Arihanta Institute Launches First Global Graduate Studies Concentration Focusing on Veganism with Claremont School of Theology 

Creators of Engaged Jain Studies discipline also add a concentration in Yoga Studies.

Vegan Studies at Arihanta Institute

Vegan Studies is an emerging, interdisciplinary area of academic inquiry drawing from the disciplines of Critical Animal Studies, Environmental Studies, History, Philosophy, Anthropology, Psychology, and much more. Faculty in our collaborative graduate program in Engaged Jain Studies at Claremont School of Theology specialize in the intersections of these academic disciplines.

Harnessing these specializations, we are proud to announce a first-of-its kind concentration in “Veganism, Animals, and Ecology” as part of our remotely available, global graduate degree program offered in collaboration with our partners at Claremont School of Theology.

Graduate students in the program now have the option to complete a total of 4 courses in their graduate coursework to earn this concentration in their graduate degree program. From Arihanta Institute, course options include:

“Veganism, Climate Change, and Environmental Justice” 

“Food Politics in South Asia and Beyond” 

“Engaged Jainism and Animal Advocacy”

“Jain Veganism in the History of Global Veganism” 

Professor Jonathan Dickstein leads the development of these courses at Arihanta Institute. His research and teaching, grounded in South Asian Religions and the Jain tradition, also draw from his interdisciplinary training in Critical Animal Studies, Environmental Studies, and allied fields of academic inquiry. Students will learn from these disciplines, discovering the unique contributions the Jain tradition makes to the history of veganism as well as contemporary global debates concerning veganism. 

Students will also have the option to choose from related courses with faculty at Claremont School of Theology towards fulfilling the 4-course requirement for the concentration.

Professor Christopher Jain Miller, Arihanta Institute’s Vice President of Academic Affairs, had this to say regarding the relevance of an academic concentration focusing on veganism:

“As the interconnected issues between animal agriculture and climate change, pollution, drought, human health, labor rights, animal rights, and social justice become more prominent in the public consciousness in these increasingly precarious times, the new concentration in ‘Veganism, Animals, and Ecology’ will provide a space for critical academic reflection on the role of veganism in shaping a livable, equitable, and more just planetary future for all living beings.”

Learn more about the concentration on our graduate degree program page.

Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute

Arihanta Institute is also proud to announce a concentration in “Yoga Studies” in the collaborative graduate degree program at Claremont School of Theology. 

The Yoga Studies concentration will draw on the existing expertise of Arihanta Institute and Claremont School of Theology faculty who have a well-developed teaching and research background for offering this concentration, which will fulfill the intellectual and spiritual interests of many of our graduate students.

To fulfill the requirements of the concentration in Yoga Studies, students will complete a total of 4 courses in their graduate coursework to earn this concentration in their graduate degree program. From Arihanta Institute, course options include:

“Foundations of Jain Yoga Studies” 

“Jain Yoga”

“Hatha Yoga and Jain Yoga” 

“Social Justice and Modern Yoga” 

These courses consider the historical, philosophical, anthropological, and philological dimensions of yoga traditions broadly, with particular emphasis also placed on the study of Jain Yoga.

Students will also have the option to choose from related courses with faculty at Claremont School of Theology towards fulfilling the 4-course requirement for the concentration.

Professor Miller, a scholar of Yoga Studies and author of Embodying Transnational Yoga, emphasizes the relevance of the new concentration in Yoga Studies:

“Arihanta Institute and Claremont School of Theology have become a global hub for the academic study of not only yoga, but Jain Yoga as well, and in a format that is accessible to people globally. The new concentration in Yoga Studies is a timely offering with the increasing popularity of yoga worldwide, coupled with the limited access that students have to study yoga in an academic setting. This concentration will help yoga teachers and students learn how to promote and practice yoga in a historically, philosophically, and culturally responsible way.”

To learn more about how the new concentrations in “Veganism, Animals, and Ecology” and “Yoga Studies” fit into the broader graduate program, visit Arihanta Institute’s graduate degree program page.

And stay tuned for more exciting events in Vegan Studies and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute in 2024, including a new online “Voices in Vegan Studies” speaker series, online public courses in Vegan Studies, and a conference on “Yoga in Jainism.”

Arihanta Institute, an IRC 501(c)(3) nonprofit California Corporation, is a world-class online institution for learning all about the Jain tradition and how it applies to daily life. We offer certificate and graduate-level online learning with top scholars from around the globe whose areas of expertise are in Jain Studies and allied fields of academic inquiry.