The Program
Gain a better understanding of Hinduism through a socio-cultural immersion in the historical city of Vrindavan in North India.
Learn about the living traditions and sacred history of Vrindavan, a significant Hindu religious site. Explore the history and tradition of Hinduism through cultural immersion and textual study with local Hindu scholars and guides in addition to American faculty. Eat meals and safely reside at the at the Vraja Institute, a dynamic and diverse environment.
Program Location
India
Vrindavan
Students reside in Vrindavan and the course provides an immersive exposure to its socio-cultural world, where devotion to Krishna is prominent. The course will provide encounters with the lived aspects of Hindu devotionalism by including tours to Vrindavan devotional sites, and exposure to a variety of Vrindavan cultural forms such as music, drama, pilgrimage, architecture, ritual, and meditative practices. Students visit pre-modern and modern temples, walking tours to prominent places of pilgrimage, the sacred Yamuna river, the local manuscript and iconography preservation center, and a cow sanctuary. They also attend cultural performances in music, dance, and drama and participate in a traditional festival taking place at that time.
India
Agra
Students take a guided trip to the famous Taj Mahal in Agra.
India
Mathura
Students see the extensive collection of the Mathura museum and visit the site celebrated as Krishna’s birthplace.
Academics
This program will run December 29, 2023- January 14, 2024.
This immersive study abroad program is a three-credit course conducted for 2+ weeks during the Winter Session. This course cuts across disciplines, so students from different backgrounds should feel free to apply!
Eileen Goddard leads the classroom discussion sessions and teaches the introductory Hinduism lecture. Dr. Satyanarayana Dasa teaches the Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavata Purana: two texts which are central to the Krishna tradition. Altogether, the classroom component of this course will provide an introduction to the panoramic worlds of Hinduism in order to examine presentations of sacred history, ultimate reality, and self-transformation.
The field experience is led by Eileen Goddard with the support of local guides. This cultural component offers immersive exposure to the socio-cultural world of Vrindavan, sacred to Krishna, where the course takes place. Careful attention is directed to considering the contextual socio-cultural and ideological world which inform these texts, and which they in turn inform, with a focus on how such traditions are reconfigured and manifest in the real life present-day religious landscape of Vrindavan. Outside of the classroom, this course provides encounters with the lived aspects of Hindu devotionalism in Vrindavan and beyond. These encounters include tours to Vrindavan devotional sites and exposure to a variety of Vrindavan cultural forms such as music, drama, pilgrimage, architecture, ritual, meditative practices and Ayurvedic health principles and practices. Devotional sites include Krishna’s birthplace, the sacred Yamuna river, walking tours to prominent places of pilgrimage, and numerous visits to pre-modern and modern temples. Students tour a modern art gallery, the extensive collections of the Mathura museum, the local manuscript and iconography preservation center, and a cow sanctuary. They also attend a variety of cultural performances.
To read the syllabus for this course, click here.
The Vraja Institute is an educational organization centered around Sanskrit and Sanskrit derived cultural, philosophical, and religious traditions. It focuses particularly on the diverse cultural expressions that are representative of the region. www.vrajainstitute.org
Housing and Meals
Students will stay at the Jiva Institute, where they will also attend classes and receive three vegetarian meals daily plus snacks and purified water. The Jiva Institute is gated and offers 24-hour security. There is a library and garden on-site. Housing and all student meals are included in the program fee.
Financial Information
Program Costs
NJ Resident | non-NJ Resident | |
---|---|---|
Undergraduate | $3,370 | $3,790 |
Graduate | $3,630 | $4,020 |
Program Cost includes:
- Tuition
- Housing
- All meals
- Excursions
- Administrative Fees
- Emergency Medical Access Abroad
* The winter session student fee is not included in the program cost above.
Out-of-Pocket Costs
Airfare | $2,000 |
Meals | $20 |
E-visa | $60 |
Personal Expenses | $100 |
Total | $2,180.00 |
Out-of-Pocket Cost includes:
The above costs are estimations and represent the known out-of-pocket costs students encounter during their time abroad.
Some of these expenses will be paid for prior to going abroad, such as an airline ticket, while some of these expenses, such as meals and personal expenses, will be paid in-country as part of your daily expenses. As you plan, you will need to budget these costs and spend wisely throughout your time abroad.