Houston university in US defends course on Hinduism, says it values ‘academic freedom’

Shortly after a controversy erupted over the content of a University of Houston’s course on Hindu religion, the educational institute has responded and defended the course, saying that it values academic freedom. The University’s response The University of Houston has defended its course titled ‘Lived Hindu Religion’, saying that “the course is grounded in the academic discipline of religious studies, which uses specific terminology -- such as 'fundamentalism' --as analytical tools to understand religious movements across traditions, including those rooted in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.” Explaining what could have led to a misunderstanding, the university added that “these academic terms can carry different meanings from how they are used in public or political discourse, which sometimes leads to misunderstandings.” The university also said in a statement that it doesn’t typically review individual lectures and allows faculty to explore complex and sometimes challenging topics in their teaching. I never refer to Hinduism as anything essential.” Shedding more light on the course and how it focuses on the origin of the Hindu religion, the professor said, “the religions who worship the Hindu gods are ancient, which I note often in the class, and I treat ancient South Asia and its premodern Hinduisms for more than half the class; the course traces religions who revere Hindu gods back to the earliest scriptures in 1500 BCE, noting that these gods' worship predates these ancient texts, and explores the development of rituals and mythologies from that ancient period into the present.” “Any declaration that I say "Hinduism" is not ancient is false. "Hinduism, according to Professor Ullrey, was not an ancient, lived tradition but a colonial construct, a political tool weaponised by Hindu nationalists, and a system of oppression against minorities," Vasant Bhatt told India Today.