ASIA 180 - Yoga: A Twisted History

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as RELI 180) Yoga: Is it physical or mental? Is it religious, secular, spiritual? Is it ancient or modern? We all know what yoga looks like—or at least we think we do—but while yoga has become an indelible part of transnational physical culture, many of us would struggle to explain what it is or where it comes from. What many in the U.S. call yoga—a postural activity that takes place largely in classes and that is practiced by certain social groups—takes root in a whole range of religious traditions in South Asia, develops in conversation with Western practices and ideologies, and experiences a firm relocation in India in the twentieth century while continuing to proliferate in the West. Interrogating the contemporary history of yoga requires confronting questions about religion, colonialism, body culture, and capitalism. Engaging with early and premodern articulations of yoga means coming into contact with South Asia’s religious traditions and superlative intellectual history. Students in this course achieve two analytical objectives: they are able to relate sources of yoga (written and visual texts, as well as experiences) to a historically and geographically broad set of conceptions about what yoga is and does; and they are able to make arguments about the idea and practice of yoga that are grounded in primary evidence, supported by secondary scholarship, and enriched by an awareness of historical, social, and cultural contexts. Nell Hawley.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS