Updated on Monday, April 02, 2007, 00:00 IST

New York, April 02: Recognizing the interest of Indian American students in Hinduism, Rutgers University in the US state of New Jersey will start offering a broad based programme to provide an overview of the oldest religion in the world.

Starting this summer, the university will provide six courses. These include undergraduate credit courses in Hinduism through its narrative tradition, Hindu rituals, festivals and symbols,

Hindu philosophy and Hinduism and modernity. Besides non credit courses will be available in yoga and meditation and Hindu classics and folk dance.

"Very few institutions in the United States offer the kind of broad based programme that Rutgers will begin offering this summer," said Dr. Michael Shafer, professor at Rutgers University and liaison to the summer programme on Hindu studies.

Shafer added that while he expected a high level of interest from the estimated 5,000 students of Indian origin enrolled at Rutgers, such a programme on Hindu studies is likely to attract students and scholars from outside the Indian-American community as well, considering the growing interest in interfaith disciplines in new jersey.

Bureau Report