NEWS

First-year seminar explores state’s Buddhist temples

By LAURA MAYHEW
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- Traveling to Buddhist temples across North Carolina isn’t a typical class project. But Dr. Thomas Tweed’s first-year seminar program isn’t a typical class.

The 18 students in Tweed’s religious studies class this fall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are documenting the state’s Buddhist population. Class members will create a 70-page guide to North Carolina’s Buddhist communities and will distribute copies to 400 public libraries, universities and schools across the state by next April 2001. The students will present their findings in cyberspace in World Wide Web page they will create later this year.

An existing course Web page, http://www.unc.edu/courses/reli006j, already contains some information, images and a list of the 33 Buddhist temples in North Carolina. The site also offers an overview of the students’ collaborative research, which aims to document the states growing religious diversity and is funded by Harvard University’s Pluralism Project.

The students will offer a free public presentation of their findings at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 29 in Room 39 Graham Memorial Building. "There should be a good mix of people there - Buddhist leaders, interested students and people from the community," said class member Nina Poe. "Our presentation …will educate people about the presence and diversity of Buddhism in North Carolina, and it will also show the great research first-year students can do when given the opportunity."

This course is one of the first-year seminars, which began in fall 1999, that coincide with a national trend to reinvigorate undergraduate education. Designed to integrate freshman quickly into campus intellectual life and get them excited about learning, the seminars, each for 20 students or fewer, are created and led by popular, accomplished faculty. Tweed, founding director of the program, is now associate dean for undergraduate curricula.

Tweed’s class will present more of its findings in the spring during a program highlighting undergraduate research. "They might even give a talk at a professional conference," said Tweed, a member of the Carolina Speakers program who lectures across North Carolina. He said he hoped to bring a few students to his next speech.

The students have been working on the projects since the very first day of class in August. "Part of my goal is to empower them, to include them at every step," said Tweed, who stressed that it is very important to him that his students share in the decision-making processes for the class project.

"Professor Tweed has instilled such a strong sense of trust and confidence in us to complete the project that we can’t help but respond with an equal amount of respect for our research," said class member Catalina Garreton. "We are very excited to have the opportunity to present. It is our hope to further educate North Carolinians about the presence of this religion in America."

Historically, North Carolina has not been a religious melting pot. Most residents, regardless of race, have been Protestant. Few Catholics, Eastern Orthodox or Jews moved to the Tar Heel state. "Immigrants just didn’t come here in the same numbers," said Tweed, whose research explores religion and transnationalism. "As a whole, North Carolina didn’t get the same immigration. The Immigration Act of 1965 changed the old national quota system." The act allowed more immigrants from Asia, Africa and Latin America to enter the United States.

The class is focusing on 33 Buddhist temples, many located near metropolitan areas such as Raleigh, Charlotte and Greensboro. But there are exceptions. "The first Asian-American temple was in Bolivia, in the southeastern part of the state, just down the road from a Baptist church," said Tweed.

Eleven temples attract primarily Asian-Americans, such as refugees and immigrants from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Cary and Chapel Hill temples have mainly Chinese and Taiwanese-American populations.

The remaining 22 temples attract mostly European and African-American Buddhist converts. Tweed speculated that many are drawn to Buddhism because of the attraction of meditation and chanting. "The emphasis is on mindfulness. In a busy fast-paced world, some people find it helpful to focus on each moment, each breath."

Determining the number of Buddhists in the United States can be difficult. "In recent decades, the U.S. Census hasn’t included religious affiliation, so we have to rely on other estimates," said Tweed. "The figure most often quoted is 3 to 4 million Buddhists, of which 800,000 are converts. The vast majority are first-generation immigrants or the descendents of people who migrated here, such as the Chinese in the 1850s and the Japanese in the 1890s."Tweed will host a class reunion dinner at his home next semester and other gatherings in future years.

"This is a really ambitious project, and I wasn’t sure first-year students would be able to handle it," he said. "I’m moved that not only can they do it, but they can do it well. I’m thrilled with their enthusiasm and the quality of their research."

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Web link: www.unc.edu/fys

Contact: Dr. Thomas Tweed, Religious Studies, 919-843-7773