Online Courses
Study anytime, anywhere, from the comfort of your own home. Receive access to university-level courses with the leading scholars and authors in the field.
All Courses
Search through our full catalogue of live, upcoming, and past online courses. → View our full Academic Calendar of live courses.
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UPCOMING
FREE Class | Sanskrit Taster Session
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
Do you know very little about Sanskrit, are you curious about learning more, but unsure whether the study of an ancient literary language is right for you? Then come to our free Sanskrit taster session with Dr. Antonia Ruppel, author of The Cambri...
UPCOMING
BS 501 | Buddhist Studies Graduate Seminar
Instructor: Dr. Kate Hartmann
BS 501 is the capstone experience of the Buddhist Studies Advanced Certificate Program (BSACP). Students arrive at this seminar having completed 2–3 years of concentrated university-level study. Working in a small cohort with Dr. Hartmann, student...
UPCOMING
YS 139 | Yoga Machine: Technology, Transhumanism, and Transcendence
Instructor: Dr. Mark Singleton
Join Dr. Mark Singleton, one of the most influential scholars in the field of yoga studies, for a study of the relationship between yoga and technology. If we want to understand what yoga is today, and what it is becoming, we need to understand it...
SELF-STUDY
FREE Class | Reading the Odyssey in Greek
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
Join Dr. Antonia Ruppel, one of the world's foremost teachers of ancient languages, for a FREE two-hour class in which we will read a carefully selected passage from Homer's Odyssey in the original Greek—together, line by line, with full guidance ...
SELF-STUDY
YS 219 | The Ṣaṭcakranirūpaṇa: Description of the Six Cakras
Instructor: Dr. Lubomír Ondračka
The Ṣaṭcakranirūpaṇa—"Description of the Six Cakras"—is one of the most consequential Sanskrit texts in the history of yoga, and the single most important source for the chakra system as it has come to be understood in the modern world. This cours...
SELF-STUDY
YS 138 | Lords of Earth and Sea: A History of the Chola Empire
Instructor: Anirudh Kanisetti
This course provides an accessible, richly illustrated entry point into one of history's most remarkable civilizations—the Cōḷa (Chola) dynasty (c. 850–1280 CE)—tracing how a regional clan rose over four centuries to reshape the politics, religion...
SELF-STUDY
YS 137 | The Dawn of Physical Yoga: New Discoveries in Tibetan Haṭhayoga
Instructor: Dr. Giacomella Orofino
This course explores the early history of physical yoga through a close study of Tibetan Buddhist tantric sources related to the Amṛtasiddhi. This remarkable text can be identified as the earliest known manual of physical yoga and offers a unique ...
SELF-STUDY
BS 114 | Theravāda Buddhism
Instructor: Dr. Aleix Ruiz-Falqués
This course offers a dynamic introduction to Theravāda Buddhism, the only living Buddhist tradition that preserves and transmits the earliest strata of Buddhist thought in an unbroken lineage. Join Dr. Aleix Ruiz-Falqués to explore the doctrinal, ...
SELF-STUDY
YS 218 | The Yogavāsiṣṭha
Instructor: Dr. Tamara Cohen
The Yogavāsiṣṭha (11-14th century CE) is one of the most influential philosophical-literary works in the history of Yoga in South Asia. Told as an extended dialogue between the young prince Rāma and the sage Vasiṣṭha, its teachings revolve around ...
SELF-STUDY
BS 113 | Mahāyāna Buddhism
Instructor: Dr. Ralph H. Craig III
Join Dr. Ralph H. Craig III for an in-depth exploration of Mahāyāna Buddhism through its formative texts, doctrines, and practices. The Mahāyāna (or “Great Vehicle”) was a significant movement within Indian Buddhism that began in approximately the...
SELF-STUDY
YS 136 | Straps, Mats, and Huts: A Visual and Material History of Yoga
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
This course explores the history of yoga through its visual and material history. Specifically, we will explore yoga's past through the analysis of three yogic objects—straps, mats, and huts. Surveying Indian sculptures, paintings, and illustrated...
SELF-STUDY
YS 135 | Bāuls, Fakirs, and Yoga
Instructor: Dr. Keith Edward Cantú
For students of yoga studies and Indic cultures, this course offers an unparalleled opportunity to explore the vibrant, often-unseen intersection of musical tradition and profound spiritual practice in the two Bengals. Primarily rooted in Banglade...
SELF-STUDY
YS 134 | Yoga, Power, and Politics
Instructor: Dr. Christian Lee Novetzke, Dr. Sunila S. Kalé
Most people think of yoga as a philosophy or mind-body practice or perhaps a meditative exercise. But what if ideas of yoga also have something to say about politics and power? This course will introduce students to a novel history of yoga as a th...
