Hinduism

Catalog description

Through readings, assignments, and lectures that cut through the confusion, students in this class develop a solid understanding of the basic contours of Hinduism while also learning to appreciate the richness and nuanced complexity of a religion with more than 3000 years of history and one billion living practitioners. The course begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, then moves on to Vedic Religion, the ascetic movements associated with the Upanishads, the myths and temples of sectarian Hinduism, the development of Hinduism under the Mughals and the British Raj, the rise of modern Hindu reform movements, and the global Hindu diaspora.