The new Alumni Sequence, Asian Classical Traditions, begins in Autumn Quarter. In this First Friday Lecture, Kendall Sharp will introduce some of the texts to be read in the new sequence, the Rigveda and the Upanishads, by addressing two fundamental questions about them. Who were the authors of the Rigveda and Upanishads, and what was their socio-historical context? Both are composed in Sanskrit, the artistic language of the Bronze Age Aryans who invaded the Indian subcontinent between c. 1700 and 1200 BCE. The Rigveda was composed during this period, and transmitted orally, while the Upanishads emerge several centuries later. This lecture will be concerned primarily with the earlier period.
Lecturer bio:
Kendall Sharp joined the Basic Program instructional staff in 2019. He holds a PhD from the Committee on Social Thought and a BA from the College at the University of Chicago. Formerly, he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Western Ontario, and has taught also at DePaul University (History), the University of Illinois-Chicago (Latin language), and in the College (Humanities). From 2020 to 2024 he served two terms as the Cyril O. Houle Chair of the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults. His teaching and research interests are wide, but have a focus on ancient Greek literature, philosophy, history, myth, and art and architecture.
