 2014 - 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 0687-4462-01 | "lived Hinduism" - Religious Beliefs and Practices in Everyd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FACULTY OF HUMANITIES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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University credit hours: 4.0
Course description
“Lived Hinduism” - Religious Beliefs and Practices in Everyday Life in India
In recent years, scholars have pointed out the need for advancing the study of ‘lived Hinduism’ and the various ways in which it is integrated into the everyday, as well as the social and political life of its practitioners. Without dismissing the great importance of studying the theology and philosophy of Hinduism, these scholars wish to deepen our understanding of the various ways in which Hinduism manifests in the day-to-day lives of its adherents, shaping, as well as being shaped by them as time progresses. In this seminar we will explore this topic closely. We will first examine the emergence of the study of ‘lived religion’ in the West and move on to contextualizing the studies of ‘lived Hinduism’ in the larger field of Indology. We will dedicate most of the semester to reading contemporary scholarship on this topic. Thus, for example, we will learn about festive visits of sacred books to Himalayan villages; possession rites that enable Kali devotees to express repressed emotional distress in times of war and violence; the great importance of food rituals in managing caste relations in India, and more.
In recent years, scholars have pointed out the need for advancing the study of ‘lived Hinduism’ and the various ways in which it is integrated into the everyday, as well as the social and political life of its practitioners. Without dismissing the great importance of studying the theology and philosophy of Hinduism, these scholars wish to deepen our understanding of the various ways in which Hinduism manifests in the day-to-day lives of its adherents, shaping, as well as being shaped by them as time progresses. In this seminar we will explore this topic closely. We will first examine the emergence of the study of ‘lived religion’ in the West and move on to contextualizing the studies of ‘lived Hinduism’ in the larger field of Indology. We will dedicate most of the semester to reading contemporary scholarship on this topic. Thus, for example, we will learn about festive visits of sacred books to Himalayan villages; possession rites that enable Kali devotees to express repressed emotional distress in times of war and violence; the great importance of food rituals in managing caste relations in India, and more.