Illuminating Postcolonial Pedagogy Through Kuchipudi Dance for Diverse Democracies in Higher Education

• In Event: Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: Religious Diversity in and Beyond Higher Education: Building a Common Good Through Religious Pluralism

Abstract

Orientalism (1) still functions as a system that causes culturally insensitive misinformed representations of religions and cultures. Yet we live in a postcolonial world where we must deal with diversity. Thus, we need an educational solution to the persistent problem of Orientalism to prevent insensitivity. For this reason, there is a need for decolonized scholarship that engages in a de-Orientalization that is informed and culturally sensitive to the power of representation.
I aim to use Kuchipudi (2) Indian Classical Hindu dance to de-Orientalize Hinduism as I predominantly present and dance in academia. Through a self-study, (3) I question how I use Kuchipudi dance to teach primarily non-Hindus. Am I able to move my phenomenological experience of Orientalism to a de-Orientalized scholarship? (4).
From my on-going self-study, I can make some initial conclusions about my usage of de-Orientalized pedagogy. First, it is imperative for my colleagues and I to build a de-Orientalized framework to position Hinduism with postcolonial realities in mind. To accomplish this, my colleagues and I engage in dialogical inquiry. Here, I aim to understand the position of my colleagues and help them to understand me as a faith-based Hindu. The Hindu scriptures (5) are a primary source for this deliberation. Second, it is crucial for me to engage in the readings that my colleagues assign to their classes. This helps me to confront the presence of Orientalism in the literature. Overall, I intend to share my phenomenological experience, through dance, in an effort to shed light on Hinduism as much more than religion but rather as a way of being in the world. While I focus on the de-Orientalization of Hinduism and Indian culture, this project serves as a stimulus for educators across disciplines to maintain an awareness of the colonizing power (6) tied to the legacy of Orientalism. This project presents a pedagogy that is a starting point for higher education educators to develop postcolonial pedagogy (7) in a global capacity in an effort to de-Orientalize for diverse democracies.
1. Said, Edward W. 1978. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books.

2. Acharya, C. R., and Mallika Sarabhai. 1992. Understanding Kuchipudi. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in association with Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Ahmedabad.

3. Loughran, John. "A History and Context of Self study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practice." In International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2004. 9.

4. Said, Edward W. 1978. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books.

5. Vālmīki, and Hari Prasad Shastri. 1952. The Ramayana of Valmiki. London: Shanti Sadan; Yogananda. 1995. The Bhagavad Gita: God talks with Arjuna : royal science of God realization. Los Angeles: Self Realization Fellowship.

6. Viswanathan, Gauri. 1989. Masks of conquest: literary study and British rule in India. New York: Columbia University Press.

7. Coloma, Roland Sintos. 2009. Postcolonial challenges in education. New York: Peter Lang.

Author

• Sabrina D. MisirHiralall, Montclair State University