Unit information: Religious & Cultural Traditions of Ancient India (2500 BCE-500CE) in 2012/13

Unit name	Religious & Cultural Traditions of Ancient India (2500 BCE-500CE)
Unit code	THRS30085
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Langer
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Religion and Theology
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will focus on the religious thought and practice of ancient India beginning with the Indus civilisation and up to and including the Gupta empire (CE 540. We will explore the cultural background and religious milieu that led to the rise of three great religions: Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Topics include: historical framework (Indus civilisation, Aryan controversy, Mauryan, Kushana and Gupta empires, rise of salvific religions, etc); authoritative scriptures (Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanishads); sacrificial culture (from yajna to puja); origins of karma (different models of the after life, from ritual to ethical); social structure (classes, castes, women, urbanization); renouncer traditions (dharma, artha, kama, four stages of life, rise of Jainism and Buddhism); cosmogony and cosmology (kalpas, heavens, hells); mythology (Mahabharatha, Ramayana, Puranas, Manu, fables); art and architecture (iconography, temple, stupa, mandala).

Aims:

• to develop an overall sense of the cultural and religious background to the great Indian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism);

• to gain an in-depth knowledge of certain significant topics in the history and practice of Indian religions;

• to encourage reflection on the common ground of and differences between Indian religions with regard to both theory and practice;

• to develop skills in the researching, reading and presentation of complex material;

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit students will be expected to have:

• an overall sense of the cultural and religious background to the great Indian religions;

• an in-depth knowledge of certain significant topics in the history and practice of Indian religions;

• further developed their skills in the researching, reading and presentation of complex material

And additionally (specific to Level H) to:

• Incorporate a consistently strong grasp of detail with respect to content

• Argue effectively and at length (including an ability to cope with complexities and to describe and deploy these effectively)

• Display to a high level skills in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information, including evidence of a high level of bibliographical control

• Describe, evaluate and challenge current scholarly thinking

• Discriminate between different kinds of information, processes, interpretations

• Take a critical stance towards scholarly processes involved in arriving at historical knowledge and/or relevant secondary literature

• Engage with relevant theoretical, philosophical or social constructs for understanding relevant works or traditions

• Demonstrate an understanding of concepts and an ability to conceptualise

• Situate material within relevant contexts (invoking interdisciplinary contexts where appropriate)

• Apply strategies laterally (perhaps leading to innovative results).

Teaching Information

A one-hour lecture given by the unit tutor followed by an hour seminar discussion of primary sources in smaller seminar groups with individual seminar presentation by students.

Assessment Information

One summative coursework essay of 3000 words (50%) and one exam of 2 hours (50%).

Reading and References

Basham, A.L. 1967. The Wonder that was India, London: Sidgwick and Jackson.

Bryant, Edwin F. and Patton, Laurie L. (ed.) 2005. The Indo-Aryan controversy: evidence and inference in Indian history. London: Routledge.

Buitenen, J.A.B. van (trans.) 1973. The Mahabharata 1: The Book of the Beginning, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Dallapiccola, A.L. and S. Zingel-Avé Lallemant (ed.) 1980. The St•pa: Its Religious, Historical and Architectural Significance, Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner.

Doniger O'Flaherty, W. (ed.) 1980. Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, Berkeley, University of California Press

Doniger, Wendy (trans.) 1991. The Laws of Manu, London: Penguin Books.

Doniger, Wendy and Sudhir Kakar (trans. and ed.) 2003. Vatsyayana: Kamasutra: a new, complete English translation of the Sanskrit text, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kulke, Hermann and Rothermund, Dietmar. 1998. A history of India. 3rd ed. London : Routledge.

Olivelle, Patrick (trans.) 1998. The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text and Translation, New York: Oxford University Press.