Overview
The history of yoga as a spiritual and physical discipline in India; how yoga has changed as it has spread to the rest of the world.
Yoga has deep roots in India as both a physical and a spiritual discipline. In the last hundred years, it has also become a global phenomenon, practised by millions of people who are otherwise unconnected with India and its religious traditions. Understanding how yoga was transformed from a discipline almost exclusively practised by celibate male ascetics to form of exercise popular with people from all walks of life—and predominantly women—is the main goal of this paper.
About this paper
| Paper title | Yoga: Ancient and Modern |
|---|---|
| Subject | Religious Studies |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1
(Distance learning)
Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Delivery mode | The Distance Learning offering of this paper is taught and assessed remotely |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $1,103.10 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- 18 points from 200 level RELS papers
- Restriction
- RELS 218
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music, Theology
- Eligibility
Open to all students with an interest in yoga. May not be credited together with RELS 218.
- Contact
- Teaching staff
Professor Will Sweetman
- Textbooks
Anya Foxen and Christa Kuberry, Is This Yoga? Concepts,
Histories, and the Complexities of Modern Practice (Routledge, 2021).
Readings from this and other texts will also be provided through eReserve.
- Course outline
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Research.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
- Explain the origins and development of yoga as a spiritual and physical discipline and its formal expression as a philosophical school
- Analyse the place of physical austerities in spiritual practice using multiple theoretical frameworks
- Explain the impact of colonialism on the practice of yoga in India as part of the development of wider ideological framings of Indian culture
Critically discuss the issues arising from the global spread of yoga
- Assessment details
In-class (online for distance students) quizzes (20%)
3,000 word essay (50%)
Final exam (3 hours, 30%)
The use of AI is strictly forbidden on this paper.
Overview
The history of yoga as a spiritual and physical discipline in India; how yoga has changed as it has spread to the rest of the world.
Yoga has deep roots in India as both a physical and a spiritual discipline. In the last hundred years, it has also become a global phenomenon, practised by millions of people who are otherwise unconnected with India and its religious traditions. Understanding how yoga was transformed from a discipline almost exclusively practised by celibate male ascetics to form of exercise popular with people from all walks of life-and predominantly women-is the main goal of this paper.
About this paper
| Paper title | Yoga: Ancient and Modern |
|---|---|
| Subject | Religious Studies |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1
(Distance learning)
Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Delivery mode | The Distance Learning offering of this paper is taught and assessed remotely |
| Domestic Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for 2027 have not yet been set |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- 18 points from 200 level RELS papers
- Restriction
- RELS 218
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music, Theology
- Eligibility
Open to all students with an interest in yoga. May not be credited together with RELS 218.
- Contact
- Teaching staff
- Textbooks
Anya Foxen and Christa Kuberry. (2021). Is This Yoga? Concepts, Histories and the Complexities of Modern Practice. Routledge.
Readings from this and other texts will also be provided through eReserve.
- Course outline
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Research.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
- Explain the origins and development of yoga as a spiritual and physical discipline and its formal expression as a philosophical school.
- Analyse the place of physical austerities in spiritual practice using multiple theoretical frameworks.
- Explain the impact of colonialism on the practice of yoga in India as part of the development of wider ideological framings of Indian culture.
- Critically discuss the issues arising from the global spread of yoga.
- Assessment details
In-class (online for distance students) quizzes = 20%
3,000 word essay = 50%
Final exam (3 hours) = 30%
The use of AI is strictly forbidden on this paper.