Arth

June 30th to July 27th 2013 | Application Deadline: April 30th | Ages: 18-21 Arth

Religions in India are pervasive social phenomena. To understand this region, it becomes almost an imperative to grapple with its myriad religious ideas and practices, many of which are very ancient. Many approaches and angles of study are helpful. What forms do religions take in India? What are their histories and mythologies? What do their philosophies and rituals mean to those who practice them? What are their implications for those who don’t? What does it mean to live in a secular country with a history of both tolerance and violence between religious communities? We think that your participation in this programme of study will help you to answer some of these questions and enable you to formulate some of your own. The
course also aims at building your self-awareness and acquiring ideas and tools for examining your own societies with reference to religious experiences and fundamentalisms, secularism, political and economic implications, divisiveness, war and peace. The UWC Mahindra College located in the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hot spot and world heritage site, lends itself to this programme of study and introspection. Our travel destinations in northern India will include Varanasi, Amritsar and other places with rich traditions of worship. We will also visit individuals and organisations immersed in the study of their respective religions. Note that, we offer similiar but less intensive course for high school-level participants: http://www.uwcmahindracollege.org/images/stories/religion%20in%20india%20flyer.jpg