Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Spring 2024

Course Description

In this course we will examine the rise of Hindu modernity from the colonial period to the present day. Our main objective will be to come to an understanding of the embedded nature of modern Hinduism within the historical matrices of culture, society, politics, and economics in India. Through the close reading of primary and secondary interpretive texts dealing with the transformation of religion in modern South Asia you will learn how to apply the critical hermeneutical techniques specific to the discipline of the history of religions. At the same time you will learn about the challenges which Hindus have faced and negotiated in the modern period; by doing so you will be in a position to better understand the vexed history of religious belief and practice across the globe in the modern and post- modern periods.

Student Outcomes

1. Students will be able to strengthen empathetic (non-judgmental, open and curious) engagement with the diversity of religious worldviews and the cultures from which they emerge. 2. Students will be able to write clearly and cogently about religion as a mode of cultural production. 3. Students will be able to model academically informed civil discourse in the discussion of sensitive and controversial topics.

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