Course Description:
Like the course on Religions in South Asia, this course is an attempt to understand what it has meant, and means, to be religious in one particular cultural setting, that of India--and to acquire some sense of the vibrancy and richness of Indian religion and culture over several thousand years.
This course, however, affords the opportunity to consider Hinduism in more depth than is possible in the more basic course. While reiterating the general overview of Hinduism undertaken there, this course will provide concentrated attention on a number of important developments the effects of which continue to pervade the Hindu community: the extraordinary intellectual breakthrough of the Upanishads; the irenic approach of the Bhagavadgita, and its contribution to a developing classical Hindu orthopraxy, in which a relatively tight social structure combined with a wide diversity of ideas and practices; the devotional movements that were developed around such deities as Vishnu (and his avatars, Krishna and Rama), Shiva, and the Goddess; the complex array of myths and rituals (worship of deities in home and temple, festivals, pilgrimage) and the relation of these to other cultural manifestations such as architecture, sculpture, painting, dance, drama, and poetry; the great intellectual schools of Samkhya, Yoga and Vedanta (and Vedanta's two massively important interpreters, Shankara and Ramanuja).
As well, we shall consider the encounter with the West over the last few centuries; the array of extraordinarily gifted thinkers (in the period from 1800 to 1950) who engaged in a critical re-thinking of the Hindu tradition in response to that encounter; the flow of Hindu ideas to the West; modifications of the tradition in diaspora communities; and the recent increase in popularity of a militant, political Hinduism.
Course Requirements:
1. An essay of approximately 3000 words, on a topic chosen from a list provided, or developed by the student in consultation with the instructor. (Due April 28--50 marks)
2. Three take home examinations:
(1)Distributed Feb. 6, due Feb. 13--15 marks;
(2)Distributed March 27, due April 3--20 marks;
(3)Distributed May 1, due May 8--15 marks.
Textbooks:
David Kinsley, Hinduism: A Cultural Perspective
Ainslie Embree, ed., The Hindu Tradition
Diana Eck, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India.
Course Reader from Universal Copies
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