Tagore and the academic study of religion

• Authors: Khan Abrahim H.
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), at about the start of the nineteenth century, was advocat‐ ing that the study about religion has to be included in university‐level education in the East. The university he envisioned and founded (Visva‐Bharati) included in its curriculum such a study. Shortly a er India’s regaining independence in 1947 and becoming a secular state, that institution was inaugurated as a central university with an advanced institute for philosophy and the study of religion. This essay answers whether his understanding of studying religion would accommodate the approach to the academic study of religion associated with the mod‐ ern Western research university. It also inquires the extent that the curriculum for the study of religion at Visva‐Bharati evidences such an approach. The answers it advances draw primarily on his two essays, Eastern University and Hindu University, which o er his vision of univer‐ sity level education; on commissioned reports for higher level education in the new India as a secular state; on developments in the academic study of religion in the West, especially the United States; on the relatively recent revised curriculum for such a study at Visva‐Bharati University; and on ideas of social imaginary and the comparative study of religion articulated by Western scholars.

Keywords

EN

Rabindranath Tagore; Visva‐Bharati; comparative study of religions; social imaginary; human person; truth; dharmic traditions; rational inquiry; modern research university

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny im. KEN w Krakowie, Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii
• Journal: ARGUMENT: Biannual Philosophical Journal
• Year: 2016
• Volume: Tom: 6
• Issue: Numer: 1
• Pages: 39-53

Dates

published

2016

Contributors

author

Khan Abrahim H.

• University of Toronto

References

• Albright, M. (2006). The mighty and the almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World affairs. New York: HarperCollins.
• Bhadury, P. (2013). Rbindranath Tagore — Visionary Sage of the World. Alchemist, 1(3), 16–25. Retrieved from: http://www.ravinderravi.in/AJH%20Aug.pdf#page=17 (14.03.2015).
• Cavendish, R. (1998). The Treaty of Westphalia. History Today, 48(10). Retrieved from: http://www.historytoday.com/richard‑cavendish/treaty‑westphalia (14.03.2015).
• Dewald, J. (2004). Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the early modern world. New York:Charles Scribner’s Sons. Retrieved from: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Peace_of_Westphalia.aspx (14.03.2015).
• Hart, D.G. (1999). The university gets religion. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.History (2015) — History of international and area studies at Yale. Retrieved from: http://www.yale.edu/printer/bulletin/htmlfiles/macmillan/history‑of‑international‑and‑area‑studies‑at‑yale.html (13.09.2015).
• Jeppe, J. (2003). The study of religion in a new key. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
• Kantorowicz, E. (1957). The king’s two bodies: A study in Medieval political theology. Princeton:Princeton University Press.
• Khan, A.H. (2005). The study of religion: The academic study of religion in South Asia (pp. 8789–8792). In: L. Jones, M. Eliade, Ch.J. Adams et al. The encyclopaedia of religion (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan.
• Khan, A.H. (2012). Interdependence of religion and mainstream international diplomacy (pp. 190–194). In: M. Mahdavi & W.A. Knight (Eds.). Towards the dignity of difference. Farnham: Ashgate.
• Ludden, D. (2000). Area studies in the age of globalization. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 6, 1–22. Retrieved from: http://www.frontiersjournal.com/issues/vol6/vol6–01_Ludden.htm (13.09.2015).
• Mukherjee, A. (2015). Religion as a separate area of study in India (pp. 83–103). In: L.G. Beaman & L. van Arragon (Eds.). Religion and education: Whose religion?. Leiden: Brill.
• Ramanujan, A.K. (1990). Is there and Indian way of thinking? An informal essay (pp. 41–58). In: M. Marriott (Ed.). India through Hindu categories. New Delhi: Sage. Report (1962) — The Report of the University Education Commission. December 1948 — August 1949 (Vol. 1). Ministry of Education, Government of India. Retrieved from: www.teindia.nic.in/Files/Reports/CCR/Report%20of%20the%20University%20Education%20Commission.pdf (14.03.2015).
• Rorty, R. (1979). Philosophy and the mirror of nature. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Sikka, S. (2015). What is Indian ‘religion’? How should it be taught? (pp. 107–125). In: L.G. Beaman & L. van Arragon (Eds.). Religion and education: Whose religion. Leiden: Brill.
• Smith, W.C. (1959). Comparative religion: wither — and why? (pp. 31–58). In: M. Eliade & J. M. Kitagawa (Eds.). The history of religions: Essays in methodology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Tagore, R. (1961a). The religion of Man. New York: Macmillan.
• Tagore, R. (1961b). Towards a universal Man. New York: Asia Publishing House.
• Tagore, R. (1971). Creative unity. Delhi: Macmillan Pocket Tagore Edition.
• Tagore, R. (1972). Sadhana. Tucson: Omen Communications.
• Tagore, R. (1973). Gitanjali. Delhi: Macmillian Pocket Tagore Edition.
• Taylor, Ch. (2000). On social imaginary (ch. 3). Electronic document retrieved from: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/swiss/archive/Taylor.pdf (14.03.2015).
• Tagore and the academic study of religion 53
• Taylor, Ch. (2007). A secular age. Cambridge: Belnap Press.
• Taylor, M.C. (1982). Disfiguring: Art, architecture, religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Taylor, M.C. (1984). Erring: A postmodern a/theology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Wach, J. (1958). The comparative study of religions. New York: Columbia University Press. White Paper (2008) — The religion major and liberal education. Religious Studies News, 23(4).Retrieved from: https://www.aarweb.org/about/teagleaar‑white‑paper (14.03.2015).
• Wiebe, D. (2006). An eternal return all over again: The religious conversion continues. Journal of The American Academy of Religion, 74(3), 674–696