Between Violence and Non-Violence: Hindu Muslim Encounters in South Asia

Peace, love and compassion are at the heart of any religion, yet people also fight and go to war in the name of religion. What leads to such a contradicting and intriguing situation? Focusing on these two questions, this teacher training, led by Dr. Afsar Mohammad of the University of Pennsylvania, will discuss the concepts of religious violence and non-violence in modern South Asia, particularly, Hinduism and Islam. Both of these major religions in South Asia have a lengthy history of discourses on violence and non-violence, and we discuss their histories as they are relevant to contemporary times. We will talk about the key concepts, texts and the everyday religious life of Hindus and Muslims in South Asia with a focus on how these two religions also find ways and means of conflict resolutions.

Teachers will be given guidance and time to work on a lesson plan related to the workshop; teachers who submit a relevant lesson plan will receive a $100 stipend for the workshop. Both Pennsylvania and New Jersey teachers will receive teaching credit for the workshop.

*Lunch will be provided

Contact Valerie Concordia by August 13th to sign up

[email protected]

856-227-7200 ext. 4333

Dr. Afsar Mohammad teaches courses on religious cultures in South Asia at the University of Pennsylvania. He wrote extensively about Hindu and Muslim interactions in South Asia and published a book "The Festival of Pirs: Popular Islam and Shared Devotion in South India," with the Oxford University Press, USA. He is now working on his new book on various literary and cultural discourses of Hindu-Muslim encounters in South India.