New course offered in Fall 2024: RELIG 397/PHIL 301

In Fall 2024 the Department of Philosophy and the Department of History, Classics, and Religion will offer a new course. RELIG 397/PHIL 301: The Bhagavad Gītā: Yoga and Immortality will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 17:00-18:20 and Neil Dalal will be the instructor. 

The Bhagavadgītā is one of the most influential wisdom texts within the history of South Asia. This course explores the Bhagavadgītā's approaches to philosophy, lived religion, and psychology. We will critically explore its central themes and doctrinal contexts, such as yogic practices of meditation and ethics, psychologies of happiness and suffering, metaphysics of oneness and panpsychism, and theories of self-identity and consciousness. We will also situate the Bhagavadgītā in its historical contexts, and inquire into its political and religious influences in modern India and its reception in contemporary spirituality.

This course will be fully online (synchronous). We will engage the Bhagavadgītā in a highly interactive format that emphasizes shared inquiry, active learning, collaborative research projects, and community building. Students will work together to produce an innovative virtual exhibit in lieu of traditional marking assignments.