Career Prospects

Acquiring competencies and skills

The post-graduate programme in the School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and Comparative Religions at Nalanda University provides students with the opportunity to engage with a range of disciplines:

• Buddhist Studies
• Buddhist Archaeology and Art
• Other Religious Traditions in the Cultural Contexts of Buddhism
• Theory and Methods of Religious Studies
• History of Religion
• Comparative Study of Religions
• Classical Languages for the Study of Buddhism and other Asian Religions
• Critical Theory of Religious Studies
• Asian Traditions of Philosophy
• Regional Focus: South Asia, South East Asia, East Asia

Other crucial competencies and skills that students will be trained to develop simultaneously are:

• Ability to frame well-structured, coherent and evidence-based arguments, both oral and written
• Putting forward and developing research ideas in a cogent manner
• Collecting, investigating and analyzing various kinds of material in a methodologically logical and coherent way
• Comprehending and synthesizing facts, ideas and information retrieved from different strands of sources
• Integrating and critically applying academic theory into research projects
• Research abilities and skills in academic interpretation of historical sources (texts, artefacts)

Choosing Career Pathways

Training in Buddhist, Religious Studies and Philosophy imparts transferable skills enabling graduates to pursue careers in many directions:

• Archivist / Librarian
• Researcher/ Scholar (Buddhologist, Archaeologist)
• Teacher
• Religious Commentator
• Peace Activist
• International Organizations
• NGOs
• Policy maker in the field of Peace and Conflict Resolution
• News Analyst/Journalist
• Cultural Administrator
• Advice Worker
• Social Worker

Training in Religious Studies, Yoga, and Philosophy imparts transferable interdisciplinary skills, enabling graduates to pursue careers in varied fields such as in Indology, Philology, Linguistics, and Philosophy, and in professional avenues as Archivists/Librarians, Commentators on Tantra and Yoga, Peace Activists, Yoga instructors, Cultural Administrator, Art curators and so on.

Focus areas of Study:

• The study of Indological ideas and values and their historical development of other philosophical and religious traditions.
• Dynamics of the layout of Buddhism and Hindu spiritual traditions, the texts and meditative practices;
• Study of primary texts, inscriptions, and Hindu and Buddhist iconography, art and other artefacts;
• Comparison of and interactions between various religious and philosophical traditions of Asia with emphasis on Buddhist, Jain and Hindu traditions and their different branches along with their regional and cultural contexts;
• Archaeology of key sites across Asia related to Hindu and Buddhist traditions;
• Modern manifestations of Buddhism and Hindu traditions and their contemporary relevance.

Research Initiative

The School emphasises individual and collaborative research, an interdisciplinary approach to religious literature of Buddhist and Hindu traditions and the study of religious ideas and values in relation to other proximal philosophical and cultural traditions.