RELI 313: Hinduism
RELI 313-001: Hinduism
(Spring 2019)
10:30 AM to 11:45 AM MW
Krug Hall 204
Section Information for Spring 2019
This course is an introduction to the diverse traditions that, since the British institutionalized the category in the 1800’s, we call Hinduism. We will focus on the beginnings and evolution of sacred texts, stories, ideas, practices, and political identities over a period spanning about 3,500 years, from the revelation of the Vedas to Hindu politics in India today. Our class will proceed in six short units: 1) Vedas and Upaniṣads; 2) Epics and Purāṇas; 3) Philosophy; 4) Ritual and Devotion; 5) Hinduism under the Mughals and British; 6) Hinduism Today. Our overall goal is to develop a broad understanding of the content, evolution, and influence of Hindu traditions.
As an upper-level Humanities course, this class will allow you to apply and further refine advanced skills related to reading, critical analysis, research, and writing. Although there are no specific pre-requisites, in order to do well in this class you will have to be able to read large amounts of complex primary and secondary source material, come to class prepared to discuss these materials, and write extended, coherent papers based on them. One of your papers will be a close reading of our course materials, and one will be an independent research paper. While I am happy to help you work on your writing, it is ultimately your responsibility to have or develop competencies in these areas.
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Course Information from the University Catalog
Credits: 3
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.
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