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Conference Details for Delegates
ISKCON Education Minister Sesa Dasa with other conference participants at the conference 2012
The Annual Conference is a European event with international participation. It started in 2012, sponsored by Bhaktivedanta College, the i-Foundation and the ISKCON Ministry of Education.
The Conference has four main aims:
- To advocate the benefits of education to evolving Krishna Conscious communities
- To promote the study of education as a credible, rigorous and useful academic discipline
- To encourage and participate in practical collaborative projects
- To nurture a community of professional, ISKCON-related educationists.
This forum is theoretically underpinned by Education Studies, and related disciplines such as Philosophy of Education, Childhood Studies and Initial Teacher Training. It involves a broad range of specialists and well-informed stakeholders, all sharing a professional interest in both practical action and rigorous theoretical discourse. It embraces all phases of education, starting with Early Years and progressing through to adult and Higher Education.
Broad Aims for 2013:
- To enhance our appreciation of the benefits of constructive dialogue between educational theory and practice.
- To explore the role of education in constructively taking ISKCON forward.
- To examine the role of ISKCON’s Ministry of Educational Development and other strategic-planning initiatives.
- To review the practical plans made in 2012 and formulate similar plans for 2013
Provisional Schedule
Tuesday, May 28th
12.00 – 12.20 1. Welcome and Orientation Yadunandana Swami
12.20 – 13.30 2. Key Note Speech Radhika Raman Prabhu (tbc)
13.30 – 15.30 Lunch and Free Time
15.30 – 16.15 3. Education: a Contested Enterprise Rasamandala Das
16.15 – 17.30 Responses to Rasamandala (with break) Sesa Das (US), Gauri Das (UK)
17.30 – 18.00 Plenary All three speakers
Wednesday, May 29th
10.30 – 11.40 4. Reports from Four Conferences Teams Abala dd, Navina Krishna, Rasamandala, Janmastami Chair: to be confirmed
12.00 – 13.30 5. Principles Underpinning Successful Projects
(a) The Avanti Schools Trust Navina Krishna Prabhu
(b) Bhaktivedanta College, Hungary Maharani dd
(c) Bhaktivedanta College, Radhadesh Yadunandana Swami
13.30 – 15.30 Lunch and Free Time
15.30 – 16.40 6. Empowering our Second Generation Nritya Kisori and other BC Students
17.00 – 18.15 7. Interactive Practical Session (a) Urmila dd (delegates choose one group to attend) (b) Hanumat Presaka Swami (c) Prana Das
Thursday, May 30th
10.00 – 10.30 8. Showcase Time (open to all delegates) Chair: to be confirmed
10.30 – 11.40 9. Current Strategic Planning in ISKCON Chair: Gauri Prabhu
12.00 – 13.30 10. Group Work: Plans for 2013-14 Chair: Navina Krishna Prabhu
13.30 – 15.30 Lunch and Free Time
15.30 – 17.15 11. Final Plenary Chair: to be confirmed
17.30 – 18.00 12. Consolidation and Farewells Yadunandana Swami
Dinadayal Dasa
Bhaktivedanta College is quickly developing its online facilities. The first course to be offered in this manner was the Bhakti Sastri program in 2011, followed by the Certificate in Bhakti Yoga Studies in 2012. The GBC’s Disciples Course” was also offered.
On September 13th 2013, however, Bhaktivedanta College will begin offering a degree course online for the first time: its B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies (TRS). The online version of the course will be offered through Moodle (www.bhaktivedantaonline.com), a Virtual Learning Environment, and is being developed by the College’s Director for Online Learning Dinadayal Dasa.
Appropriate forms of delivery and assessment will be offered to distance learning students to ensure comparability of learning opportunity for both onsite and online students. Lectures and seminars onsite will be video or audio recorded; within 24 hours the recording will be available in the moodle environment.
Both online and onsite students will access the same course materials online, share the same forum, receive the same online messages from the teacher, submit their work using the same methods, and be treated in the same way regarding deadlines.
More about TRS Online read here.
The Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and Living Tradition
Edited by Ravi M Gupta and Kenneth R. Valpey
The editors of “The Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and Living Tradition” (published by Columbia University Press) both teach at Bhaktivedanta College. Ravi M. Gupta (Radhika Ramana Dasa) is also an associate professor of religious studies at The College of William and Mary. Kenneth R. Valpey (Krsna Ksetra Dasa) is the Dean of Studies at Bhaktivedanta College and a regular visiting scholar at Chinese University of Hong Kong. They both earned their doctorates at Oxford. Among the book’s twelve articles five are authored by current or previous instructors at Bhaktivedanta College: Jonathan Edelmann, Gopal Gupta, Graham Schweig, Ferdinando Sardella, and Kenneth Valpey.
Last year, Lillian Stevens wrote about this new book and its editors. The following paragraphs are adapted from her article.
Ravi M. Gupta is working on an abridged English translation of the Bhagavata Purana. Fluent in Hindi, English, and Sanskrit, Gupta grew up in Boise, Idaho. He is a major figure in the U.S. Hindu community; in 2008, he was selected to meet with Pope Benedict XVI as a representative of American Hindus. The author of “The Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami: When Knowledge Meets Devotion”, he is working with Kenneth R. Valpey, a colleague from the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies and the author of “Attending Krishna’s Image”.
Their translation will come out in 2014 and will accompany a new volume of scholarly articles examining the Bhagavata Purana, just published by Columbia University Press. It is entitled “The Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and Living Tradition.” Introducing the Bhagavata Purana’s key themes while also examining its extensive influence on Hindu thought and practice, this new collection of essays conducts the first multidimensional reading of the text’s entire twelve volumes.
Ravi M. Gupta
“The Bhagavata Purana stands out as an important piece of world literature, with some of the most beautiful poetry you’ll find in any language,” says Gupta. “It’s an excellent literary piece in terms of poetic ornamentation, alliteration, and all kinds of innovative Sanskrit verse meters. And it stands out aesthetically in terms of the imagery and stories that are used. There will be an abridged translation covering approximately ten percent of the Bhagavata Purana’s text. The accompanying volume of articles written by different scholars is edited by us, and some of those articles were written by us and other devotee scholars.”
Kenneth Valpey
“Kenneth Valpey and I envision a consortium of scholars from around the world who will take up different commentaries from different periods of history and work with them, maybe not to translate all of the commentaries, but to study important areas,” he explains.
Over time, Gupta hopes to undertake an historical analysis of these various periods of Indian history and study how the Bhagavata Purana has interacted with other texts and other cultures as it has migrated to different parts of the world.
From the back cover
A vibrant example of living literature, the Bhagavata Purana is a versatile Hindu sacred text containing more than 14,000 Sanskrit verses. Finding its present form around the tenth century C.E., the work inspired several major north Indian devotional (bhakti) traditions as well as schools of dance and drama, and continues to permeate popular Hindu art and ritual in both India and the diaspora. Introducing the Bhagavata Purana’s key themes while also examining its extensive influence on Hindu thought and practice, this collection conducts the first multidimensional reading of the text’s entire twelve volumes.
The Bhagavata Purana is a hard-to-classify embodiment of classical Indian cultural, religious, and philosophical thought. Its language and poetic expression are on a par with the best of Sanskrit poetry (kavya), while its narrative structure holds together tightly as a literary work. Its theological message centers on devotion to Krishna and Vishnu, while its philosophical content is grounded solidly in the classical traditions of Vedanta and Samkhya. Each essay in this volume focuses on a key theme of the Bhagavata Purana and its subsequent presence in Hindu dance, music, ritual recitation, and commentary. The authors consider the relationship between the sacred text and the divine image, the text’s metaphysical and cosmological underpinnings, its shaping of Indian culture, and its ongoing relevance to contemporary Indian concerns.
