HIST3492
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HIST 3492 - Hinduism and the Making of Modern India (3 Cr.) Civic Life and Ethics
Course description
This course explores the role that Hinduism has played in Indian culture and politics the late 18th c. to the present, and the way that Hinduism itself has been transformed during this period. In this course, we shall be guided by four overarching questions.
• What are the key texts and everyday ritual practices of Hinduism, and how have these changed over the course of the last two centuries?
• What is the changing place of caste and especially the practice of untouchability in the understanding of what means to be a Hindu?
• What role do concerns about the role of women play in the religious reform movements and the emergence of new Hindu identities?
• What is the political role played by visions of Hinduism at and in different historical developments?
By weaving together an analytical narrative centered around these four questions, we shall trace the remaking of Hinduism as a modern religion—one that wrestles with questions around nationalism, the public-private divide, the meaning of worship in a secular society, the relation with other religions, and equality of co-religionists.
• What are the key texts and everyday ritual practices of Hinduism, and how have these changed over the course of the last two centuries?
• What is the changing place of caste and especially the practice of untouchability in the understanding of what means to be a Hindu?
• What role do concerns about the role of women play in the religious reform movements and the emergence of new Hindu identities?
• What is the political role played by visions of Hinduism at and in different historical developments?
By weaving together an analytical narrative centered around these four questions, we shall trace the remaking of Hinduism as a modern religion—one that wrestles with questions around nationalism, the public-private divide, the meaning of worship in a secular society, the relation with other religions, and equality of co-religionists.
Minimum credits
3
Maximum credits
3
Is this course repeatable?
No
Grading basis
OPT - Student Option
Lecture
Credit will not be granted if credit has been received for:
01530
This course fulfills the following Liberal Education requirement(s)
Civic Life and Ethics
Fulfills the writing intensive requirement?
No
Typically offered term(s)
Periodic Fall & Spring