Online Diploma in Inter-Religious Traditions

Rationale for the Course:

Religion has been a source of meaning and purpose for the vast majority of humankind since ancient times. There have been several religious traditions—small and big, simple and complex, highly organized and lesser so—which have evolved over the centuries and even the millennia. While religion promises to be a rich resource for civic peace and harmony, it has not always been so. There have been several instances of crippling repression within religious communities and also serious conflicts between communities with disparate belief systems. While the need for understanding, collaboration and fecundity between these traditions has always been important, this is felt even more in our age of instant global communication, when conflicts can exacerbate rapidly.

There is an urgent need to restore the perceptual image and the more pressing ground reality of religion as a resource for personal and collective wisdom, freedom and empathy. Religious traditions need to be transformed into social resources for greater personal and social well-being. It is with this intent that the course in “Inter-Religious Traditions” has been curated.

The course attempts at going beyond a mere study of religious traditions, in order to include several experiential components of religious belief and practice.

Accordingly, the main objectives of the course are as follows:

1. Valuing religious traditions as a source of meaning and purpose in human history.

2. Becoming aware of the intricacies and nuances of belief and practice within different religious traditions.

3. Understanding how different traditions have developed over time.

4. Recognizing how different traditions have influenced one another.

5. Appreciating the need for better inter-religious relations as a social resource in facilitating civic peace and harmony.