The course continues an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper in Elementary Sanskrit. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology and Religion to the basics of the Sanskrit grammar, syntax and vocabulary. By the end of the course, students will have competency in translating simple Sanskrit and reading sections of the story of Nala. The course book is Maurer’s The Sanskrit Language.
Archives: Lectures
Sanskrit Prelims: Week One (HT19)
The course provides an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper of the Theology and Religion Faculty in Elementary Sanskrit. A range of relevant Hindu and Buddhist texts will be chosen for translation and philological comment. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology and Religion to the essentials of Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary and its importance for the exegesis of Sanskrit texts. Students will learn to appreciate the interpretative nature of translation as a central discipline for the study of religions. By the end of the course students will have gained a basic competency in translating classical Sanskrit and reading relevant passages from texts such as the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, the Bhagavadgītā and the Buddhist Heart Sūtra. The course book will be Walter Maurer’s The Sanskrit Language. Sanskrit Prelims continues throughout Michaelmas and Hilary Terms and for the first four weeks of Trinity.
Intermediate Sanskrit Readings: Pañcadaśī of Vidyāraṇya: Week One (HT19)
These reading sessions are intended for students who have some knowledge of Sanskrit (such as that provided by the Sanskrit Prelims) and are interested to continue reading Sanskrit texts. This term we will be reading the Pañcadaśī (“The Fifteen Chapters”) which is ascribed to Vidyāraṇya, a very influential fourteenth century teacher of Advaita Vedānta. Written in a simple language, the Pañcadaśī has been used for centuries as a primer in Advaita Vedānta, and therefore also functions, in these reading sessions, as a very accessible introduction to the reading of philosophical and theological Sanskrit texts.
Hinduism 2: Modern Hinduism: Session One (HT19)
Beginning with the early medieval period, this paper traces the development of Hinduism in devotional (bhakti) and tantric traditions. The paper examines the development of Śaiva, Śākta, and Vaiṣṇava traditions along with ideas about liberation, ritual, asceticism, yoga and devotion. There will be some exploration of Hinduism and Modernity and there may also be reference to major schools of Hindu philosophy such as Vedānta.
Readings in Phenomenology: Week One (HT19)
Phenomenology is one of the most important developments in philosophy in the twentieth century, and it has also had a deep impact on other theoretical fields more widely conceived. This seminar series seeks to engage with some of the fundamental concepts of phenomenology, and has turned in the past to thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Paul Ricoeur, Emmanuel Levinas, Peter Sloterdijk, Quentin Meillassoux, and others.
This term we will be reading Anthony Steinbock’s Phenomenology and Mysticism: The Verticality of Religious Experience.
Sanskrit Prelims: Week Two (HT19)
The course provides an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper of the Theology and Religion Faculty in Elementary Sanskrit. A range of relevant Hindu and Buddhist texts will be chosen for translation and philological comment. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology and Religion to the essentials of Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary and its importance for the exegesis of Sanskrit texts. Students will learn to appreciate the interpretative nature of translation as a central discipline for the study of religions. By the end of the course students will have gained a basic competency in translating classical Sanskrit and reading relevant passages from texts such as the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, the Bhagavadgītā and the Buddhist Heart Sūtra. The course book will be Walter Maurer’s The Sanskrit Language. Sanskrit Prelims continues throughout Michaelmas and Hilary Terms and for the first four weeks of Trinity.
Intermediate Sanskrit Readings: Pañcadaśī of Vidyāraṇya: Week Two (HT19)
These reading sessions are intended for students who have some knowledge of Sanskrit (such as that provided by the Sanskrit Prelims) and are interested to continue reading Sanskrit texts. This term we will be reading the Pañcadaśī (“The Fifteen Chapters”) which is ascribed to Vidyāraṇya, a very influential fourteenth century teacher of Advaita Vedānta. Written in a simple language, the Pañcadaśī has been used for centuries as a primer in Advaita Vedānta, and therefore also functions, in these reading sessions, as a very accessible introduction to the reading of philosophical and theological Sanskrit texts.
Lecture 1: Religion as System (HT19)
After a brief introduction to the series, this lecture will open with the problematic nature of the relation between phenomenology and religion and go on to investigate one important way in which religion has been understood, namely as communication system. The systems approach to the study of religions was developed by the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. This lecture will examine his ideas and arguments, his desire to replace an account of religion in terms of ‘humanity’ with an account in terms of ‘communication’, and his notion of meaning as the reduction of complexity. The lecture will raise questions about this and offer critique that Luhmann’s systems approach cannot give an adequate account of religious persons because religions as communication events need to be understood in terms of their enactment in narrative and law and the way in which indexicality of person transforms system into experience. This will lead us on to the next lecture.
Sanskrit Prelims: Week Two (HT19)
The course provides an introduction to Sanskrit for the preliminary paper of the Theology and Religion Faculty in Elementary Sanskrit. A range of relevant Hindu and Buddhist texts will be chosen for translation and philological comment. The class is designed to introduce students of Theology and Religion to the essentials of Sanskrit grammar, syntax, and vocabulary and its importance for the exegesis of Sanskrit texts. Students will learn to appreciate the interpretative nature of translation as a central discipline for the study of religions. By the end of the course students will have gained a basic competency in translating classical Sanskrit and reading relevant passages from texts such as the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, the Bhagavadgītā and the Buddhist Heart Sūtra. The course book will be Walter Maurer’s The Sanskrit Language. Sanskrit Prelims continues throughout Michaelmas and Hilary Terms and for the first four weeks of Trinity.
Hinduism 2: Modern Hinduism: Session Two (HT19)
Beginning with the early medieval period, this paper traces the development of Hinduism in devotional (bhakti) and tantric traditions. The paper examines the development of Śaiva, Śākta, and Vaiṣṇava traditions along with ideas about liberation, ritual, asceticism, yoga and devotion. There will be some exploration of Hinduism and Modernity and there may also be reference to major schools of Hindu philosophy such as Vedānta.