The Reading Schedule is listed below. Be sure to check back here often as the reading schedule may change from day-to-day, depending on the pace of our discussions and the flow of the class. You can also download all of the readings here.

1. 
   

2. DATE          READING SCHEDULE
   

3. 8/24            Introductions, Greetings, and Course Outline
   

4. 8/26            N. Ross Reat: “Insiders and Outsiders in the Study of Religion”
   

5.                   Watch this short 5 minute video before class: Click Here to Watch the Video  
   

6. 9/2            Edward Said: “Orientalism: 25 Years Later”
   

7.                    Suggested Reading: Malay’s “How Colonialism Created Religion”
   

8. Hinduism
   

    9/7             Rg Veda (Selections)

    9/9             Upanishads (Selections)

    9/14           Bhagavad Gita (Selections)

    9/16           Gita Govinda & R. Tagore (Selections)

    9/21           Presentations: Hindu Puja             

1. Buddhism
   

    9/21            Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: “Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion”

                       MahaParinirvana: “The Farewell Address”

    9/23           Malunkhyaputta & Vacchagotta Suttas “Advice to Malunkhyaputta and Vacchagotta”

                      “Parable of the Mustard Seed”

    10/5-10-7      Fall Break   

    10/12            Milindapanha: “Questions of King Milinda”

    10/14            Bhikkhu Ariyesako:  “The Bhikkhus' Rules: A Guide for Laypeople”

    10/19            Presentations: Buddhist Meditation & Alms Giving

    10/22          Essay 1 Due

1. Jainism
   

    10/21            Jainism (Selections)

1. 10/26            Jainism (Selections)
   

2. 10/28            Jainism (Selections)
   

     11/2             Presentation on Jainism

1. Islam in South Asia
   

    11/4             Frederick Denny: “The Case of Islam”

               Qur’an (Surah 2) “The Cow”

    11/16            Omid Safi: “Is Islamic Mysticism Really Islam”

                       Ibn ‘Arabi: Chapter 78 of Futuhat al-Makkiyyah

    11/18          Muhammad’s “Farewell Sermon”

                       Exercise: Compare and Contrast the Farewell Sermons of Muhammad and the Buddha

    11/23          Presentation on Islam

1. Confucianism
   

    11/25           Analects (Selections)

                        Herbert Fingerette: Confucius: The Secular as Sacred (Selections)

    11/30           Presentation                  

    12/3-6           Student Essay Tutorials