The University of Houston ( UH) defended its articles of a program on the Hindu religion, and said that the program is grounded in the academic discipline of spiritual studies, which uses certain wording, such as “fundamentalism”.
The school further stated that studying extremism is not an act of wisdom or discrimination but a way to know how religions evolve.
This speech came in response to a student complaint about a training titled” Lived Hindu Religion”.
” The University of Houston ( UH) values academic freedom, which includes allowing faculty to explore complex and sometimes challenging topics in their teaching. While UH does not usually examine specific lectures, the college maintains oversight of the curriculum to maintain it meets established intellectual and educational standards”, the university said in a statement.
” The course is grounded in the scientific discipline of spiritual studies, which uses certain terminology– for as’ fundamentalism’ –as scientific tools to understand spiritual movements across traditions, including those rooted in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. These educational words can have various meanings from how they are used in open or political conversation, which often leads to misunderstandings”, it added.
The University of Houston’s Lived Hindu Religion training, which is offered to students website, had sparked the discussion. The video courses are delivered by Professor Aaron Michael Ullrey regular.
In a statement, the university explained that in theological studies, fundamentalism refers to a movement that claims to preserve the’ real’ or unique version of a religion, asserting a rigid, ahistorical, literal interpretation of scripture, dogmas or ideologies, typically in reaction to modern changes.
It also said that studying fundamentalism is not an act of judgment or bias but a way to understand how religions evolve and identify through discourse analysis.
” The course applies academic frameworks to analyze how Hinduism, the religion of those who revere Hindu gods, like other world religions, has developed in historical, social and political contexts. Professors are encouraged to connect course content to current events when appropriate, as long as it is done in a balanced way that improves understanding of course content. For example, discussing the political rise of Hindu nationalism in India is part of understanding how religion and religious discourse function in the modern world, but it is not a critique of Hinduism as a whole”, the university added.
What is the controversy all about?
The controversy is around the University of Houston’s ‘ Lived Hindu Religion ‘ course, which is conducted online.
According to Hindu on Campus, a student-led platform advocating for diaspora Hindus against Hinduphobia, on X also criticised the course.
In a statement on X, the group said,” A Hindu student at @UHouston is reported to be in a class wherein the Professor is delegitimizing Hindu identity, linking it to politics and religious extremism. >, 90 % of Muslims and other minority groups see themselves as proud to be Indian ( Source: Pew Research Center ) What is being taught at our universities”? !.
