Lectures and Notes in the Study of Religion

Lecture on Methodology in S. R. Methodology

Notes on using Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves as an aid to exploring methodology in SR Go to Dances With Wolves

On encounter and representation of 'the other', see my notes and questions on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

See my L'Etranger: A Fictional View of Colonial Africa for critical discussion of Camus' classic novel as an example of a colonial text Camus' L'Etranger

Lecture on Introduction to Hindu World View Go to India Intro.

Lecture of the Upanishads Go to the Upanishads

Lecture on Ritual in Hinduism Go to Hindu Rites

Lecture on Hindu Scripture. This lecture accompanies readings from chapter three of Ian Markham's A World Religions Reader,Oxford, Basil Blackwell, revised ed 2000 especially pp 62 - 96 Go to Hindu Texts

See my notes on Gita Mehta's A River Sutra A River Sutra

See a more detailed lecture on the Mahabharata and the BhagavadGita Go to the Great Epic of India Lecture

Lecture on Gender in Hinduism Hinduism and Gender

Lecture on Unity and Diversity in Hinduism/Modern Expressions: An Overview Go to Unity and Diversity

Lecture on Hindu Reform Movements Modern Expressions of Hinduism

Essay and Questions on A Passage to India book by E. M Forster (1924); film David Lean (1984) Go to Passage to India

Essay and Questions on City of Joy City of Joy: A Religious Studies Perspective

Essay and Questions on Vikram Chandra's novel red earth and pouring rain red earth and pouring rain

See my 'Kipling page' for notes on Kim and other Kipling material Rudyard Kipling's India

For my review of Mira Nair's film Mississippi Masala on religion in Diaspora and the struggle for identity, Go to Mississippi Masala

Mercea Eliade's novel Bengal Nights explores cross-cultural encounter in the context of a romance. It is set in Calcutta in the 1930's Eliade's Bengali Nights

Lecture on Proto Buddhism (used with Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha which also helps to introduce Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism. Also used with readings from chapter four of Ian Markham's A World Religions Reader) Proto Buddhism .

For detailed analyses and discusion of the film, go to The Little Buddha

Overview Lecture of Buddhism After Siddhattha Buddhism's Spread and Development

Lecture on Mahavira and the Jain Tradition Go to Jain Lecture

Overview of the origins and development of Sikhism Go to Sikhism Lecture

The novel Monkey by Wu Ch'Eng-En (circa 1505 - 1589 CE; translated by Arthur Waley, NY, Grove Press, 1943) is based on the true story of a Buddhist monk who traveled from China to India in search of scriptures. In this lecture, I use the book to introduce Chinese Religion (especially Daoism and Buddhism) Go to Intro. to Religion in China

Introduction to Taoism Lecture on Taoism

Introduction to Confucianism, Religion or Philosphy? Go to Lectures on Confucianism

Here is a Religious Studies' Guide to the film The Last Emperor Go to The Last Emperor

Introduction to Religion in Japan Overview of Religion in Japan

Introductory Lecture on Islam Islam

Introduction to the Qur'an GO TO QUR'AN LECTURE

Overview lecture on Islam post 632 (Muhammad's death) Islam after Muhammad

Lecture on Modern Islam, Women and War Modern Islam and Contemporary Issues

A lecture on Islam in the USA, focusing mainly on 'black Islam' Go to Islam in the USA

For a review of Abdulrazak Gurnah's novel Paradise which, set in North East Africa, tells the story of encounter between Islam, African traditional religion and colonialism, click here

An more detailed exaination of war and jihad in Islam is offered in the following article(co-written with Gerol Kunkel) click here

My Introductory Lecture on Judaism in which I identify some essential elements in the construction of Jewish identity. The approach is mainly historical. This lecture finishes with the birth of Rabbinical Judaism Building Blocks in the Construction of Jewish Identity

Lecture on Jewish Unity and Diversity in the Modern World Modern Judaism

Notes on Kabbalah, or Jewish Mysticism Jewish Mysticism

Lecture on Holocaust Theology Holocaust Theology.

Lecture notes on the encounter in Asia between the Christian message about Jesus and Masters of Other Ways Go to Jesus Goes to Asia

I am adding notes to this pages.