RLB268 Practised Hinduism

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2009
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Dušan Lužný, Dr. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Dušan Lužný, Dr.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Lucie Čelková
Timetable
Fri 16. 10. 16:40–18:15 G24, Fri 13. 11. 16:40–18:15 G24, Fri 11. 12. 16:40–18:15 G24
Prerequisites (in Czech)
RLB28 Hinduism
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 80 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/80, only registered: 0/80
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
While a course Hinduism offers a basic overview of the history of religious life in Indian subcontinent, the aim of the course Lived Hinduism is to introduce students to basic issues of lived religions in India from the function and import of various socio-religious institutions to relations of religion and power on all levels of Indian social life.
At the end of the course students should be able to:
explain functioning of selected social institutions in relation to their religious legitimizations;
interpret particular actions of social actors with a reference to the functioning of social institutions, influence of a tradition and a use of cultural resources;
analyse the use of the rules concerning purity and another ritual regulations and mythological stories as cultural resources;
compare the role of a "religious" literature in Indian context and its role in Christianity;
to evaluate usability of the concept "religion" for an analysis of activities of individuals as well as functioning of social institutions on the bases of this comparison and of the comparison of further dominant components of "religion" as a concept developed on the Western empirical models.
Syllabus
  • Organizational information.
  • Indian Literature and Literate Culture, Mantra and the Role of the Sound.
  • Mythology: Epics, Puranas and their Modern Adaptations.
  • Artha, Dharma, Kama, Moksha.
  • Krama, Jnana, Bhakti.
  • Introduction to Indian Philosophical Thinking.
  • Yoga and tantra.
  • Ritual in Indian Society I.
  • Ritual in Indian Society II.
  • Social Organisation of Life: Ritual Purity, Caste, Varna, Sampradaya.
  • Sampradayas and their development.
  • Women in India, Woman Godesses and their Cults.
  • Modern Reform and Revival Movements.
Literature
  • ONDRAČKA, Lubomír (ed.). Mé zlaté Bengálsko. Studie k bengálskému náboženství a kultuře věnované Haně Preinhaelterové k jejím sedmdesátinám. Praha: ExOriente a FF UK v Praze, 2008. info
  • MICHAELS, Axel. Hinduism : past and present. Translated by Barbara Harshav. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, xvii, 429. ISBN 0691089531. info
  • ZBAVITEL, Dušan. Bohové s lotosovýma očima : hinduistické mýty v indické literatuře tří tisíciletí. Vyd. 2. Praha: Vyšehrad, 1997, 455 s. ISBN 8070212152. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, seminar discussions, homeworks (document analyses).
Assessment methods
Case study in the form of an essay, oral presentation of the case study, written test.
Final evauation has the form of colloquim. The condition of granting colloquium to a student is an acceptance of each of the three above mentioned outcomes. Presentation needs to be oraly presented in the classroom in intelligible form and in a prescribed time limit. Essay should be as long as the time limit allows to present concisely, and it should have a quality of simple popularising scientific writing with regard to both, quality of style as well as scientific quality. The written test comprises both, open and closed questions, and the acceptable score is 60%.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2009, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2009/RLB268