Harvard Divinity School - Hinduism

[Malthusian]

Hi all,

I haven't applied but am considering it (definitely not for Fall 2016).

I'm very interested in studying Hinduism and was hoping to get a little more information about it at HDS. From my understanding, three members of faculty are specialised in Hinduism: Professors Clooney, Eck and Monius. It seems that a lot of the research done on Hinduism is from a comparative perspective, with both Professors Clooney and Eck relating it to Catholicism. 

How are applicants who have an interest in Hinduism perceived when they apply to either the MTS or MDiv?

Thank you.

[theophany]

One thing that HDS is pretty bad about making clear is that it relies on faculty from various departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for teaching. So, you should also add Parima Patil (in the Dept of South Asian Studies) to the list, and potentially others from that department. Prof. Eck doesn't teach graduate level courses all that often, so it largely is Clooney and Monius (and Patil). Clooney is interested in the comparative side of things, but Monius is less interested in that project (except as it is relevant in the case of Hinduism and Buddhism in South Asia).

I'm not sure what you mean by how applicants are perceived. But, for what it's worth, if you plan on pursuing PhD work (and probably even if you don't), a lot of your masters program will be spent in language study.

[Malthusian]

On 1/10/2016 at 6:56 AM, theophany said:

One thing that HDS is pretty bad about making clear is that it relies on faculty from various departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for teaching. So, you should also add Parima Patil (in the Dept of South Asian Studies) to the list, and potentially others from that department. Prof. Eck doesn't teach graduate level courses all that often, so it largely is Clooney and Monius (and Patil). Clooney is interested in the comparative side of things, but Monius is less interested in that project (except as it is relevant in the case of Hinduism and Buddhism in South Asia).

I'm not sure what you mean by how applicants are perceived. But, for what it's worth, if you plan on pursuing PhD work (and probably even if you don't), a lot of your masters program will be spent in language study.

Thank you so much for your help!

For the second part, my understanding is that HDS places a great deal of emphasis on attracting students from a variety of backgrounds and research interests. I'm guessing that they won't want to fill up their cohort with students who just want to study one thing. Therefore, how popular is Hindusm at HDS and is it a religion that many are interested in?

[theophany]

On January 11, 2016 at 4:11 AM, Malthusian said:

For the second part, my understanding is that HDS places a great deal of emphasis on attracting students from a variety of backgrounds and research interests. I'm guessing that they won't want to fill up their cohort with students who just want to study one thing. Therefore, how popular is Hindusm at HDS and is it a religion that many are interested in?

Your understanding is correct about how HDS bills itself—whether or not that is accurate is something I'm not wholly sure of. I'm in the PhD in a different field, so I don't totally know what the masters student makeup is on that front. Anecdotally, I hear much more about Buddhism than about Hinduism. Looking at course listings for 2015–16, this is what I've found: a religious diversity class including a section on India (Diana Eck), a course on embodiment and aesthetics in Hinduism (Finnian Moore Gerety), a comparative theology course (Frank Clooney), an undergrad/grad lecture on Hindu art and culture (Diana Eck), a seminar on the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (Frank Clooney), and then language courses. Ultimately, there is enough there to make a sensible course of study. That said, Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism, and to a lesser extent Islam make up the bulk of the course offerings.

Edited January 13, 2016 by theophany

[Malthusian]

On 10/01/2016 at 6:56 AM, theophany said:

One thing that HDS is pretty bad about making clear is that it relies on faculty from various departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for teaching. So, you should also add Parima Patil (in the Dept of South Asian Studies) to the list, and potentially others from that department. Prof. Eck doesn't teach graduate level courses all that often, so it largely is Clooney and Monius (and Patil). Clooney is interested in the comparative side of things, but Monius is less interested in that project (except as it is relevant in the case of Hinduism and Buddhism in South Asia).

I'm not sure what you mean by how applicants are perceived. But, for what it's worth, if you plan on pursuing PhD work (and probably even if you don't), a lot of your masters program will be spent in language study.

Thank you!

[honeybee23]

Hi, I attended HDS DixEx program last November. It was a wonderful experience. About 50 students are selected to spend 2-3 days in HDS. Students can attend classes, meet faculty, explore HDS, etc. I would definitely apply to DivEX to see if HDS is a right fit for you.

 

All the best wishes.