SELF-STUDY
YS 217 | The Gorakṣaśataka: Hundred Verses of Gorakhnāth
Instructor: Dr. James Mallinson
The Gorakṣaśataka is a Sanskrit text in a hundred verses that was written around 1200 CE, probably somewhere in the Deccan region of India. As its name indicates, its teachings are attributed to the famous yogi Goraḳsa. It was written by an unname...
SELF-STUDY
YS 133 | Śrīvidya: Tantric Wisdom of the Goddess
Instructor: Dr. Anya Golovkova
Śrīvidyā is a Hindu Tantric Goddess tradition centered on the worship of the goddess Tripurasundarī, also known as the Beauty of the Three Cities. Tripurā, who is also referred to as Rājarājeśvarī (the Ruler of Kings) and Lalitā (the Playful One),...
SELF-STUDY
YS 132 | Kuṇḍalinī: In Body, Text, and Context
Instructor: Dr. Ruth Westoby
Kuṇḍalinī is often described as a snake-like energy that lies coiled, sleeping at the base of the human body. Practices of yoga are intended to awaken kuṇḍalinī, either to remove her blocking the central channel, or cause her to rise up through it...
SELF-STUDY
YS 216 | Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad
Instructor: Dr. Varun Khanna
Join Dr. Varun Khanna for a journey into Upaniṣadic philosophy, asking the questions that are central to the Upaniṣads: Who am I? Why am I here? What is my goal in life? Is there a way to transcend death, and achieve immortality? These fundamental...
SELF-STUDY
YS 131 | The Yoga of Sabhapati Swami
Instructor: Dr. Keith Edward Cantú
This course studies the fascinating and lesser-known yoga of the "Jñāna Yogī" Sri Sabhapati Swami (1828–1923/4). Sabhapati's work in English and Sanskrit attracted global attention in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and helped op...
SELF-STUDY
YS 215 | Yoga and Vedānta: The Aparokṣānubhūti
Instructor: Dr. Zoë Slatoff
This course offers a close reading of the Aparokṣānubhūti, whose 144 verses provide a concise and accessible entry into nondual Advaita philosophy while incorporating dualistic Yoga teachings into the Vedāntic system.
UPCOMING 2027
YS 501 | YSACP Graduate Seminar
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
The Graduate Seminar is the capstone of the Yogic Studies Advanced Certificate Program. It is designed to solidify and integrate this vast learning, as an opportunity to develop and carry out a personalized research project, to prepare graduates f...
SELF-STUDY
Yogavidyā Conference 2024
Join 28 of the world's leading yoga scholars online for Yogavidyā—a 3 day conference featuring the latest research in Yoga Studies. Recordings now available!
SELF-STUDY
YS 130 | Yoga and Psychedelics
Instructor: Dr. Stuart Sarbacker
This online course explores the historical development, philosophical contexts, and practices of Indian and global yoga traditions and their relationship to the use of psychoactive substances, especially psychedelics.
SELF-STUDY
YS 129 | Abhinavagupta: The Art of Nonduality
Instructor: Dr. Ben Williams
This course is an introduction to the great tantric master and towering intellectual figure from Kashmir, Abhinavagupta.
SELF-STUDY
YS 214 | The Yogayājñavalkya
Instructor: Dr. Lubomír Ondračka
This course offers an in-depth study of the Yogayājñavalkya, a Sanskrit text on yoga ascribed to the famous Vedic sage Yājñavalkya.
SELF-STUDY
BS 112 | Yoga in Buddhism
Instructor: Dr. Samuel M. Grimes
The primary aim of this course is to demonstrate the wide valency of the term “yoga” in a Buddhist context. Students will encounter a wide variety of practices that are termed yoga in a traditional context, but that are often distinct in appearanc...
SELF-STUDY
YS 128 | Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘: Embodying the Cosmic Wind
Instructor: Dr. Lucy May Constantini
In this course, we will learn about kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘, a ritually transmitted martial art with an allied medical system which originated in South India in the Malabar region of present-day Kerala. We will explore how the tradition understands and def...
SELF-STUDY
YS 213 | The Śivayogapradīpikā: Lamp on Śiva Yoga
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
This course offers an in-depth study of the Śivayogapradīpikā, or the “Lamp on Śiva Yoga”–its historical context, significance, theory, and praxis–through a careful line by line study of the text in Sanskrit and English.
SELF-STUDY
YS 127 | Embodying Transnational Yoga
Instructor: Dr. Christopher Jain Miller
In this course, we will explore the ways yoga practitioners engage in the practice of eating, singing, and breathing. We will learn about these three transformative, yet understudied embodied yoga practices: yogic diet, music, and breathing techni...
SELF-STUDY
BS 111 | Buddhist Medicine
Instructor: Dr. Pierce Salguero
This class provides an introduction to the many ways that Buddhism has intersected with health and medicine throughout history and today. Across cultures, Buddhism has always had a lot to say about mental and physical wellbeing. Most Buddhist trad...