“The Bhagavata Purana gathers a superb group of contemporary scholars who bring a new dimension of appreciation for this religious masterpiece of Vaisnava Hinduism. Their essays plumb the breadth and depth of the influence of one of the world’s religious masterpieces with its unique devotional intensity and metaphysical subtlety. The vast narratives of the Bhagavata Purana reveal a luxuriant universe in which the divine and created worlds interpenetrate and in which Krishna is portrayed as a God truly to be loved with ‘whole heart, mind, soul, and strength.’ The Bhagavata Purana’s special genius heightens devotional intensity to Krishna while presenting profound theological discourse. No wonder Hinduism in all its varieties cannot be understood without first understanding The Bhagavata Purana. Ravi M. Gupta and Kenneth R. Valpey are to be thanked for gathering these important contributions to its scholarship.” — Daniel P. Sheridan, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine
“This book brings together some of the most highly regarded scholars on this subject and cohesively provides an entry into the main themes of The Bhagavata Purana. Moreover, it does so in an interdisciplinary fashion by drawing on materials from the areas of comparative religion, theology, history, anthropology, and ethnomusicology.” — Cynthia Ann Humes, Claremont McKenna College
by Ferdinando Sardella
After assessing the essays from students on several occasions, I concluded that it is necessary to make it clearer what my expectations are for students’ essays. Here, for my course on Modern Hinduism, is the result. Most of it may be useful for other courses at BC.
- Follow the instructions carefully. Answer the questions according to the specified length, that is 2 000 words (plus/minus 10%).
- Write in Roman, 12 pt. font; line spacing = 1.5; set page numbers.
- Write your answers/essay in a Word document file. Name the file as follows: (1) first your second name (not devotional name) in capital letters, (2) the name of the course, (3) number of the essay question (which I provide) that you have selected to respond to.
- For example: SARDELLA Modern Hinduism 5
- Write in an academic way: precise, concentrated and organized. Express yourself in your own words and formulations. Be sure to argue for your opinion whenever required. Use at least 3-4 different academic sources or more (essential!). Do not quote from questionable sources such as Wikipedia. Beware of plagiarism! Please provide support for your answers and give examples if necessary. It should be clear who or what you base your arguments on. Provide references in a consistent format.
- Please review your essay before finally submitting it. Strive for good language and good preparation. To fix obvious style and grammatical errors, get another student to read your essay and call attention to these.
- For higher grades you are expected to independently and critically reflect on and problematise the topic that you have selected, using the theoretical literature that you have been given, showing a good degree of understanding of various perspectives and analytical sophistication.
Good luck.
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Seminar Summary
This is a two-week course: August 3 – 17. Six days a week, the students will meet twice (10:00 – 13:00 and 15:30 – 18:30).
The morning classes: studying the figure, life drawing from a model, color, oil painting procedure, portrait painting, painting from life, composition, values, landscape, painting the landscape from nature, principles of transcendental figures, and the study of cloth, tone, and values.
The afternoon classes: developing and creating original transcendental painting. The instructors will be painting alongside their students, so everyone can observe the process. Personal instruction will be given to students to guide and develop their artistic abilities.
This is an intensive art seminar: to get a complete experience of art and to produce a painting. All levels welcome.
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Package Prices (Accommodation, Food and Tuition)
- Temple ashram (room with two beds, shared toilet): €350.
- College building (single room with shared toilet): €400.
- Guesthouse (room for three): €450.
- College building studio (for single): €475.
For those having private accommodations, the tuition alone is €200.
The students should bring their own: (1) brushes, (2) drawing pad, (3) pencils, and (4) tracing paper pad.
We will provide: (1) paints, (2) canvas, (3) turpentine, and (4) chairs and small plastic tables to put supplies on.
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Registration Form and Booking
After we receive your registration details you will receive reply with the total amount to be paid. Once we have received your payment booking is confirmed.
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About the Teachers
Dhrti Dasi (Miriam Briks) graduated from the School of Art & Design in New York and also studied at L’Academia di belle arti di Siena, the Art Students League and Art League (under Irwin Greenberg and Max Ginsburg) in New York, and the Fechin Institute (under David Lefel) in Taos. She painted in the BBT art department from 1975-86 and received instructions on painting from Srila Prabhupada. She painted with the original core group of BBT artists: Jadurani dasi, Pariksit Dasa, and Murlidhar Dasa. Her paintings are included in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, Nectar of Devotion, Caitanya-caritamrita, and Krsna book. She was the BBT’s co-art director in Europe between 1980 and 1986. She is a member of Portrait Painters of America and Oil Painters of America.
