RLBcA004 Indian Religions

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
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. Kristýna Čižmářová
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 14:00–15:40 G31, except Tue 14. 11.
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: 21/100, 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
  • 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
  • HONS, Pavel. Kasta, a basta! : pohledy na kastovní systém, tentokrát převážně zdola. Vydání první. Praha: Academia, 2019, 193 stran. ISBN 9788020029799. info
    recommended literature
  • CLOTHEY, Fred W. Religion in India : a historical introduction. First published. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006, xi, 282. ISBN 9780415940245. 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
  • STRNAD, Jaroslav. Dějiny Indie. Vyd. 1. Praha: Lidové noviny, 2003, 1185 s. ISBN 80-7106-493-9. info
  • 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
Teaching methods
Lectures, seminars, homeworks, essay.
Assessment methods
For exam:
Submitting of three successive homeworks in an acceptable quality (16.6 % of overall evaluation in the course) and passing of two tests (33.3 % of overall evaluation) and the submission of a final essay in acceptable quality (33.3 %) are conditions to be able to be examined orally. Oral examination creates 16.6 % of overall evaluation) and consist of a discussion concerning the topic of the final essay.
The students passing with a colloquium submitt three written homeworks.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
https://elf.phil.muni.cz/23-24/course/view.php?id=7271
Detailed schedule, content of each lecture and the study material is available via Elf.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2023, recent)
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