REQUIRED TEXTS: A. L. Herman(1), A Brief Introduction to Hinduism; Radhakrishnan and Moore, A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy;  Gandhi, Truth is God; Gruzalski, On Gandhi.

OPTIONAL TEXTS: N. F. Gier, Spiritual Titanism (ST); Sophie's World for help on philosophical background.

BOOKS ON RESERVE: Zaehner, Hindu Scriptures; A. L. Herman(2), An Introduction to Indian Thought; Gier, Spiritual Titanism: Indian Origins and Chinese Solutions (ST); Feuerstein and Miller, Yoga and Beyond; Mircea Eliade, Patanjali and Yoga; Paul Edwards, Reincarnation: A Critical Reexamination; Pannikar, The Vedic Experience; Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upanishads; Stevenson, Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect.

COURSE GOALS: To acquaint students with the pre-Aryan background of Indian philosophy and religion; to discuss the Aryan settlement of India; to read selections from the Rig-veda, Upanishads, and all of the Bhagavad-gita; to introduce students to the religion of Shiva, Vishnu, and the Goddess through slide presentations; to discuss the Sankhya-Yoga philosophy, classical Vedanta, and Jainism; to cover some recent Indian philosophers such as Aurobindo, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, and Gandhi; and finally to encourage students to incorporate appropriate ideas into their own personal philosophies.

NOTE: This is a philosophy course that is cross-listed with religious studies.  A religious studies approach would be quite different, emphasizing history, art, culture, ritual, symbols, etc.  This class will look at Hinduism and Jainism primarily through the philosophical topics of theories of reality, knowledge, and value.

8/28 INTRODUCTION. Three areas of philosophy and general Indian answers.

8/30 PREARYAN CIVILIZATION IN INDIA. Herman(1), 37-49; Herman(2), 1-19. Note: Read only those parts of the Introductions to the Source Book and Hindu Scriptures that pertain to the texts that we are covering at the time.

9/4&6 THE ARYANS AND THE INDO-IRANIAN GODS. Herman(1), 50-61; Herman (2), 20-24.

9/6  IN-CLASS WRITING ON THE ARYANS.  Check out your question here.

9/11&20 THE VEDAS. Herman(2), 25-81; Source Book, xvii-36; Zaehner, 3-30; "Origins of Hindu Scriptures."

9/18 THE RELIGION OF SHIVA. A slide-lecture.  PAPERS ON VEDAS DUE.  Click here for paper ideas.

9/20  PRESENTATION OF VEDA PAPERS.

9/13&25 THE UPANISHADS. Herman(1), 61-87; Herman(2), 83-141.  Source Book, 37-100. See other Upanishad translations on department and library reserve.

9/27  SAMKHYA DUALISM. Source Book, 349-355;424-452. ST. 67-71; 139- 140.  PAPERS ON UPANISHADS DUE.

10/2  YOGA. Source Book, 453-485. Eliade, 1-59; Feuerstein and Miller, 1-47.

10/4  IN-CLASS WRITING ON HINDU TITANISM.  Check out your question here.

10/4&9  HINDU TITANISM. ST, Preface; Introduction; 80-98; chap. 5.   Also read this article on mysticism.

10/9  FIRST TERMS EXAM. Check out the terms here.

10/11&16  REINCARNATION. Edwards, Stevenson, and web reading as assigned.  Group Work Oct. 16.  Prep essay due on Oct. 16 and group paper due Oct. 23.

10/16 TAKE-HOME EXAM (100 pts). Due Oct. 25 at 3:45 PM.  I will choose your questions from this list.

10/18 IN-CLASS WRITING ON THE SAVIOR ARCHETYPE.  Here is your reading and your question.

10/18 VISHNU AND HIS AVATARAS. Slide Show.

10/23-30  THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. Source Book, 101-163; Zaehner, 249-325; Herman(1), 17-32; 89-142. Read about Gandhi and the Gita here.

11/1 IN-CLASS WRITING ON THE HINDU GODDESS. You will find your question here.

11/1 TWO CLASSES NEXT TIME! THE HINDU GODDESS. Slide Show. Read ST, Chap. 6.  GITA PAPERS ARE DUE.

11/6-15 JAINISM. Source Book, 250-271; Jain reading in reserve file box; ST, chap. 4.   Nov. 15: Film on Jainism.

11/13 SECOND TERMS EXAM

11/27&29  CLASSICAL VEDANTA. Source Book, 506-73. White's article on reserve.

11/29  IN-CLASS WRITING ON VEDANTA. Find your question here.

12/4 NEO-VEDANTA. ST, chap. 7; The Gospel of Ramakrishna, as assigned; Source Book, 575-609.

12/4  IN-CLASS WRITING ON NEO-VEDANTA.  You will find your question here.

12/6-13 GANDHI. For Dec. 6 read these two articles.  For general reading see Herman(1), 1-16. For the group work on Dec. 11 read Truth is God, 3-53 and Gruzalski, 1-53. You will find your group assignments and topics here.

12/17 TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM (100 pts.). Study questions will be on the web and exam questions will be chosen December 13 evening and your exam must be e-mailed to n_gier@hotmail.com by 5 PM on December 19.

REQUIREMENTS. One take-home exam worth 100 points and a final worth 100 points; five in-class writings (50 pts.); three short papers (60 pts.); two terms exams (40 pts.); group work (40 pts.); and ten KarmaTalk postings (100 pts.). 

KarmaTalk.  All students will be required to post substantial full paragraphs on the following topics: the Indus culture, the Aryans, the Vedas, the Upanishads, Samkhya-Yoga, reincarnation, the Goddess, Jainism, Vedanta or neo-Vedanta, and Gandhi.  Five postings must be made before mid-term.

NOTE: Students taking the course pass/fail must do all the course requirements.