Exhibits in Galleries: Simic Gallery, Beverly Hills, 1988; Carmel and La Jolla, CA, 1989 and 1990, respectively; Summerfield Fine Arts, Aspen, 1990-99; Salmagundi in New York; Howard Manderville in Washington, DC, 1991 (group show: 1992, 1993,1995); Fox Theater, 2003; Dassin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1987-2007; Masterpiece Gallery, Carmel, CA, 1995-2000; Trees Place in Cape Cod (group exhibit), 2000-08; Pasadena Art Museum, 2005; Canyon Road Fine Arts in Santa Fe, 2005-08.
Ram Das Abhiram Dasa (Kevin Yee ) has a BA from the University of Fullerton in California. He studied at L’Academia di belle arti di Siena, the Art Students League and the Art League (under Max Ginsburg) in New York, and the Fechin Institute (under David Lefel) in Taos. He painted in the BBT art department from 1975-86 and received instructions on painting from Srila Prabhupada. He painted with the original core group of BBT artists: Jadurani dasi, Pariksit Dasa, and Murlidhar Dasa. His paintings are included in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, Nectar of Devotion, Caitanya-caritamrita, and Krsna book. He was the BBT’s co-art director, along with his wife, Dhrti Dasi, in Europe between 1980 and 1986, when they were based in Italy.
Exhibits in Galleries: Simic Gallery, Beverly Hills, 1988; Carmel and La Jolla, CA, 1989 and 1990, respectively; Summerfield Fine Arts, Aspen, 1990-99; Fox Theater, 2003; Dassin Gallery, Los Angeles, 1987; Masterpiece Gallery, Carmel, CA, 1995-2000; Pasadena Art Museum, 2005. -
Jahnavi Harrison on first BBT Art Seminar from 2007
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Stay in touch – Transcedental Art Seminar Mailing List
Join the mailing list for the Transcedental Art Seminar, if you want to be informed about the development of the program.
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Dhriti and Ram Das Abhiram’s Selected Work
by Krishna Kshetra Dasa
In the Gītā’s sixth chapter, Arjuna seems to want to persuade Krishna that it is pointless to try to control the unwieldy mind. And when Krishna initially responds to Arjuna’s complaint, he appears to concede the point: ‘O great-armed one, no doubt the mind is difficult to curb, being unsteady.’ But this cozy reassurance extends for only half a verse. Krishna then makes his main point with an equally brief but pithy formula for curbing the mind: ‘But by practice and detachment (the mind) can be subdued’ (6.35). This news might have disappointed Arjuna, but heroic bhakta that he is, he’s ready to take the lesson and apply it in his embattled life.
For us lesser mortals situated on the battlefield of the computer screen, these two principles – practice and detachment — can be usefully applied to the process of writing; moreover, we can appreciate the process of writing as an excellent means of disciplining the mind so that it becomes more the friend we would all prefer it to be, the fine instrument that it is meant to be for clarifying our thoughts and expressing ourselves effectively. And while we are at it (that is, while we are looking for ways to be inspired to put the best of ourselves forward into the writing task) we might very well identify this process of writing as itself a type of yoga. I call it ‘Likhana Yoga,’ the discipline of writing (one meaning of the word ‘yoga’ is ‘discipline’). Perhaps we could display a slogan over the entrance to our Likhana Yoga ‘studio’ (the BC library?): ‘We Practice Writing With Detachment!’ Let’s reflect briefly on these two principles of disciplining the mind, considering how they can apply to writing.
Practice (abhyāsa) makes it so much better . . .
Becoming skilled in anything requires practice, whether the skill is walking (as a toddler), mṛdaṅga playing (as a gurukuli), or writing (as a BC student). Good writing, like good mṛdaṅga playing, is worlds above the writing or playing of beginners: rather than being muddled, painful to read, and pointless, good writing is clear, engaging to readers, and conclusive.
