In this course, we will look at some of the longstanding issues in comparative constitutional law by looking at the place of Hinduism in the legal architecture of India. While we will briefly look at the archive of classical Hindu law and subsequent colonial codification of it in highly limited forms, our focus will be on a range of issues of religious jurisprudence that arise in modern India. We will read case law as well as secondary scholarship on a range of topics including separation of powers, judicial reform, state neutrality and secularity, constitutional design, constitutional interpretation, religious exemption. A preliminary course on Hinduism recommended.

This seminar introduces the ancient Indian Upanisads, some of the oldest and most famous primary texts of Vedic and Hindu India, ranging from before 700 BCE to 200 BCE and later. Select later Upanisads too will be considered, and the reception of the Upanisads in the Vedanta traditions, both nondualist and theistic nondualist. Topics include: the nature of self and of absolute reality; knowledge as transformative; the limits of language; the role of God in a nondualist worldview; meditation practice; death and rebirth; knowledge and ethics. Texts will be read in translation. No language or course prerequisites, but students will be encouraged to make use of any such expertise. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1061.