Jainism: Religion and Culture of Nonviolence
Introduction to the Jain tradition, examining how core ethical concepts of ahimsa and anekantavada inform philosophy, ritual, social relations, and politics, including modern engagements with environmental and bioethical issues.
Summary
What you’ll be able to do
Identify and explain basic concepts, ideas, and terminology relating to Jainism from both the monastic and lay perspectives
Compare and differentiate between the basic tenets of Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
Apply anthropological and religious studies concepts and theories to the relationship of Jain rituals, theology, and experience as well as the larger world of South Asian religions
Make connections between historical and current practice of Jainism in both living and historical situations
Analyze a social, cultural, historical, visual, or textual aspect of Jain philosophy in a research project to support their interpretations of course material and apply them to the student’s own local and global context
Source: UW Guide 1· UW Guide 2
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Prerequisites
Course mapSophomore standing
- Sophomore standing
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- Sophomore standing
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Student experience
the class
Introduction to the Jain tradition. Despite being a small minority religion, core Jain ethical and philosophical concepts of ahimsa (non-violence) and anekantavada (non-absolutism) have influenced all other major traditions in India and secular Indian society. Examines how Jain philosophy, ritual, social relations, and politics are informed by a commitment to ascetic ethics that uphold ahimsa as the greatest virtue for renouncers (monks and nuns) and lay practitioners, tracing the evolution of Jain ethical engagements with modern social and political issues including environmental and animal rights activism, business and finance, and medicine and bioethics. Course covers canonical texts and scholarly literature on Jainism to understand how ahimsa has been historically articulated within Jain philosophy and doctrine, re-articulated in modern social movements, and how it has been constructed in academic studies of Jainism.
difficulty & workload
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Topics
- Core Jain ethical and philosophical concepts of ahimsa and anekantavada
- Jain philosophy, ritual, social relations, and politics informed by ascetic ethics
- Modern Jain ethical engagements with environmental, business, and medical issues
- Canonical texts and scholarly literature on Jainism
Skills
- Identify and explain basic concepts, ideas, and terminology relating to Jainism
- Compare and differentiate between the basic tenets of Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism
- Apply anthropological and religious studies concepts and theories to Jain rituals and theology
- Analyze aspects of Jain philosophy in a research project
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Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
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Model & dataset provenance
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