India
Religion in Society
May 24 - June 1, 2009
Itinerary
This 9-day seminar begins in Hyderabad and then moves to Bangalore. Click here to see the Summer 2009 Seminar itinerary.
Seminar Fee
CIEE Member: $2,800 Non-Member: $3,000
Academic Content (please note this is tentative and subject to change)
Lectures
- Inaugural lecture on Religion in India
- Lectures on role of politics, economics in religion
- Changing role and status of women
- Religion and sects in the context of modernity
- Hinduism in interaction with other religions
- Vedanta and Hindu Philosophy
- Religion and society
- Lectures by religious heads
Co-curricular Site Visits & Field Trips
- Tour of heritage monuments in Hyderabad with visits to Charminar and the Laad Bazaar
- Trips to ashrams, other religious institutions and places of worship
Rationale
The focus will be on South of India, the site from where Vedanta leaders and texts as well as great musico-religious innovations have emerged.
For centuries scholars have marveled at the remarkable strength of Hindu tradition and its various manifestations. They have more often than not concentrated on the “frozen” forms of Hindu tradition, such as the mass of textual data which represents such forms. It is uncommon to see the attention diverted towards Hindu tradition as a forceful living phenomenon – the continuation of an ancient tradition – in modern Indian society. This seminar provides an opportunity to explore these aspects through visits to Hindu religious institutions that interact with forces of modernity and globalization. It also provides an occasion to interact with religious leaders and adherents; with academics and authors who study the phenomena of tradition in the context of multi-religious and cultural frameworks of modern India.
Host Institutions
This seminar is co-hosted by the CIEE Study Center at the University of Hyderabad. The University of Hyderabad is a premier Indian institution of post-graduate teaching and research. Established in 1974, the University of Hyderabad was the first federally funded university to be established in the southern part of India. It has over 200 faculty and 2,100 full-time students. There are eight schools: chemistry; life sciences; mathematics and computer/information sciences; physics; humanities; social sciences; management studies; and performing arts, fine arts, and communication. The CIEE Study Center has been located within the University of Hyderabad since 2001.
Seminar Leadership
Dr. Vasudeva Rao, Resident Director of the CIEE Study Center in Hyderabad, received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics at the University of Delhi in 1998. Following the completion of his doctoral program, Dr. Rao participated in several large-scale projects in the areas of capacity building and program evaluation in the NGO sector in India. He worked as a Program Analyst for a UNDP project focused on child labor and education. His work allowed him to meet hundreds of different people from diverse areas of India which provided him with vast perspective on Indian society and subcultures within it. Recently, he has worked as an adjunct faculty at the Indian Institute of Planning and Management teaching an Organizational Behavior course to graduate students and founded the “Resource Center for Dynamic Living” which aims to combine traditional Indian philosophy (meditation, yoga, music) with modern day methods for self-empowerment and improvement. He has published books and articles in the areas of religion, education and health.
Bangalore Program Design and Host: Dr. Annapurna Garimella and Jackfruit Research and Design
Dr. Annapurna Garimella, Managing Director of Jackfruit Research and Design earned her PhD in Art History from Columbia University. Her dissertation topic was Early Vijayanagaram Architecture, Kingship and Public Space. Prior to Jackfruit, Dr. Garimella taught Indian and Islamic Art and Architecture at Columbia University and worked as a Research Editor for Marg Publications in Mumbai.
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