RLBcA004 Indian Religions

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2022
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s) (plus 1 credit for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Matouš Vencálek
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 10:00–11:40 K24
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 100 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 2/100, only registered: 0/100, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/100
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course offers a basic overview of the history and realia of the religious life of India. The students learn basic terms and issues in the development of Indian societies from the earliest to contemporary periods of time. Analysing the Indian material with the use of the methods of historical anthropology the course also problematizes basic concepts of religious studies.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course the student:
- has basic knowledge of South Asian history;
- understands heterogenity of South Asia as a kultural and socal space, and is able to describe fundamental spiritual lifestyles and life-strategies;
- is able to explain social and ethnic aspects of crucial identity differences;
- is able to describe basic ways of establishing, maintaining and transmitting of traditions (literary and oral);
- explains the concepts of dharma in its various uses and social implications;
- explains the meaning of emic categories for describing organization, forms of community, and identity (jati, sangha, sampraday, dalit, jajmani).
Syllabus
  • Periodisation of Indian history
  • The earlies strata of Indian religious life
  • Early vedic period
  • Early urban period
  • Religion and the urban culture
  • Religion of the post-classical period
  • The advent of islam and islam in India
  • Religious life in late "middle ages"
  • The advent of Europeans
  • Religion and contemporary India
  • Ritual and ritual life in South Asia
  • Yoga, Tantra, Saktism
Literature
    required literature
  • CLOTHEY, Fred W. Religion in India : a historical introduction. First published. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006, xi, 282. ISBN 9780415940245. info
  • MICHAELS, Axel. Hinduism : past and present. Translated by Barbara Harshav. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, xvii, 429. ISBN 0691089531. info
  • DEÁK, Dušan. Indickí svätci medzi minulosťou a prítomnosťou : hľadanie hinduistov a muslimov v Južnej Ázii. Trnava: Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave, Filozofická fakulta, 2010, x, 241. ISBN 9788081051708. info
    recommended 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
  • STRNAD, Jaroslav. Dějiny Indie. Vyd. 1. Praha: Lidové noviny, 2003, 1185 s. ISBN 80-7106-493-9. info
  • Náboženství a společnost v jižní a jihovýchodní Asii : tradice a současnost. Edited by Stanislava Vavroušková. Vyd. 1. Praha: Orientální ústav Akademie věd České republiky, 2005, iv, 355. ISBN 8085425572. info
  • ZBAVITEL, Dušan. Hinduismus a jeho cesty k dokonalosti. 1. vyd. Praha: Dharma Gaia, 1993. ISBN 8090122558. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, seminars, homeworks, essay.
Assessment methods
For exam:
Submitting of three successive homeworks in an acceptable quality (30% of overall evaluation in the course) and passing of a test (20% of overall evaluation) are conditions to be able to be examined orally. Oral examination creates 50% of overall evaluation.
The students passing with a colloquium submitt three written homeworks.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2022, recent)
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