First ever online Hindu course (From Asian Image)

First ever online Hindu course

4:31pm Wednesday 4th February 2009

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The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies has launched an online version of its Understanding Hindu Identity course.

The course, is part of the Centre's long-running Continuing Education initiative.

Understanding Hindu Identity consists of seven sessions each of which covers a fundamental aspect of Hinduism including scripture, practice, caste and gender, and modern trends in Hinduism.

Each session has extensive class notes and a video lecture backed up by online discussion forums and the guidance of experienced tutors.

The new online course is closely modelled on classroom courses taught to over 400 students by the OCHS for the past seven years in Oxford, Leicester, Harrow, Neasden, Ilford, and Birmingham.

"I attended the OCHS Hindu Studies Course in Harrow and found it so interesting that I applied for graduate studies at Oxford. I want to use my qualification to help invigorate the intellectual life of my community."Bhavisha Tailor, MSt, Oxon.

OCHS Director, Shaunaka Rishi Das, says the course, "is a way of giving back to the communities that have so generously made the work of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies possible.

In Oxford we bring Hindu thought to academia as a coherent and systematic group of philosophies and theologies and as a living tradition that has much to contribute to modern society. This course follows the highest standards of scholarship and delivers them back to the communities in an easily accessible way."

Successful completion of the course entitles students to 10 CATS points which can be counted towards a UK higher education degree.

It also aims to develop communities of learning. OCHS Continuing Education Director, Dr Nick Sutton: "We've taught these courses in classrooms since 2002 and the greatest value most students receive is being part of a vibrant but structured discussion of all the facets of Hinduism. The web discussions in the online course replicate this well."

The course is available for registration now at www.ochs.org.uk/ced.

The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (www.ochs.org.uk) is an academy for the study of all Hindu traditions at Oxford University. Continuing Education is one of its main priorities and two further courses, "The Vedas and the Upanishads" and "The Mahabharata and the Ramayana" are being prepared for delivery this year.

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