SELF-STUDY
YS 126 | Theosophy and Yoga
Instructor: Dr. Keith Edward Cantú
In this course we will examine the oft-neglected yet important connections between Theosophy and modern yoga. While the roots of Theosophy go even in deeper, we begin with the founding of the Theosophical Society by prominent authors and travelers...
SELF-STUDY
YS 212 | The Rāmāyaṇa
Instructor: Dr. Arti Dhand
This course is an introduction to one of the most important traditions of Hinduism, The Rāmāyaṇa. The Rāmāyaṇa is more than a work—or even a corpus—of literature; it is a phenomenon, a lived tradition, the source and inspiration for much art and c...
SELF-STUDY
BS 110 | Pilgrimage and Buddhism
Instructor: Dr. Kate Hartmann
In the 2,500 years since the Buddha’s death, Buddhist communities have developed a diverse array of practices of traveling to holy places. In this course, we will explore a variety of Buddhist pilgrimage traditions from a variety of perspectives.
SELF-STUDY
YS 125 | Intro to Advaita Vedānta
Instructor: Dr. Varun Khanna
This course serves as an introduction to Advaita Vedānta philosophy. It is a blend between traditional and academic material, seeking to bridge the gap between the practice of Advaita Vedānta and its academic study.
SELF-STUDY
YS 124 | The Yogic Body
Instructor: Dr. Lubomír Ondračka
This online course explores the concept of the body in pre-modern yoga traditions. We will examine different approaches to the body in various South Asian religious traditions, beginning with the Vedic religion, the tantric milieu, and in yoga tex...
SELF-STUDY
BS 203 | Philosophy of the Middle Way: Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra
Instructor: Dr. Jay Garfield
This course offers a close reading of Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra (Introduction to the Middle Way), exploring his views about ethics, causality, emptiness, the two truths, and the status of persons in the conventional world. We will address his...
SELF-STUDY
YS 211 | Upaniṣads: Īśa, Praśna, Muṇḍaka
Instructor: Dr. Varun Khanna
In this course, we will read selections from the Īśā Upaniṣad, Praśna Upaniṣad, and Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad. We will discuss the fundamental questions "Who am I? Why am I here? What is my goal in life? Is there a way to transcend death, and achieve immor...
SELF-STUDY
YS 210 | The Dattātreyayogaśāstra
Instructor: Dr. James Mallinson
This course will begin with an overview of the Dattātreyayogaśāstra ("Dattātreya's Discourse on Yoga"), which was written in about 1200 CE. It is the first text to teach both the eightfold yoga system of Patañjali and the physical methods of haṭha...
SELF-STUDY
YS 123 | Sufism and Yoga
Instructor: Dr. Carl Ernst
This online course explores the history of encounters of Muslims with the teachings of yoga over more than a thousand years. Contrary to common expectations, Muslims have engaged with yoga both intellectually and in terms of practice, often expres...
SELF-STUDY
YS 209 | The Mahābhārata
Instructor: Dr. Arti Dhand
This online course is designed to be a first foray into an enduring work of world literature, the great Sanskrit epic, the Mahābhārata. One of the beloved cradle tales of Hinduism, the Mahābhārata tells the famous story of a war fought by two side...
SELF-STUDY
YS 103 | Yoga e Ascetismo Hindu, Dal Passato al Presente
Instructor: Dr. Daniela Bevilacqua
Questo corso online esplora il legame secolare tra yoga e ascetismo in India attraverso il mondo dei sādhu. Analizzeremo lo sviluppo dell'ascetismo hindu da un punto di vista sia storico che etnografico. Particolare attenzione sarà data alla prati...
SELF-STUDY
YS 122 | Ayurveda, Yoga, and Alchemy
Instructor: Dr. Dagmar Wujastyk
This online course examines the histories of all three disciplines. It will reveal their historical entanglements and trace the trajectories of their evolution as components of today's global healthcare and personal development industries.
SELF-STUDY
BS 109 | Introduction to Buddhist Art
Instructor: Dr. Rebecca Bloom
This course introduces some of the major figures, forms, ideas, and issues that define the history of Buddhist art through the close examination of exemplary artworks and important landmarks. Drawing on religious and artistic traditions from acros...
SELF-STUDY
YS 121 | 8 Limbs of Yoga: History, Theory, and Practice of Aṣṭāṅgayoga
Instructor: Dr. Stuart Sarbacker
This online course explores the historical development, philosophical contexts, and pragmatic structures of what is perhaps the most influential pan-Indian, and now global, framework of yoga—Aṣṭāṅgayoga, the "Eight Limbs of Yoga."
SELF-STUDY
BS 108 | Buddhism and Compassion
Instructor: Dr. Stephen Jenkins
Compassion is one of the most precious, but also misunderstood, ideals in Buddhist thought. This course examines how early Buddhist texts present compassion and ask what this means for our understanding of compassion today. We will also examine th...
