M.A. Cultural and Religious History of South Asia

Focus Area:
Cultural and Religious History of South Asia (Classical Indology)

B.A. South Asian Studies is an interdisciplinary programme of the South Asia Institute (SAI). Apart from certain mandatory courses, a student can select her or his focus areas. These are subject areas that are offered by different departments of the SAI.

Our department offers modules for the focus area Cultural and Religious History of South Asia (Classical Indology). A student who aims to pursue classical indology for further studies can select different modules from this area of focus and combine it with other subject areas.

There are five major blocks for a B.A. student who wishes to pursue classical indology. A main foundational block is dedicated towards intensive learning of Sanskrit. Apart from that, one can also learn other languages, e.g. Pali, Singhalese and Nepali (offered by our department) as well as other languages of South Asia offered by the department of Modern South Asian Languages and Literatures. The third block consists of lectures and seminars on subject topics. A student focussing on classical indology can write her/his B.A. Thesis in that subject area. Finally, courses from other focus areas can be selected and there are some introductory and practice oriented courses that are mandatory.

A strong foundation in Sanskrit language is a prerequiste for any serious engagement with the cultural and religious history of South Asia. The Intensive Sanskrit training modules aim to equip a student with a full fledged competency to read, analyze and interpret primary Sanskrit texts from diverse subject areas.

A whole year (two semesters) is dedicated for the foundational Sanskrit course. Beginning from the scratch a student learns the grammar, vocabulary, usage, linguistic peculiarities and the Devanāgarī script. The course takes place four times a week, with each meeting of 90 mins. duration (8 SWS).

Next year onwards a series of primary, intermediary and advanced readings provide ample opportunity for a good exposure in textual and literary sources from diverse areas. The two advanced text based seminars lay special emphasis on philological techniques and methods of critical readings of texts and history of ideas.

Apart from Sanskrit, the B.A. programme encourages to learn another classical or modern language from South Asia. Our department offers foundational courses in Pali, Singhalese and Nepali.

The introductory courses (I & II) span the whole year in which a student learns the language and script from the scratch. The next years two courses (III & IV) introduce reading, analyzing and interpreting textual and literary works.

This block is designed to give introductory and specialized topics on the cultural and religious history of South Asia. The lecture series covering the first year introduce different aspects of the religious life in South Asia. The seminar on introduction to Indology gives an overview of the methodological and topical overview of the subject area.

Two modules each having two seminars provide an opportunity to take up specific topics in an analytic and discursive manner, where students are trained to present and put in writing their reflections in an academically appropriate way.

Finally, a student opting for the Cultural and Religious History of South Asia (Classical Indology) as her/his area of focus can write her/his B.A. Thesis on a topic from this field or choose a topic for her/his oral exams.