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Hindu Traditions: Ritual, Knowledge, Devotion

ID : 2147

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In this course, we will gain a comprehensive introduction to Hindu traditions, emphasizing the importance of ritual, knowledge, and devotion across Hindu traditions from classical to contemporary times. We will introduce Hinduism’s South Asian roots, that can be traced to the Vedic tradition, which provides key conceptual and religious foundations. We will consider early and classical expressions of Hindu thought and religious life through the complex term dharma. Major Hindu deities are then introduced alongside associated narratives, practices, and iconography. We will examine the six major schools of Hindu philosophy using both secondary and primary sources. We will then consider bhakti (devotion) that has characterized diverse Hindu traditions across centuries. Finally, we will consider sacred space and places including temples and tirthas, as well as the interrelationship of the concept of divine presence and pilgrimage practices the relate to these holy sites.

YOUR INSTRUCTOR: Eileen Goddard is a Religious Studies PhD candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Goddard lectures on Indian and Asian religious traditions at both UCSB and the University of Houston. Her research centers on the interrelationship of soteriology and embodiment in the sixteenth-century Gaudiya Vaisnava Ka tradition. She is a comparative scholar whose research also includes the Patañjala Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, Srivaiava, and Pañcaratra traditions, analyzing how emotion, desire, meditation, and ritual variously contribute towards ultimate realization of self and/or divine Other.