The University of Houston (UH) defended its content of a course on the Hindu religion, and said that the course is grounded in the academic discipline of religious studies, which uses specific terminology, such as “fundamentalism”.
The university further stated that studying fundamentalism is not an act of judgment or bias but a way to understand how religions evolve.
This statement came in response to a student complaint about a course titled “Lived Hindu Religion.”
“The University of Houston (UH) values academic freedom, which includes allowing faculty to explore complex and sometimes challenging topics in their teaching. While UH does not typically review individual lectures, the university maintains oversight of the curriculum to ensure it meets established academic and pedagogical standards,” the university said in a statement.
” The course is grounded in the academic discipline of religious studies, which uses specific terminology — such as ‘fundamentalism’ –as analytical tools to understand religious movements across traditions, including those rooted in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. These academic terms can carry different meanings from how they are used in public or political discourse, which sometimes leads to misunderstandings,” it added.
The University of Houston’s Lived Hindu Religion course, which is offered to students online, had sparked the controversy. The video lectures are delivered by Professor Aaron Michael Ullrey weekly.
In a statement, the university explained that in religious studies, fundamentalism refers to a movement that claims to preserve the ‘true’ or original version of a religion, asserting a strict, ahistorical, literal interpretation of scripture, dogmas or ideologies, often in reaction to modern changes.
It also said that studying fundamentalism is not an act of judgment or bias but a way to understand how religions evolve and identify through discourse analysis.
“The course applies academic frameworks to analyze how Hinduism, the religion of those who revere Hindu gods, like other world religions, has developed in historical, social and political contexts. Professors are encouraged to connect course content to current events when appropriate, as long as it is done in a balanced way that improves understanding of course content. For example, discussing the political rise of Hindu nationalism in India is part of understanding how religion and religious discourse function in the modern world, but it is not a critique of Hinduism as a whole,” the university added.
What is the controversy all about?
The controversy is around the University of Houston’s ‘Lived Hindu Religion’ course, which is conducted online.
According to Hindu on Campus, a student-led platform advocating for diaspora Hindus against Hinduphobia, on X also criticised the course.
In a statement on X, the group said, “A Hindu student at @UHouston is reported to be in a class wherein the Professor is delegitimizing Hindu identity, linking it to politics and religious extremism. >90% of Muslims and other minority groups see themselves as proud to be Indian (Source: Pew Research Center) What is being taught at our universities?!.”
