RLB277 Women in the Hindu Culture

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2010
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Kateřina Rojková (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Dušan Lužný, Dr.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Lucie Čelková
Timetable
Wed 16:40–18:15 zruseno D51
Prerequisites (in Czech)
RLB28 Hinduism
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of this course is to familiarise students with problems of the position of Hindu women in the setting of religiously diverse Indian society. Particular lectures are based on the introduction to the cultural background of Hindu India, the traditional understanding of Hinduism linked to the perception of woman and womanhood, the status of a woman in the caste system, and marginally also outline the points of views of contemporary Indian women to feminism. The course draw on the perspective of the gender studies which tries to approach social processes on the basis of the polarity of man-woman and woman-man relationships.

At the end of this course the student should be able:
understand and explain some of the significant social problems which face present-day Hindu girls and women;
distinguish the situation of a social standing of women in the traditional and the modern concept of lived Hinduism;
discuss the actual conditions of the women issues in contemporary Indian society
make comparisions based on acquired knowledge about cultural differences in human values between western and eastern societies;
judge and appraise the impact of the religion on the position of women in the social ladder;
Syllabus
  • 0. Introduction to the course
  • 1. How is the life of Indian girls? Gender stereotypes in the childhood, unwanted girls
  • 2. Health care, education
  • 3. Dharma of Indian woman – marital ritual, arranged and love marriage, child marriage, dowry
  • 4. Violence in home, divorce
  • 5. To be a widow in India?
  • 6. Ritual position of a woman – taboo of the period, ritual suicide – satee
  • 7. Women in the caste society
  • 8. Sexuality
  • 9. Women vs Goddesses
  • 10. Paths of Indian feminism
  • 11. Indian women talk about feminism
  • 12. Final discussion
Literature
    required literature
  • Marková, Dagmar. Hrdinky Kámasútry. Historie indické ženy. Praha: Dar Ibn Rushd, 1998.
  • KNOTKOVÁ-ČAPKOVÁ, Blanka. Obrazy ženství v náboženských kulturách. Vyd. 1. Praha: Paseka, 2008, 351 s. ISBN 9788071858904. info
  • MICHAELS, Axel. Hinduism : past and present. Translated by Barbara Harshav. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, xvii, 429. ISBN 0691089531. info
    recommended literature
  • The Laws of Manu. Wendy Doniger + Brian K. Smith. New Delhi: Penguin books, 2000.
  • Cesty na druhý svet : smrť a posmrtný život v náboženstvách sveta. Edited by Milan Kováč - Attila Kovács - Tatiana Podolinská. Vyd. 1. Bratislava: Chronos, 2005, 326 s. ISBN 8089027156. info
Teaching methods
Discussions, lectures, homeworks – commentaries of the compulsory readings
Assessment methods
Commentaries of the compulsory readings and preparation for the class discussion;
presentation of the essay; submission of a final research paper.
The final evaluation has the form of colloquim. The colloqium is granted to a student when she/he has realized all of the above mentioned outcomes.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučující.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2010/RLB277