Building Religious Literacy FIG
This faculty interest group (FIG) is part of the new religious literacy initiative at Austin Community College (ACC) and is brought to you by the Religious Literacy Working Group. We want to work our way through the Norton Anthology of World Religions. We will start with Islam in Spring 2021, and then cover a different world religion each semester for 6 total consecutive semesters. For Fall 2021, the Religious Literacy FIG will focus on Hinduism. Participants are welcome to participate in as many or as few semesters as they would like.
According to the Harvard Religious Literacy Project, religious literacy is “The ability to discern and analyze the fundamental intersections of religion and social, political, and cultural life through multiple lenses.” And, according to Wikipedia, “The importance of being religiously literate is increasing as globalization has created greater links and migration between societies of different faiths and cultures. It has been proposed that including religious literacy as an aspect of public education would improve social cohesion.” Find out more here.
The Fall 2021 meetings will focus on Hinduism. For more information, please contact Amy Velchoff (amy.velchoff@austincc.edu) or Carleen Sanchez (csanche1@asutincc.edu).
Meeting Dates and Topics
Topic 1: Introduction; Origins of Hinduism
Date & Time: September 24, 2021, 3 pm – 4 pm
Topic 2: The Age of Ferment
Date & Time: October 8, 2021, 3 pm – 4 pm
Topic 3: The Synthesis of Hinduism
Date & Time: October 22, 2021, 3 pm -4 pm
Topic 4: Vernacular Hinduism of the South
Date & Time: November 5, 2021, 3 pm – 4 pm
Topic 5: Vernacular Hinduism of the North
Date & Time: November 19, 2021, 3 pm – 4 pm
Topic 6: Current writings on Hinduism
Date & Time: December 3, 2021, 3 pm – 4 pm