Summer short course

Various speakers

‘Yoga’s Past and Present’

The SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies is pleased to bring you the 2022 summer short course – ‘Yoga’s Past and Present’.

Over 4 days in June we will look at the history and origins of yoga, contextualise this history through a contemporary lens and examine the role of yoga today. We will consider what yoga’s present can tell us about its past; how our view of the origins of yoga, notions of the history, or histories, of yoga are supported or altered in light of contemporary practices. How can we reframe our understanding of yoga in light of new research, and what can we learn by intersecting history with notions of decolonisation? What can the way women have been written about in pre-modern texts tell us about women in yoga today; the relationship between lineage and post-lineage; what can contemporary ethnographic work with ascetics tell us about pre-modern yoga texts? These are some of the questions that we will consider and endeavour to answer in the duration of this short course.

The short course will run in person at SOAS, London. Tutors will include some of the top academics in the field of yoga studies. We’ll take full advantage of the London location by combining classroom time with museum visits.

If you enjoy the CYS public lectures and want to learn more, please join us.

Dates : Monday 27th June – Thursday 30th June. Each day will run 10:00-16:00, except fo Monday, which starts at 9.30am.

Cost : £510

To book please complete this booking form .

Once you have completed the booking form you will be sent a payment link and a registration form.

Please note that this course cannot be taken for academic credit but upon completion participants will receive a certificate of attendance.

Bursaries

The Centre of Yoga Studies is committed to SOAS’s policy of promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity in the student body. In order to promote these objectives, we are offering two bursaries that waive 50% of the course fee.

One of these is restricted to applicants from nationals of South Asia, while the other is offered globally. Countries identified as constituting South Asia by the SOAS South Asia Institute are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Applicants from these countries are particularly encouraged in recognition of the region’s importance in the historical development of yoga. We also welcome applicants whose participation in the course will increase equality, diversity and inclusivity.

Recipients of the bursary will be asked to contribute a blog post or similar, describing their experiences after the summer school.

The bursary consists of 50% fee waiver.

Please apply for this bursary if you would not otherwise be able to attend this course without the help of a bursary.

Deadline for applications requesting this bursary: 31st May 2022
Decision on bursaries made by 15th June 2022.

Apply using this bursary application form.