SELF-STUDY
YS 120 | Women and Gender in Hindu Tantra
Instructor: Dr. Sravana Borkataky-Varma
This course examines the status of women and the category of gender within in the contemporary world of Hindu Śākta Tantra (esoteric goddess traditions). We will challenge normative assumptions and categories of female practitioners and teachers b...
SELF-STUDY
BS 107 | Buddhism and Climate Change
Instructor: Dr. Daniel Cozort
This course will focus on ways that Buddhism might contribute to changing minds and actions, by countering mistaken views, modeling ethical behavior, and promoting social resilience. We will survey the great range of issues involved with climate c...
SELF-STUDY
YS 208 | Devīmāhātmya: Greatness of the Goddess
Instructor: Dr. Raj Balkaran
This course offers an in-depth study of the Devīmāhātmya, the foundational Sanskrit text of Indian Great Goddess worship. Composed some fifteen centuries ago, it signals the Brahmanical sanctification and crystallization of indigenous Great Goddes...
SELF-STUDY
BS 106 | Buddhism and Animals
Instructor: Dr. Geoffrey Barstow
In this course, we will take a look at some of the ways that the Buddhist tradition has approached non-human animals. We will explore how Buddhist communities throughout history thought about animals.
SELF-STUDY
BS 105 | Women and Buddhism
Instructor: Dr. Jue Liang
This course brings attention to the stories, ideas, and practices about and by women in various Buddhist traditions, from its beginnings in the northern Indian subcontinent to its modern emanations across the globe.
SELF-STUDY
YS 207 | Upaniṣads: Kaṭha, Chāndogya, Keṇa
Instructor: Dr. Varun Khanna
In this course, we will read selections from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, Kaṭha Upaniṣad, and Kena Upaniṣad. We will discuss the fundamental questions "Who am I? Why am I here? What is my goal in life? Is there a way to transcend death, and achieve imm...
SELF-STUDY
BS 104 | Tibetan Buddhism
Instructor: Dr. Constance Kassor
This course offers an introduction to Buddhism in Tibet, its historical development, various schools and institutions, and its continued spread around the globe within the last century. Along the way we'll explore key beliefs and practices related...
SELF-STUDY
YS 119 | Yoga and Esotericism
Instructor: Dr. Keith Edward Cantú
In this course we will examine exchanges between South Asia and the rest of the world that had a significant effect on yoga’s history and contemporary life. After setting the stage for how to view such exchanges in as holistic a way as possible, w...
SELF-STUDY
YS 206 | The Amṛtasiddhi: Haṭha Yoga's Source Text
Instructor: Dr. James Mallinson
Join Dr. James Mallinson for a close reading of the Amṛtasiddhi, the "Attainment of Immortality," the first text to teach any of the practices and principles which came to be classified as haṭhayoga.
SELF-STUDY
BS 202 | Visuddhimagga: The Path of Purification
Instructor: Dr. Maria Heim
This course offers a close reading of the "The Path of Purification" (Pali: Visuddhimagga), composed by Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa (5th century), the foremost commentator in the Theravada tradition. As we read, we will learn to think with Buddhagh...
SELF-STUDY
YS 118 | Yoga in Latin America
Instructor: Dr. Adrián Muñoz
This course seeks to make incursion into the fascinating history of how yoga entered different parts of Latin America, whose yogic community is unquestionably large and fast-growing. While some cases simply continued other yogic trends in North Am...
SELF-STUDY
BS 201 | Bodhicaryāvatāra: How to Lead an Awakened Life
Instructor: Dr. Jay Garfield
In this course, we will read closely the Bodhicaryāvatāra, composed by the Buddhist monk and scholar Śāntideva (c. 8th century). Chapter by chapter, we will follow Śāntideva's extraordinary account of moral transformation.
SELF-STUDY
YS 117 | Karma, Rebirth, and Liberation
Instructor: Dr. Philipp Maas
After a brief historical overview of teachings of rebirth in the world’s religions and throughout history, this course addresses different hypotheses concerning the origin of teachings of karma rebirth in ancient India. It will introduce a range o...
SELF-STUDY
BS 103 | Indian Buddhist Philosophy
Instructor: Dr. Karin Meyers
This course charts the philosophical territory from the Buddha's first discourses through the development of distinctive schools of Buddhist philosophy: Abhidharma ("Higher Dharma"), Madhyamaka ("Middle Way"), Yogācāra/Cittamātra ("Yogic Practice/...
SELF-STUDY
YS 205 | Bhakti Yoga: The Bhāgavatapurāṇa
Instructor: Dr. Edwin Bryant
This course will consist of a close-reading of a selection of the most famous bhakti yoga stories and teachings from the Bhāgavatapurāṇa, focusing on the amazing lives of some of the best known yogis of yore and their astonishing yoga practices. T...
