South Asian Religions

Catalog description

This is a survey course for students to understand South Asian religions. The course will use primary and secondary texts, videos, and first-person accounts for instruction to generate class discussions. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism are major religions practiced in South Asia and by their diaspora in the west. This course will invite students to think deeply about different perspectives and how various religions have emerged or accepted teachings from each other to evolve as independent religions. The course covers contemporary applications of the religions with particular attention to the cultural, social, and political structuring of their practices.