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HINDUISM STUDIES

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3185

Mind, Spirituality, and Mental Health in Hinduism II

BTI Category

Semester

Hinduism Studies

SP25

This two semester course will interrogate the various ways in which discussions on Hinduism have been included or have illuminated issues in the contemporary psychological sciences. We will read how different intellectual approaches ranging from psychoanalysis, folk psychology, cognitive anthropology, global mental health, and psychedelic sciences engage the archives of Hinduism as well as how ideas and practices from Hinduism are employed to provide an alternative to the therapeutic and treatment registers found in these approaches. The second part of the course in the Spring semester will be more empirically oriented and will look at contemporary work in global mental health, medical anthropology, and public health to understand the assessment, design, and implementation issues related to the coverage and scaling of mental health services in India. Taking HDS 3184 Mind, Spiritual, and Mental Health in Hinduism I in the Fall semester is recommended though not required.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Swayam Bagaria

T

5:00pm-6:50pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3750

The Bhagavad Gita and Its Greatest Commentary

BTI Category

Semester

Hinduism Studies

SP25

The Bhagavad Gita is a very Hindu classic of devotion and theology. Deep and complex, it has received extensive classical and contemporary interpretation, as to what it means, and how it affects life in any time and place. The seminar reads the Gita itself, and then interprets it according to the classic commentary of Madhusudana Sarasvati (16th century), who sought to synthesize liberative knowledge, detached action, yoga, with love of Krishna - in essence melding together Nondualist and Devotional readings of the Gita. Other approaches too will be noticed. This course is meant for students interested in closely reading a great Hindu text, honoring both its past and its present. Sanskrit useful but not required; some background knowledge of Hinduism helpful. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1615.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Francis Clooney

T

5:00pm-6:50pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

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