SELF-STUDY
BS 102 | Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice
Instructor: Dr. Daniel Stuart
This course provides an exploration of how Buddhist contemplative traditions emerged in early South Asia, and the ways in which they evolved and transformed as they spread to Central, East, and Southeast Asia.
SELF-STUDY
YS 116 | Sikhism and Yoga
Instructor: Dr. Jvala Singh
This course will explore the historical emergence of the Sikh tradition—allowing for a unique look at the practice of Yoga during the medieval and Mughal period in India, where there were significant interactions and philosophical discussions betw...
SELF-STUDY
BS 101 | Intro to Buddhism: History, Philosophy, and Practice
Instructor: Dr. Kate Hartmann
This course provides an in-depth introduction to the diverse ideals, practices, and traditions of Buddhism from their origins in South Asia to their various expressions across time and place in modernity.
SELF-STUDY
YS 115 | A History of Yoga and Devotion
Instructor: Dr. Patton Burchett
This course explores the rich and shifting historical relationship between yoga and devotion (bhakti) from ancient India up to the present-day. Advancing beyond preconceived modern notions of what yoga and devotion are, we will examine the body of...
SELF-STUDY
YS 204 | The Sāṅkhyakārikā: Stanzas on All-Embracing Insight
Instructor: Dr. Philipp Maas
The course will introduce you to the fascinating world view of Sāṅkhya as it was codified in the Sāṅkhyakārikā. This enigmatic Sanskrit text, consisting of about 70 stanzas, is the foundational work of Classical Sāṅkhya philosophy
SELF-STUDY
YS 114 | Rāja Yoga: History, Theory, and Practice
Instructor: Dr. Jason Birch, Jacqueline Hargreaves
This course will delve into premodern traditions of Rājayoga—the practice of meditative absorption that became an inseparable counterpart to physical yoga, more generally known as Haṭhayoga. Yogis learned physical yoga to accomplish meditative abs...
SELF-STUDY
YS 113 | Yoga's Past, Present, and Future
Instructor: Dr. Mark Singleton
This course examines the state of yoga immediately prior to the the "modern yoga renaissance" of the late-nineteenth century, and continuing with a reassessment of the history of āsana. What has been lost, and what gained, by yoga's popularisation...
SELF-STUDY
YS 112 | Yoga and Hindu Mythology
Instructor: Dr. Raj Balkaran
This course explores the role of Hindu Mythology in perpetuating yogic themes. Students will receive a thorough grounding in Hindu mythological traditions and an appreciation for the pivotal place of Hindu myths in encoding and preserving the Hind...
SELF-STUDY
YS 203 | The Haṭhapradīpikā: Lamp on Haṭha Yoga
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
In this course, you will be guided through a close reading of the entire text, line by line—based on the original Sanskrit and an accessible English translation. We will study and discuss the various methods of practice including...
SELF-STUDY
YS 111 | Women and Yoga: A History of Female Practitioners
Instructor: Dr. Ruth Westoby
This course offers a broad survey of the history of female yoga practitioners drawing on rich narrative and visual accounts of practitioners. We will bring this historical material into conversation via key themes and analytical approaches. The co...
SELF-STUDY
YS 110 | Tibetan Yoga: Histories, Practices, Transformations
Instructor: Dr. Ian Baker
This course offers a four-part, illustrated lecture series exploring the historical development and scientific interrogation of mind-body practices in Tibet’s Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition of ‘highest yoga tantra’ (Anuttarayoga Tantra), postulated...
SELF-STUDY
YS 109 | Classical Yoga and Buddhism
Instructor: Dr. Karen O'Brien-Kop
This course will introduce students to the interconnections between the classical Yoga of Patañjali and the systems of mind-body practice that are described in Buddhist texts of the same period. In particular, we will consider early Buddhist expre...
SELF-STUDY
YS 108 | Roots of Haṭha Yoga
Instructor: Dr. James Mallinson
This course will chart the history of physical yoga practice in India from the first-millennium BCE up to the 15th century CE, at which point it became classified under the catchall term "haṭha yoga." It will show how until about a thousand years ...
SELF-STUDY
YS 107 | Yoga and Śaiva Tantra: An Uncharted History
Instructor: Dr. Ben Williams
This course, based on original Sanskrit scholarship and a coherent synthesis of the best existing scholarship on tantric traditions, provides a solid grounding in the origins, development, and essential features of classical tantra. This understan...
SELF-STUDY
YS 106 | Śākta Tantra: Yoga and Hindu Goddess Traditions
Instructor: Dr. Sravana Borkataky-Varma
This online course surveys the rich tapestry of Goddesses within the Hindu Śākta traditions—and uniquely explores their living relationship to the practices of Yoga. We will begin with the ten Great Wisdom Goddesses (daśa mahāvidyā) of India. Then...
