With the Diwali celebrations of 2006, OCHS will be launching the first ever online-learning course in Hindu Studies. An extension of OCHS Continuing Education Department, the courses will bring education about Hindu culture to students throughout Britain and the EU.
The OCHS currently runs accredited higher education certificate courses in Hindu Studies at centres in London, Birmingham, Leicester, and Oxford. Students of all backgrounds can discover India's richly diverse religious heritage, and explore the ongoing transformations in what it means to be a Hindu in the modern world. Response to these courses has been hugely positive, and for a number of years the message from students has been to make this brand of objective and inspiring cultural learning available to a much wider audience.
The course gives students something precious and rare - a comprehensive yet comprehensible overview of Hinduism's history, philosophies, practices, and the reality of Hindu culture in the modern world. For many it is their first chance to read texts they have only heard about with teachers on hand to help them get deep into the meaning of these texts and the historical context in which they were written.
The new Online Course will begin in autumn of 2006. It will be a fully accredited, flexible course of study that is both accessible and far-reaching.