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"Elements of Culture"

Assessments & Team Activities

Practice Research

Practice Instructions

Extra Credit

> Extra Credit Readings

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Extra Credit

Students who have kept up with and enjoyed all the readings may wish to earn extra credit to supplement their grades using any or all of the means listed below. However make sure to prioritize required assignments, since these are worth five to ten times more than extra credit supplements.

Additional Readings, Practices & Terms for **Unit 1**

In selecting a practice & terms for each unit, most people will be drawn to a practice identified in one of the readings guides and addressed in one of the Application Exercises done in class. Interested students may earn **EXTRA CREDIT**, however, by doing additional reading that either (A) provides additional information about one of the above mentioned practices or (B) describes an entirely different practice not yet considered in class. You can also add points to a TRA score by doing a written analysis of one of these optional sources.

B. Additional Practices NOT Considered in Class

  • salat & Sufi dhikr
    EB: "Islam: the Five Pillars" (p.11-16), "Sufism" (p.6-9)
    [or IAR, 65-76] + "How to Perform Salat" (web site)
    (reflection: Allah, Gabriel, grace)
    (community: Muhammad, hadith, fraternal orders)
  • Pakistani celebration of Muhammad's birth
    EB: "Islam: the Five Pillars" (p.11-16)
    & "Sufism" (p.6-9) [or IAR, 65-76] +
    "...Celebration of Muhammad's Birth" (RAP, 73-78)
    (same terms as for "salat & sufi dhikr" above )
  • Hindu image worship
    "Chola Bronzes from South India" (web site)
    + IAR, 49-51, 54-61
    (Brahman, Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, Rama, avatara)
    (temple, darshan, Shaivites, Vaishnavites)
  • Ramprasad Sen's Shakta poetry writing & singing
    "Bengali Songs to Kali" (RAP, 49-60)
    (
    reflection: brahman, Durga/Uma, Kali, shakti)
    (community: satsang, Durga Puja, Devi Mahatmya)
  • R.R. Varma's 19th century painting & prints
    "The Artist as Charismatic Individual" (ASA, 167-76)
    + "The Genius of Raja Ravi Varma" (on-line prints)
    [optional: Shakuntala (MOO, 232-48)]
    & Brhaddharma & Vishnu Puranas (IAR, 355-59)]
    (reflection: Hinduism, Shakuntala, Hindu gods/goddesses)
    (community: Royal Academy, Kerala, Puranas, pandits)
  • storytelling & worship of Sitala
    "...the Smallpox Goddess" (RAP, 79-87) + IAR 53-56
    (reflection: Sitala, Manasa, Shakti, Kali)
    (community: Bengal, smallpox, Krshnarama, left-handed worship)
  • medieval Jain storytelling
    "Stories of Renunciation" (RAP, 88-93) + IAR, 101-108
    [optional: "Gandhi's Favorite Hymns" (web site)]
    (reflection: Jina, jiva, karma)
    (community: confession, Svetambara, M.K. Gandhi)
  • formal poetry study in medieval Bengal
    "The Treasury of Well-Turned Verse" (MOO, 316-28)
    (reflection: beauty, time, Kama, god of love)
    (community: Jagaddala, peasants/farmers, monastery)
  • designing and building imperial Mughal tombs
    "Orthodoxy, Innovation & Revival" (ASA, 101-15)
    (reflection: God, death, nature)
    (community: Mughal dynasty, Khusraw, saints' tombs)
  • Rajasthani royal portrait painting
    "Timeless Symbols: Royal Portraits..." (ASA, 116-26)
    (reflection: eternity, time, nature, reality)
    (community: Rajput, Mughals, darbar, Holi)
  • designing the new city of Chandigarh
    "The East-West Opposition in Chandigarh..." (ASA, 177-88)
    (reflection: modernity, Phoenix, Indian nation)
    (community: Nehru, partition, M.K. Gandhi
  • modern Theravada meditation & ascetic practice
    "What is Theravada Buddhism" + "Ajaan Sao's Teaching"
    (reflection: karma, duhkha, interdependent arising, nirvana)
    (community: sangha, Theravada, Sri Lanka)
  • modern vedanta ascetic practice & reflection
    Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, chapter 12 (IAR, 362-63)
    "Vedanta Monasticism" (web site) & IAR, 31-40, 46-48 & 94
    (reflection: brahman, karma, purusha)
    (community: samnyasa, Vivekananda, Vedanta society)

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