SELF-STUDY
YS 105 | A Brief History of Āsana
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
Participants will walk away with a solid foundation in the history of āsana, a clearer understanding of the traditional role of the body and physical postures in premodern yoga traditions, insight into exciting new yoga scholarship, and a better u...
SELF-STUDY
YS 104 | The Story of OṂ: Sacred Sound and the Vedic Roots of Yoga
Instructor: Dr. Finnian Gerety
This course explores the rich history of the sacred syllable in Indian religions, highlighting the significance of mantra meditation in the development of classical Yoga. We will examine the ideologies of sound, speech, and silence
SELF-STUDY
YS 202 | The Yogas of the Bhagavadgītā
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
This course provides an in-depth immersion into the history, philosophy, and theology of the Bhagavadgītā. It gives special attention to the various teachings on yoga, including three of the earliest definitions of yoga in a Sanskrit text.
SELF-STUDY
YS 201 | The Yogasūtras of Patañjali
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
This course provides an in-depth study of the history, philosophy, and practice of the Yogasūtra, drawing on Seth Powell's own Sanskrit-English translation. Immerse in a close and thorough reading of one of yoga's most ancient, important, and mis-...
SELF-STUDY
YS 103 | Yoga and Hindu Asceticism, From Past to Present
Instructor: Dr. Daniela Bevilacqua
This course explores the age-old connection between yoga and asceticism in India, through the world of the sādhus. We will look at the development of Hindu asceticism from both a historical and ethnographic point of view.
SELF-STUDY
YS 102 | Modern Yoga in the West
Instructor: Dr. Philip Deslippe
This course is designed to give students an understanding of the development of modern yoga in the West from the mid-nineteenth century up to the present day in areas including the United States and England, Europe and Australia, Latin America, Ru...
SELF-STUDY
YS 101 | An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Yoga
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
This course offers an overview of the latest and most exciting research in yoga studies—illuminating yoga’s past and present. Along the way, we will debunk common misperceptions about yoga’s antiquity and uncover the incredible ways yoga has chang...
SELF-STUDY
FREE Video Lecture | Visual History of Yoga and Yogis
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
Learn about the history of yogic postures (āsana) through material evidence in medieval south India, based on Seth Powell's original research and fieldwork in Hampi.
SELF-STUDY
FREE Audio Lecture | What Would Patañjali Think?
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
This talk took place on the fifth annual International Day of Yoga, June 21, 2019 at Triyoga Camden in London. Access the audio recording and keynote slides.
SELF-STUDY
SKT 100a | The Devanāgarī Seminar
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
This course is designed to teach you the Sanskrit alphabet, the Devanāgarī "script" within just 6 weeks or less.
SELF-STUDY
SKT 100b | Sanskrit for Yogis
Instructor: Dr. Seth Powell
This course provides a clear and accessible introduction to Sanskrit—designed especially for yoga teachers and practitioners. Along with SKT 100a, it makes for a great preparation for our SKT Elementary series.
UPCOMING
SKT 101 | Elementary Sanskrit I
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
This is the first of three terms for our renowned online Elementary Sanskrit program with Dr. Antonia Ruppel. In this three-term sequence spanning 9 months, you will be introduced to all regular Sanskrit grammar, will acquire a vocabulary of aroun...
UPCOMING
SKT 102 | Elementary Sanskrit II
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
This is the second of three terms for our renowned online Elementary Sanskrit program with Dr. Antonia Ruppel. In this three-term sequence spanning 9 months, you will be introduced to all regular Sanskrit grammar, will acquire a vocabulary of arou...
UPCOMING
SKT 103 | Elementary Sanskrit III
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
This is the third of three terms for our renowned online Elementary Sanskrit program with Dr. Antonia Ruppel. In this three-term sequence spanning 9 months, you will be introduced to all regular Sanskrit grammar, will acquire a vocabulary of aroun...
UPCOMING
SKT 201 | Intermediate Sanskrit I: The Bhagavadgītā
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
This course builds on our foundational Elementary Sanskrit program and provides students the opportunity to reinforce the principles of Sanskrit grammar, build vocabulary, and gain more confidence through reading original Sanskrit texts.
UPCOMING
SKT 202 | Intermediate Sanskrit II: The Rāmāyaṇa
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
This course builds on our foundational Elementary Sanskrit program and provides students the opportunity to reinforce the principles of Sanskrit grammar, build vocabulary, and gain more confidence through reading original Sanskrit texts.
UPCOMING
SKT 203 | Intermediate Sanskrit III: Sanskrit Narratives
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
This course builds on our foundational Elementary Sanskrit program and provides students the opportunity to reinforce the principles of Sanskrit grammar, build vocabulary, and gain more confidence through reading original Sanskrit texts.
