these learning traditions could bring to the global research university.

KEYWORDS:

• Indian monastic universities
• Mahayana Buddhism
• women’s scholarship
• shuyuan/academies
• Asian learning gifts

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the no funding was given for this article [No grant number].

Notes on contributors

Ruth Hayhoe

Ruth Hayhoe is a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Her professional engagements in Asia included foreign expert at Fudan University (1980-1982), Head of the Cultural Section of the Canadian Embassy in Beijing (1989-1991) and Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, now the Education University of Hong Kong (1997-2002). Recent books include Portraits of 21st Century Chinese Universities: In the Move to Mass Higher Education (2011), China Through the Lens of Comparative Education (2015), Canadian Universities in China’s Transformation: An Untold Story (2016) and Religion and Education: Comparative and International Perspectives (2018).