In his book The Craftsman, Richard Sennett notes that to become a virtuoso in any craft or art — whether it be violin building, ballet dancing, or prize-winning novel writing — requires an average of 10,000 hours of dedicated practice. I suspect that as a Bhaktivedanta College student you might not feel ready to put quite so much of your time – your life – into writing practice. Still, you should be ready to put plenty of time – again and again – into your essay writing. Think of your writing as yoga practice, and you’re bound to find yourself learning to think and express yourself more clearly. And you’ll surely find that you have good ideas to express in writing, ideas important enough to express well!
To me, ‘practice’ suggests, first, doing something rather than just thinking about doing it. To think about writing may be a first step, but sooner, rather than later, one has to ‘put words to paper’ (or words in a computer file). Sooner is of course better than later, but now is best for entering into the act of writing.
Second, practice means repetition – writing a sentence, paragraph, or whole essay, and then doing it again, improving after recognizing weaknesses or faults. An important form of repetition in the process of writing is revision. Writing, rewriting, and rewriting again – and probably yet again – is a standard procedure in the craft of writing. Even the pros do this; in fact, it’s quite rare that a good writer does not subject his or her writing to self-critique and revision.
Repetition also means writing again on topics you have already written about in an earlier essay, this time building on new information and understanding, from a new angle, with clearer sense of what you really want to say, or for a different audience. Or, repetition can mean writing something entirely new, but with added substance based on your previous writing experience. In any case, repetition in writing enables us to reinforce improved work and to get over the haunting disappointments and fearsome nightmares of mediocre or bad work. It strengthens the writing mind.
Effective practice in writing also opens us to correction – learning to recognize the difference between effective and ineffective written expression. And essential to this kind of learning is the second principle for taming the mind of which Krishna speaks.
Detachment (vairāgya) from our ‘babies’
Several years ago, as I was hesitantly dipping my writing-toes into the chilly waters of academe, a devotee-scholar (in English literature) advised me, ‘You have to learn to “kill those babies”.’ ‘Babies’, he explained, are the well-intended words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole sections of an essay-under-construction that an aspiring author becomes charmed by and attached to, thinking they express brilliant insights when actually they hinder, rather than help, the writer’s purpose. To ‘kill those babies’ – cruel as it sounds — means to be ready to decisively remove anything that doesn’t serve your present writing task (hint: if you are like me – too attached to delete forever those brilliant-but-useless brain-children – you can instead banish them to a ‘dump file’ from which you can always recall them for duty in other contexts).
I have found that detachment with respect to writing is best applied with a simple, cheeky, and challenging question: ‘So what?’ Every sentence, every paragraph, every section, and indeed whole essays, should be able to stand up to this nasty question. Detachment means being your own best critic. Leave the reassuring words to your friends and family. When writing, we need to be our own ‘devil’s advocate’ who constantly nags us with awkward questions, doubts, and challenges.
Finally, we might recall from Bhagavad-gītā that yogīs can be recognized (among other symptoms) by their detachment from success and failure. In writing, as with other skills, failure can lead us to success; to be shown why something we write is sub-standard or how it could be improved is, for the yogī-writer, seen as just that – an opportunity to make something mediocre into something meaningful. But one needs to then go forward and make improvement – if not in the same essay, in the next one. Success is sure to come with persistence, a higher level of success – that of the practitioner of likhana-yoga. Such a yogī, undaunted by the winds of uncertainty, inexperience, and distraction, engages the mind in word-crafting through practice and detachment that leads to wonderful things – valuable thoughts clearly and persuasively expressed in essays one can always be justifiably satisfied to have written. Best of all, one can see that Krishna is right: The mind is difficult to curb, but by practice and detachment it is possible to do so, not least by engaging the mind seriously in ‘likhana-yoga’.
Names of the participants included Janmastami Dasa (USA), Navina Krishna Dasa, Prana Dasa (New Zealand), Rama Giridhari Dasa (India), Rasamandala Dasa, Srutidharma Dasa and Yadunandana Swami.