CLOSED
SKT 204 | Spoken Sanskrit I
Instructor: Dr. Varun Khanna
This is the first of two courses in Spoken Sanskrit. This series of courses takes a natural approach to learning Sanskrit. As a baby learns language for the first time by being immersed in it without the scaffolding of grammar, students too will l...
CLOSED
SKT 205 | Spoken Sanskrit II
Instructor: Dr. Varun Khanna
This is the second of two courses in Spoken Sanskrit. This series of courses takes a natural approach to learning Sanskrit. As a baby learns language for the first time by being immersed in it without the scaffolding of grammar, students too will ...
SELF-STUDY
SKT 206 | Reading the Devīmāhātmya
Instructor: Dr. Anya Golovkova
Step into the world of ancient Sanskrit storytelling with the Devīmāhātmya, a powerful hymn of devotion, philosophy, and cosmic battle. In this course, we follow the journey of King Suratha and Merchant Samādhi, two exiles searching for meaning af...
SELF-STUDY
SKT 301 | Pātañjalayogaśāstra I: Samādhi Pāda
Instructor: Dr. Philipp Maas
This course offers the opportunity for students with basic knowledge of Sanskrit to gain access to the Pātañjalayogaśāstra by reading and interpreting selected sūtra and bhāṣya passages from the first chapter of this work.
SELF-STUDY
SKT 302 | Pātañjalayogaśāstra II: Sādhana Pāda
Instructor: Dr. Philipp Maas
This course offers the opportunity for students with basic knowledge of Sanskrit to gain access to the Pātañjalayogaśāstra by reading and interpreting selected sūtra and bhāṣya passages from the second chapter of this work.
SELF-STUDY
SKT 303 | Vedic Sanskrit
Instructor: Dr. Caley Smith
This course will introduce students to the vast and ancient world of Vedic Sanskrit. It is aimed at a student competent in Classical Sanskrit. The course modules will introduce students to a range of readings in Vedic Sanskrit that grow in difficu...
SELF-STUDY
SKT 304 | Vedic Sanskrit: Defense Against the Dark Arts
Instructor: Dr. Caley Smith
This course is aimed at a student competent in both Classical and Vedic Sanskrit. The topic of this course is primarily the mantras of the Paippalāda Atharvāṅgirasa, or the words of the Atharvans and the Aṅgirases, the name given to the Atharvaved...
SELF-STUDY
SKT 305 | Introduction to Pāṇinian Grammar
Instructor: Dr. Varun Khanna
This course will give students a taste of real śāstra study—the systematic study of a subject in the traditional Sanskrit world—by taking them through a simple and organized introduction to vyākaraṇa. Though it is introductory in nature, the depth...
SELF-STUDY
SKT 306 | Pāṇinian Grammar Level II
Instructor: Dr. Varun Khanna
This course is a continuation from SKT 305 where we studied the sārvadhātuka architecture of word formation. In this course, we will tackle its counterpart, the ārdhadhātuka architecture of word formation, to construct the full gamut of verbal forms.
SELF-STUDY
SKT 307 | Kāvya: Meghadūta of Kālidāsa
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
This course will read the first half of Kālidāsa’s poem Meghadūta, or Cloud Messenger. Kālidāsa, who lived around 1,500 years ago, is one of the early masters—and many say: the master—of kāvya. Kāvya is a traditional literary term for what is ofte...
SELF-STUDY
SKT 308 | Pātañjalayogaśāstra Pāda 3: Vibhūti Pāda
Instructor: Dr. Philipp Maas
The present course offers the opportunity for students with basic knowledge of Sanskrit to gain access to the Pātañjalayogaśāstra by reading and interpreting the third chapter of this work in the earliest so-far known text version under the guidan...
SELF-STUDY
SKT 309 | Pātañjalayogaśāstra IV: Kaivalya Pāda
Instructor: Dr. Philipp Maas
This course offers the opportunity for all students with basic knowledge of Sanskrit to gain access to the Pātañjalayogaśāstra and the world of Indian Philosophy by reading and interpreting the fourth and final chapter of this work in the earliest...
UPCOMING 2028
SKT 501 | Sanskrit Graduate Seminar
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
The Sanskrit Graduate Seminar is the capstone of the Sanskrit Advanced Certificate Program (SACP). The Sanskrit Graduate Seminar is designed to solidify and integrate this vast learning, and is an opportunity to develop and carry out a personalize...
UPCOMING
HINDI 101 | Elementary Hindi I
Instructor: Dr. Rajiv Ranjan
This is the first of a three-term sequence of Elementary Hindi with Dr. Rajiv Ranjan. The focus of the course is to develop students’ linguistic (grammar and vocabulary), communicative (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), and cultural comp...
UPCOMING
HINDI 102 | Elementary Hindi II
Instructor: Dr. Rajiv Ranjan
This is the second of a three-term sequence of Elementary Hindi with Dr. Rajiv Ranjan. The focus of the course is to develop students’ linguistic (grammar and vocabulary), communicative (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), and cultural com...
