Victoria Price is completing her MA degree in Yoga Studies at the GTU in association with the Mira & Ajay Shingal Center for Dharma Studies. In Fall 2019, she will begin the GTU’s doctoral...
Where Journey Meets Opportunity
"The access our GTU community has to scholars who are practitioners in the religious traditions we study is indispensable. However, in addition to all of our scholar-practitioners, there are many students like me who don’t practice the traditions we study. As outsiders, we have a unique perspective to employ in our research, and the GTU embraces our contributions wholeheartedly."
When I was younger, the answer to, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was never related to studying religion. When I think about it now, however, being immersed in the academic study of Hindu religion and culture is the only option that feels right for me.
Being from a small town in Michigan and having been part of a wonderful Catholic parish community there throughout my childhood and adolescence, I knew very little about Hinduism before I first studied it in high school. Yet I was fascinated by what I learned about the wisdom, beauty, and history of the Hindu tradition. As an undergraduate, I majored in religious studies, where I learned more about Hinduism and its relationship to the world’s other great religious traditions. My deep personal roots in Christian spirituality have given me a greater appreciation for not just Hinduism but all of the different faith traditions that I’ve studied in the past and continue to study at the GTU.
In 2017, I enrolled in the GTU’s MA program, pursuing a degree in Yoga Studies in association with the GTU’s Center for Dharma Studies (CDS). I have loved learning from and being in dialogue with so many of the practitioners we have in the Bay Area. Studying at the CDS has given me the chance to observe and interact with the Hindu community here and enrich my research in ways that are invaluable to me. I’m excited to continue to deepen those relationships, as I complete my MA and begin coursework in the GTU’s doctoral program in the fall.
The GTU has been a pioneer in the way interdisciplinary and interreligious conversations are approached in Religious Studies. With eight member schools, five academic centers, and four additional affiliates, there is no shortage of opportunity for dialogue between members of different backgrounds and traditions.
Because of the openness to different faith traditions at the GTU, the prevalence of self- described “scholar-practitioners” in our community is something I take great pride in supporting. The access our community has to scholars who are practitioners in the religious traditions we study is indispensable. However, in addition to all of our scholar-practitioners, there are many students like me who don’t practice the traditions we study. As outsiders, we have a unique perspective to employ in our research, and the GTU embraces our contributions wholeheartedly.
Being a part of the GTU community undeniably benefits my research. I am incredibly grateful to those who have come before me and paved the way for my journey in the Yoga Studies program and beyond.