Leading representatives of Avanti Trust, Goloka Education, Bhaktivedanta College (Radhadesh, Belgium), Bhaktivedanta Manor, ISKCON Ministry of Educational Development and ISKCON Executive Secretary Office met at the Krishna Avanti School in Harrow and Bhaktivedanta Manor with the purpose of discussing how to create synergy among their respective educational initiatives. The meetings were rewarding in many respects. Bhaktivedanta College and Avanti Trust, for example, discussed to expand their partnership by committing to offer higher education courses in the UK with the aim of qualifying teachers. Goloka Education agreed to provide educational resources to the Avanti schools, according to the schools’ curriculum needs.
Other areas of cooperation that were discussed include placement of Bhaktivedanta College graduates, a vision for future cooperation and educational development, and how to better serve the educational needs of the ISKCON community worldwide, with special focus on the younger generation, as well as how to make the UK a centre of excellence for education.
Participants with Krishna-Balaram, the Deities at the Krishna Avanti School.
Learning and teaching sastra is one of the most important aspects of any Krishna conscious education. Srila Prabhupada’s books form the foundation for ISKCON’s activities and therefore devotees hold the bhakti-sastri study as essential to their spiritual practice and growth.
In order to create opportunities for devotees to study sastra in any ISKCON centre worldwide, qualified teachers are needed. VTE, recognizing the need for these qualified teachers, established TTC1 and TTC2. These courses offer training
in basic knowledge, skills and values required of a competent teacher. The VTE Bhakti-sastri TTC further builds on these, with the aim of equipping Bhakti-sastri teachers with the specific skills, necessary for systematically teaching sastra.
The VTE Bhakti-sastri TTC offers potential teachers training in lesson planning, analyzing the aims of sastric study, effective assessment as well as the practical details of organizing a bhakti-sastri course.
An important note: It is possible to receive a certificate for BSTTC only if you have successfully completed TTC1 and TTC2. In case you still haven’t completed the TTC2, it will be held in Abenteuer (Germany) from the 20th till 26th April 2013. For registration and detailed information please contact maha-vidya.rsd@veda-vit.com
Dates: 10 – 14 May, 2013 (Friday – Tuesday)
Course Fee: 79 Eur
Tutor: Rasamandala Dasa
Registrations: Secretary@bhaktivedantacollege.com
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Kirtan Course – Summer 2014
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Letter by Sacinandana Swami (News on the development of the Kirtan Course, February 14th 2013)
Dear Everyone,We have decided to launch the Kirtan Course next summer (2014), not this summer. We are sorry for any inconvenience.
What’s the reason? We decided to offer a high quality and very well developed course, which takes extra time to design. Because more teachers are now on board, we will do extensive research on the kirtan tradition. We need one more year to prepare. In our course we want to bring you the best information and experience available on kirtan.
We humbly request you to await more detailed information and give us your blessings to create something unique.
Wishing you all the best and lots of spiritual strength,
Sacinandana Swami
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Course Overview
Over a period of three months the course will be facilitated by qualified kirtaniyas. The course covers the history, theory and practice of kirtan (singing, harmonium, karatals and mrdanga).
Teachers: Krishnangi-lila, Krsnadas and Santusha.
Visiting teachers: Sacinandana Swami (course leader), Jahnavi Harrison, Kadamba Kanana Swami, Krishna Kshetra Prabhu, Lokanatha Swami, Ojasvi Prabhua, Yadunandana Swami and few more.
Aims of the course:
1) Empower students to deepen their understanding of kirtan;
2) Offer practical lessons in kirtan.
Each evening is a wonderful opportunity to have a big kirtan in front of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha.
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Stay in touch – Kirtan Course Mailing List
Join the mailing list for the Kirtan Course, if you want to be informed about the development of the program.
The eight students in Bhaktivedanta College’s new B.A. Honors course in Educational Studies, Theology and Religion. (From left to right) Nandini from Australia, Haripriya from Canada, Anasuya from Belgium, Nritya Kisori from Croatia, Sibusiso from Swaziland, Ananda Gaura from India, Arjun from the UK, and (kneeling) Phelelani from South Africa.
Bhaktivedanta College, Belgium—one of ISKCON’s premier educational institutions—has entered a period of fast growth, with many exciting new developments on the horizon.
