Teaching inside-out: Introduction

Abstract

What if one were a and teaching a class on Hinduism and one's students were all training to become Christian missionaries and had their hearts set on traveling to India to convert so called Hindu hea thens? Are there topics that teachers should avoid when teaching classes in South Asian religions that are comprised of outsiders? Should one dive into Ripley's Believe it or Not type topics that would fuel their missionary zeal such as sati, bride burning, or cross-dressing and erotic bhakti, devotion? Or, should one take a defensive posture and act as an apologist for Hinduism and avoid such topics? Alternatively, what if one were a non-Hindu and the majority of the students in one's class self-identified as Hindu? Should the topics cov ered in the class change if the students were largely insiders? Should discussion of the despicable destruction of Babri Masjid in December of 1992 by right wing Hindus be avoided? Does one have a responsi bility, moreover, to teach Hinduism to students rather than to teach about Hinduism? Should one limit or even shun the use of con