nehsummerseminar.bard.eduNEH Summer Seminar 2018

-- Skip to main content. Menu About Bard College Admission Academics Campus Life Bard Network Civic Engagement News+Events The Bhagavad Gita: Ancient Poem, Modern Readers NEH Menu About NEH Testimonials -- Director Visiting Scholars Program of Study Program Schedule Reading List Applying Application NEH Eligibility Practical Information Home Application deadline: March 1, 2018 NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers July 9–27, 2018, Yale University Richard H. Davis, Director “In the morning,” wrote Henry David Thoreau, describing his time at Walden Pond, “I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavat Geeta, since whose composition years of the gods have elapsed, and in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.” In this three-week seminar, we too will bathe our intellects in the philosophy of the Gita. We will engage in an intensive study of this seminal work, both in its original context and as it has continued to live through the readings and reinterpretations of modern thinkers, Indian, English, and American. College and university teachers, including non-tenure track or adjunct faculty, are invited to apply. It will be suited to faculty in any humanistic discipline; no prior knowledge of Hinduism or South Asian languages is expected. Mural depicting B. G. Tilak composing his Bhagavad Gita commentary while in Mandalay Prison. The Bhagavad Gita: A Biography written by Richard H. Davis The Bhagavad Gita Written in the early centuries CE, the Bhagavad Gita took shape within the massive epic Mahabharata, and offered a profound reflection on the moral, philosophical, and religious issues at the heart of the epic. It offers a concise and attractive point of entry for the study of Hinduism. Though composed in classical India, the Bhagavad Gita has become an indisputably modern work of global range. From its first English rendering in 1785, the Gita has circulated widely throughout the world. It has engaged modern American readers as diverse as Henry David Thoreau, T. S. Eliot, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Aldous Huxley. During the past 150 years, the Gita has served as a key work for political leaders and religious thinkers in India, including Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghosh, B. G. Tilak, and Mahatma Gandhi. Disclaimer Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed on this website, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Contact For further information contact: Richard Davis, Project Director Email: nehgitaseminar@bard.edu Bard College Campus Road, PO Box 5000 Annandale-on-Hudson New York 12504-5000 Phone: 800-BARDCOL Admission Phone: 845-758-7472 E-mail: admission@bard.edu ©2019 Bard College...