‘Sikhism Through Its Scripturesʼ | Harvard’s online course begins today

‘Sikhism Through Its Scripturesʼ | Harvard’s online course begins today

Harvard has launched an online course ‘Sikhism Through Its Scripturesʼ. The course is a part of ongoing series (‘World Religions Through Scripturesʼ) from Harvard on various religions of the world. The course is available for free and as of now, more than 1.30 lakh students have registered for the course which will be taught in online mode only, said Harpreet Singh, a scholar of Sikhism and South Asian Religious Traditions at Harvard University. The series originally started in 2016 and for the first time Sikhism has been added after the university received a high demand for the same. “Many complained that why Sikhism is not included in the series. So it has been included this year,” he said. Other religions in series include Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism. The majority of applicants who have registered for the course are non-Sikhs and are from the US, UK, Europe, Australia and other countries. “Almost 90% of applications that we have received are from non-Sikhs. People from different backgrounds living in the US, UK, Europe, Australia and other countries have registered for this four-week online course. This shows people from different ethnics and countries want to learn about Sikhism,” he added. The classes begin today and the online reading material will be uploaded for the students which they will be able to access by using their login ID and password. The course will be taught by a team of three experts -- Harpreet Singh, Damanpreet Singh and Ravinder Singh and they will answer the queries of the students after the end of each session. The course will be divided into eight sessions which will cover the 38 stanzas of Sikh text Japji Sahib. The text was composed by the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev. Other topics in the course will include: Place of Sri Guru Granth SahibThe Sikh scripture in Sikh lifeGurmat SangitThe Sikh musical tradition as represented in the Sikh scripture and its Cultural ContextThe aesthetics of Sikhi, including literature, art, and musicThe political dimensions of Sikh scripture and its impact on the evolution of Sikhs as a Panth or communityIntroduction to Sikh traditionsAnand Karaj (marriage)Mul Mantar- The Sikh Creedal statement among others “The best part of course is that an applicant can access course material anytime and leave their messages or queries which we will reply to. It doesn’t demand fixed hours but applicants have to devote 5 to 10 hours a week. On day 1, we will be starting with Guru Nanak Dev, introduction to Sikhism and Mool Mantra (Ik Onkar Satnam),” said.

source https://www.brainbuxa.com/education-news/sikhism-through-its-scriptures-harvards-online-course-begins-today-8575