Professor Singh Religious Studies

Lovejoy Annex 346; tel: 872-3175 Office hours: M 11-2.45; T/W/Th 12-1

1. Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient
2. Harbans Singh, The Heritage of the Sikhs
3. Bhai Vir Singh, Sundari
4. Khushwant Singh, A Train to Pakistan
5. W.H. McLeod, Sikhism
6. Singh, Nikky-Guninder Kaur, The Name of My Beloved
7. Bapsi Sidhwa, Cracking India
8. In addition, there will be materials distributed in class and books on reserve in Miller.

   Requirements:

   Weekly class participation and written reponses (40%)

   Mid-term examination --November 3 (30%)

   Final Paper (30%)

   Sept 8 Introduction: Methodology and approach

   Sept 15 Sikhism and its representation in modern literature
   

   Reading:Ondaatje, The English Patient

   Compare and contrast the portrayal of Kirpal Singh in Ondaatje's novel and the Hollywood version.

   Sept 22 Rituals

   • Slide show: Centrality of the Guru Granth in the Sikh way of life
   • Worship
   • Rituals
   • Rites of Passage
   • Celebrations and Commemorations
   • Festivals
   • Sacred Space
   • Resonances of Granthian poetry in everyday life
   • Readings:
     1. Nikky Singh, Why did I not Light up the Fire?:
     2. The Feminization of Ritual in Sikhism"
     3. Nikky Singh, Sikhism (chapters 6 and 7)
     4. McLeod, Sikhism (chapters 7, 10, 11)
     5. Handout XX (Sikh Rahitmaryada and theory)

   Sept 29 Sikhism and Its Categorizations

   Readings 1-5 are in Miller:
   1. Charles Wilkins, "The Seeks and their College at Patna"
   2. Mark Juergensmeyer,"The Forgotten Tradition: Sikhism in the Study of World Religion" in Sikh Studies: Comparative Perspectives in a Changing Tradition (Berkeley, 1979)pp 13-23.
   3. Paul Courtright, "Syncretism and the Formation of the Sikh Tradition" in Punjab Past and Present, pp. 417-432.
   4. Stephen Dunning, "The Sikh Religion: An Examination of Some of the Western Studies in the Journal of Religious Studies, pp. 1-23.
   5. Nikky Singh, "The Myth of the Founder: The Janamsakhis and Sikh Tradition" in History of Religions (University of Chicago, 1992) pp. 329-343.
   6. Guest Speaker: Brian Axel
   October 6 Theological Concepts
   • Ultimate Reality
   • Creation
   • Word
   • Hukam
   • Karma
   • Nadari
   • Haumai
   • Nam
   • Readings:
     1. Selections from Nikky Singh, The Name of My Beloved pp. 45-72; 113-128; 163-170
     2. Harbans Singh, Heritage of the Sikhs, pp. 13-50
     3. H.W. McLeod, Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion (Delhi: Oxford Univ. Press, 1968) Chapter 5: "The Teachings of Guru Nanak"
   Oct. 13 Sacred Literature and the Artistic Imagination
   • "Sukhmani" inThe Name of My Beloved, pp.173-240
   • "Barah Maha" inThe Name of My Beloved, pp.145-159
   • English translations of Sikh Scripture:The Name of My Beloved, pp. 31-40;
     
   • Sikh Scriptural Music
     • The Word as music
     • Musical Patterns used in the Guru Granth
     • Amrita Rasa as the highest from of Religio-Aesthetic experience

Oct. 20: Guru Gobind Singh and the Crystallization of the Sikh Tradition
Readings:
1. The Name of My Beloved, pp. 75-111; 131-135
2. Harbans Singh, The Heritage of the Sikhs, Chapter 6
3. Nikky Singh, Feminine Principle in the Sikh Vision of the Transcendent, Chapter 4

Oct. 27: Sikhism: Empire and Decadence
1. Harbans Singh, Heritage of the Sikhs, pp. 144-186;
2. Selections from Queen Victoria's Maharajah: Duleep Singh

Nov. 3 ***MID-TERM EXAMINATION

Nov 10 Exegesis: Poetry through Poetry
Readings:
• Bhai Vir Singh, Sundari and selections from his poetry will be handed out
• Nikky Singh, Chapter in Texts in Context

Nov. 17 The Partition of Punjab: 1947 and Mahatma Gandhi and the Sikhs

Readings:
• Khushwant Singh, A Train to Pakistan
• Bapsi Sidhwa, Cracking India

Dec 1 Sikhism in North America


Guest Speaker: Cynthia Mahmood McLeod, Sikhism (chapter 13: Sikhs of the Diaspora)

First Draft of Term Paper due December 1

Dec 8 Student Presentations