UPCOMING
HINDI 103 | Elementary Hindi III
Instructor: Dr. Rajiv Ranjan
This is the third of a three-term sequence of Elementary Hindi with Dr. Rajiv Ranjan. The focus of the course is to develop students’ linguistic (grammar and vocabulary), communicative (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), and cultural comp...
CLOSED
HINDI 201 | Intermediate Hindi I
Instructor: Dr. Rajiv Ranjan
The focus of this course is to further develop students’ linguistic (grammar and vocabulary), communicative (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), and cultural competence. The course will follow Dr. Ranjan's and his colleagues’ online textbo...
UPCOMING
PALI 101 | Elementary Pali I
Instructor: Dr. Aleix Ruiz-Falques
This is the first of three terms in Elementary Pali. This first course will introduce you to Pali, the language of the earliest canonical collection of Buddhist scriptures as preserved in the Theravada tradition. Our focus will be quickly developi...
UPCOMING
PALI 102 | Elementary Pali II
Instructor: Dr. Aleix Ruiz-Falques
This is the second of three terms in Elementary Pali. At this point, students are familiar with the declension system and the basic structure of the Pali sentence. We have also made some incursions into the Suttas, but there are a few areas that s...
UPCOMING
PALI 103 | Elementary Pali III
Instructor: Dr. Aleix Ruiz-Falques
This is the third of three terms in Elementary Pali. At this point, students are familiar with the declension system and the basic structure of the Pali sentence. We have also made some incursions into the Suttas, but there are a few areas that st...
SELF-STUDY
PALI 200 | Pali Variations: Theory of an Imperfect Grammar
Instructor: Dr. Aleix Ruiz-Falques
In this course we are going to explore variation as the core of Pali grammar, we will problematize it, to see why it is there and why it is important. More specifically, we will focus on how classical grammarians deal with variation and exception,...
UPCOMING
PALI 201 | Intermediate Pali I
Instructor: Dr. Aleix Ruiz-Falques
In this course we are going to explore variation as the core of Pali grammar, we will problematize it, to see why it is there and why it is important. More specifically, we will focus on how classical grammarians deal with variation and exception,...
UPCOMING
TIBETAN 101 | Elementary Tibetan I
Instructor: Kunsang
This course is the first of a three term Elementary Tibetan program. In this first trimester you will learn the Tibetan alphabet, how to read, how to spell, basic word formations, and how to use the Wylie system of transliteration to be able to se...
UPCOMING
TIBETAN 102 | Elementary Tibetan II
Instructor: Kunsang
This is the second of a three term Elementary Tibetan Program. In this second trimester you will learn the main particles used in Tibetan grammar to connect words and ideas, creating grammatical cases. At the end of this term, you will have a good...
UPCOMING
TIBETAN 103 | Elementary Tibetan III
Instructor: Kunsang
This is the third and final term of the Elementary Tibetan Program. In this third trimester you will expand your dharma vocabulary and understanding of technical terms. You will also explore different structures and word formations and apply the k...
UPCOMING
LATIN-S 101 | Latin for Sanskritists
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
If you have ever completed an introduction to Sanskrit and are interested in learning Latin, this course is for you. Over twelve weeks, LATIN-S 101 aims to introduce you to all Latin grammar – all forms, their uses, how they are combined to form s...
UPCOMING
LATIN 102 | The Writings of Ovid
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
This class is a continuation of LATIN-S 101 | Latin for Sanskritists, an intensive introduction to Latin aimed at students with prior knowledge of (grammatically greatly parallel) Sanskrit. LATIN 102 is aimed at Latin learners who were first intro...
UPCOMING
LATIN 103 | Seneca: A Stoic at Home
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
This class is a continuation of LATIN-S 101 | Latin for Sanskritists, an intensive introduction to Latin aimed at students with prior knowledge of (grammatically greatly parallel) Sanskrit, and LATIN 102 | The Writings of Ovid.
UPCOMING 2027
GREEK-S 101 | Greek for Sanskritists
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
GREEK-S 101 | Ancient Greek for Sanskritists aims to take 12 weeks to offer an overview of Ancient Greek (i.e. Classical Attic) grammar to anyone with some prior ancient-language skills: whether you already know some Sanskrit, some Latin, or have ...
UPCOMING 2028
GREEK 102 | Plato’s Apology of Socrates
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
If you have taken an introductory Greek course and would now like to work on your reading fluency in a supportive environment with custom-made resources, you will enjoy this class. Over the course of nine weeks, with two ninety-minute meetings per...
UPCOMING 2028
GREEK 103 | Antigone of Sophocles
Instructor: Dr. Antonia Ruppel
What do you do when what is lawful is at odds with what is right? And what do you do when you are a representative of the law, and your niece has decided to do not what is lawful, but what is (or at least: what she perceives as) right? These quest...
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