For many years, the College already offered scriptural study courses Bhakti Sastri and Bhakti Vaibhava, as well as a B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies.
But last year, staff developed a new three-year B.A. Honors course in Educational Studies, Theology and Religion.
International Students Enjoy New Educational Studies Course
The new course was accredited last summer by the University of Chester, UK, a prestigious institution established in 1839 and home to an excellent theology department. It began on September 17th, 2012, and will run until the end of May this year.
Now halfway through their first year, eight students are gaining a broad, critical awareness of education, covering its sociology, psychology, philosophy and history.
“So far this year, we’ve discussed what educational studies is, as it’s a relatively new discipline, and we just did a teacher training course,” says Course Director Rasamandala Das. “Coming up, we’ll be looking at the philosophy of education, followed by a module on contemporary issues in secular and religious education.”
Students will also develop a wide range of practical skills, including critical thinking, teaching and interpersonal skills, and skills connected to student discipline and child protection. They’ll also look at the role of education in strategic planning.
Rasamandala Das says that the students—an extremely diverse group of second generation ISKCON members from Australia, Canada, Belgium, Croatia, Swaziland, India, the UK, and South Africa— are a highly motivated, well-knit group.
“They’re enjoying the course a lot, because they find it extremely relevant,” he explains. “To the careers to which they’re aspiring; to some of the issues within ISKCON; and to the potential social impact of education. For example, one of our students is in from South Africa, and is very interested in the role education can take in building a society or emerging nation such as South Africa.”
Bhaktivedanta College to Introduce New Masters’s Degree in 2014
Kenneth R. Valpey (Krishna Kshetra Dasa)
In addition to the new Educational Studies degree, Bhaktivedanta College is conducting a feasability study with regard to a possible Master’s Degree in Theology and Religious Studies, which will follow its longstanding B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies.
“We are exploring the possibility of launching the Master’s Degree as early as September 2014,” says Bhaktivedanta College principal Yadunandana Swami. “The Course Director for it would be Krishna Ksetra Prabhu, who also just became the College’s Dean of Studies this academic year. He has a PhD from Oxford University, taught at the University of Florida, and most recently has been teaching for several years at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.”
Further into the future, Bhaktivedanta College also wants to develop a business degree, based on the ethical foundation from Vedic scriptures, particularly the Bhagavad-gita and Mahabharata.
Bhakti Sastri program to be Accredited by Prestigious University
In another exciting new development at Bhaktivedanta College, Chester University is poised to accredit the Bhakti Sastri scriptural study program—which covers Srila Prabhupada’s books Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Sri Isopanishad, The Nectar of Devotion, and The Nectar of Instruction in depth.
This means that from September 2013, the Bhakti Sastri program will count for forty credits out of the 120 credits required for the College’s B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies. As a result, all students will now take Bhakti Sastri, where before they might have skipped it to focus on their degree program.
“We think this is an important achievement,” says Yadunandana Swami.
B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies to be Offered Online
Bhaktivedanta College is also quickly developing its online facilities. A brand new, more user-friendly website has just been launched, and courses are beginning to be offered online.
The first course to be offered in this manner was the Bhakti Sastri program in 2011, followed by an introduction to Krishna consciousness called Certificate in Bhakti Yoga Studies in 2012. The GBC’s “disciples’ course” for iniated ISKCON devotees was also offered.
On September 13th 2013, however, Bhaktivedanta College will begin offering a degree course online for the first time: its B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies.
The online version of the course will be offered through Moodle (www.bhaktivedantaonline.com), a Virtual Learning Environment, and is being developed by the College’s Director for Online Learning Dinadayal Das.
“We are going to treat online and onsite students in the same way,” says Dinadayal. “They’ll attend the same class. When we have a class here in Radhadesh, we will do a video recording of it, and within 24 hours, the video will appear in the Moodle environment. We will also have separate MP3 audio recordings of the class.”
Both online and onsite students will access the same course materials online, share the same forum, receive the same online messages from the teacher, submit their work using the same methods, and be treated in the same way regarding deadlines.
“Our target is ten students for the first year,” Dinadayal says. “We are very excited about it.”
Written by Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on 18 Jan 2013