You are invited to a thought-provoking exploration of intellectual traditions you may have missed at Yale. "Great Books of the Nonwestern World" offers a journey through the foundational texts and enduring wisdoms of South Asian, East Asian, African, Indigenous American, and Islamic thought. We will engage with works that have shaped civilizations beyond the West—texts that challenge us to rethink the nature of power and justice, the role of the individual in society, and the pathways to peace, community, and transformation.
In dialogue with contemporary Global South thinkers, we will read Gandhi alongside Confucius and Lao Tzu, Ibn Khaldun, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, the Buddha, and the Qur’an. This journey will deepen our intellectual toolkit and emphasize a vital insight: epistemic diversity matters. Drawing from broader knowledge traditions fosters creativity, sharpens insight, and encourages more nuanced problem-solving. Expect lively discussions on themes such as karma and justice, Ubuntu and interdependence, decolonization and resistance, and the metaphors we use to understand society.

COURSE FORMAT
This course is an interactive in-person seminar course in Washington D.C.. This course will meet once a week for 6 classes and will be held in-person at the following location: Williams & Connolly Conference Room- 680 Maine Ave. S.W., Washington, DC 20024.

COURSE MATERIALS
This course will have all reading materials supplied by the instructor
Registrants will receive access to the course website and the zoom links about two weeks before the course starts.

COURSE CANCELLATION POLICY
Registrants can cancel and receive a full refund up to September 29. After September 29, there will be no refunds issued.
Yale Alumni College courses are subject to schedule changes as well as cancellations. If Yale Alumni College must cancel any course prior to its start due to low enrollment, you will be notified of this by the cancellation date. Upon cancellation of a course, registrants may transfer their registration to another available course or have the registration fee fully refunded.

In the event of a disruption to the original course schedule, including but not limited to; Professor absence, hazardous weather conditions, or local travel restrictions, Yale Alumni College will do its best to reschedule the missed class for the week immediately following the original end date at the same course time and day.

Photos:
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, pictured at the Edinburgh international book festival in 2018. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/Guardian

Gandhi
By Elliott & Fry - philogalichet.frgettyimages.in, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76882768
Studio photograph of Mahatma Gandhi ji, London, 1931.

Confucius. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Confucianism#/media/1/132104/216353

Lao-Tzu_on_his_buffalo,_followed_by_a_disciple
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lao-Tzu_on_his_buffalo,_followed_by_a_disciple.jpg

Ibn Khaldun muslimheritage.com