Course Description
The basic contours of thought and practice of selected Indian religions, including the Vedas, Upanishads, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sufism, Sikhism, and the epic and poetic traditions.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Additional readings and a research paper along with more extensive examinations to reflect the additional responsibilities.
Athena Title
INDIAN RELIGIONS
Prerequisite
Junior or senior standing or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every odd-numbered year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
(1) To develop the reading, writing, speaking, and thinking skills necessary for the critical study of religion. (2) To introduce the basic elements of Indian religious and philosophical systems. (3) To demonstrate the manner in which Indians have creatively woven together a variety of strategies, such as devotion, philosophy, ritual, meditation, art, and ethics, to create specific ways of living lives of well being. (4) To stimulate comparison of the ideas, practices, beliefs, and quotidian and ultimate concerns of western and eastern cultures. Communicate Effectively through Writing To strengthen skills in written composition, analysis, and presentation by means of projects such as essays, papers, reports, and examinations. Communicate Effectively through Speech To strengthen skills in oral expression, analysis, style, and interaction by means such as class reports, class discussion, and oral examinations. Computer Literacy To enhance and facilitate computer literacy by the use of word processing, the web, email, and OASIS through research, preparation, and presentation of work such as oral class reports and completion of written assignments. Critical Thinking To foster critical thinking by engaging in activities such as classroom discussion and debate, essay examinations, and oral presentations. Moral Reasoning (Ethics) To assist in the continued development of moral and ethical reasoning and reflection by encouraging creative thinking regarding individual and community concerns and needs, the challenging of prejudices and stereotypes, and examining rational and ethical bases of constructive social interactions.
Topical Outline
Religion? Philosophy? Emergence The Vedas Purvamimimamsa Carvaka The Upanisads Yogasutras The Bhagavadgita The Ramayana The Three Characteristics Dependent Origination The Theory of No-Self Questions which tend not to Edification Dzogchen Madhyamika Yogacara Sri Aurobindo