The Department of Religious Studies will begin offering regular courses on Jainism starting Winter 2021. Lynna Dhanani, our newest faculty member, will offer both an introductory and thematic course on Jainism. In Winter 2021, she will offer RST 31: Introduction to Jainism and RST 136: Topics in Jainism (Images of Jain Devotion) in Spring 2021.
WINTER 2021
RST 031. Introduction to Jainism (CRN 44464/44465): Taught online
Tues./Thurs. 3:10–4:30pm
L. Dhanani
Jainism, despite its minority status, has been a powerful force on the Indian subcontinent for over two millennia, shaping language, literature, and religious culture in constant, dynamic conversation with other Indian religions. This course offers a window into the complex and varied histories, literatures, philosophies, practices, and art of the Jains. Additionally, it examines a range of contemporary issues related to death and dying, religious conflicts over sacred sites of pilgrimage, and ethical applications of non-violence to the problems of the modern world.
GE credits: AH, D, W (former) / AH, WC, WE (new)
SPRING 2021
RST 136. Topics in Jainism/Images of Jain Devotion in Texts and Art (CRN 62063): Taught online
Tues./Thurs. 9:00–10:20am
L. Dhanani
This course will examine the ways in which a range of Jain texts and works of art transmit devotional ideas and images. We will look at a range of primary texts, including literature, hymns, and epigraphy as well images in painting and sculpture to elaborate cosmic diagrams and pilgrimage maps. With these primary materials and the aid of secondary scholarship, we will explore themes such as verbal and visual iconicity, aesthetic culture, and notions of embodiment and presence. In doing so, students will not only learn about Jain devotional literature and art, but also ways to interpret them and to think critically about the relationship between text and image.
GE credits: AH (former) / AH, WC, WE (new)