Orthodoxy and Gender in Indian Traditions
- Course Code:
- 15PSRC002
- Status:
- Course Not Running 2012/13
- Unit value:
- 1.0
- Year of study:
- Any
This course aims to develop familiarity with the methodology and major issues of gender analysis in the study of religions with particular reference to the Indian traditions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
The course will provide a firm theoretical base for the careful consideration of a range of themes calculated to complement existing courses on these traditions. Topics will be selected from:
- gender symbolism in vedic ritual;
- the gender implications of varna and asrama in the dharma tradition;
- the significance of sex, gender and the body for the ascetic traditions;
- the exploration of sex and gender in myth;
- mystical experience and the relevance/irrelevance of gender norms;
- the notion of inherent nature;
- scriptural role models for men and women;
- bhakti and gender;
- leadership and discipleship in New Religious Movements;
- homosexuality and the 'third sex';
- and the relevance of gender norms in religion to some of the contemporary forms of violence against women.
Objectives and learning outcomes of the course
This course aims to develop familiarity with the major issues of gender analysis in the study of religions with particular reference to Indian traditions. We will focus mainly on Hinduism but in term 2 we will look at references from Buddhism and Jainism too. The course will provide a firm theoretical base for the careful consideration of a range of themes calculated to complement existing theories on these traditions. Topics will be selected from: gender symbolism in vedic ritual; the gender implications of caste and class in the Indian society; the exploration of sex and gender myth; the relevance and irrelevance of gender norms; women in epics; bhakti and gender; the concept of shakti and leadership in Indian religious movement; women in erotic literature; gender and postcolonialism and the representation of the notion of ‘Ideal Womanhood’ in Indian tradition in relation to some of the traditional and contemporary forms of violence against women.
On successful completion of this course, you will:
- Have gained an overview of the relationship between gender and religion in the Indian perspective.
- Have acquired a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the relationship between a variety of existing courses in Indian tradition.
- Be able to critically evaluate a variety of books, journals and other sources of information relevant to the topics of this course.
