$300.00
This course is part of the following programs:
Admission to Program of study
At the end of course students will be able to:
Distinguishing Varna and Jati from Caste course is designed to assess, challenge, clarify, demystify, and transform. It will begin with an honest assessment of our current understanding, thoughts, and feelings about the Hindu Caste system. It will then investigate the origins of our contemporary understanding i.e., the discourse that gives us that understanding. It will juxtapose the two paradigms, one Hindu and Dharmic, and the other European and Western.
It will investigate the genealogy of ideas from which the language associated with Varna, Jati, Kula, Gotra and Vamsa originate. It will also examine the genealogy of ideas from which the language associated with the Caste System i.e., terms such as Forward Caste, Backward Caste, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe etc. originate. It will explore the history of the Systeme de Castas, as it was created within the European experience, specifically the Iberian i.e., Spanish and Portuguese. It will highlight the process by which the language of Caste was transposed onto the Hindu social order, to produce the modern conception of the Hindu Caste System.
Distinguishing Varna and Jati from Caste this course will explore the distortions and consequences that arise when a social order that originated within one paradigm is interpreted and represented from an entirely different paradigm. It will investigate the complex challenges that arise at the confluence of Hindu and western thought and contrast the Hindu experience from its Western representation. It will illustrate the ways in which the concept of Caste became solidified and encrusted around Hindu society in our contemporary era.
It will examine the impact of colonial discourse on postcolonial Hindu experience and leave students with the pressing urgency of intellectual decolonization. It will also assess the near-universal commitment to intervene in Hindu Society and reform it in one way or another, that is at the heart of contemporary activism directed towards the Caste system.
A variety of writings from seers, and sages, scholars and academics, activists, and reformers, from ancient to modern times will be brought to bear upon the subject to unfold these topics. Following an honest appraisal of our comprehension of not only what has occurred historically, but also of our ability to confront the pressing challenges that face the Hindu community in the present moment, the course will invite students to speculate on the way forward – in terms of transforming our beliefs, attitudes, and actions in relation to this phenomenon both in Hindu society as well as the international discourse around it.
There will be a minimum of 2 contact hours with the faculty every week, including discussions and debates within the class. The class is structured in a way that promotes discussion and debate based on self-study and reflection on the students’ life experience as well as the assigned readings each week. During the course, students will be required to submit one short essay. They need not be academic quality papers – but should be based on students self- reflection on what they have learnt and assimilated so far, and what has touched and inspired them deeply, as well as what they feel constitutes a way forward for themselves in their own life journey.
$300.00
On the program page, there are multiple payment plan options to choose from.
