Class Structure

• The class will meet for three hours each week. Attendance is mandatory. If you miss more than one session, your grade will suffer. If you miss two sessions, you will have to retake the course for a grade.
• An online session is exactly like a classroom session, so proper etiquette is expected. Please make sure you secure a quiet place with access to the online session. Please switch off your phones. Do not eat during the class (drinking water, tea, or coffee is permitted). Make sure you have access to a camera: if you switch off your camera, you will be marked absent. We will take a 10-minute break halfway through each session.
• Please keep up with the required reading. This will facilitate participation in discussions. It will also help you get the most out of the course.
• Each student is required to present a portion of the text in class for discussion. Within two weeks, this presentation should be turned into a paper and submitted. The paper should be minimum 12 pages in length and should be written according to academic standards. If you require assistance in learning how to write a paper, please contact the Academic Writing Center at Hindu University of America.
• The following textbook is required. Please purchase it. I recommend a physical copy so you can mark it up for future use: Van Buitenen, J. A. B., trans. The Book of the Beginning. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.

Prerequisites:

• Admission into a qualifying Program of Study
• Any prerequisite courses: NONE
• Any prerequisite knowledge or skills (i.e., Sanskrit, reading research): All students are required to have read Sukthankar’s “On the Meaning of the Mahābhārata” before the first class.