Priya is a comic book super hero who fights the social stigma of rape in India which is widespread. Recently an Indian television station published an interview with a rapist who said that he would not have killed his victim if she had not fought back. According to VICE in this excellent review, “Priya’s Shakti is an imaginative reaction to an alarming apathy among the authorities and public toward the issue of rape.” The writer and developer is an Indian-American filmmaker,... Read more

While everyone knows that the Dalai Llama heads Tibetan Buddhism, fewer people know the equally popular Buddhist singing nun, Ani Choying Drolma. She’s recorded ten albums since 1994 and tours six months a year all over the world. Drolma grew up in Kathmandu and began singing as a young teenager when a Rinpoche, or Llama, recognized her talent and asked her to sing at Buddhist functions. Today, according to this story from NPR in 2011, “Drolma’s music combines Tibetan melodies with... Read more

If you cannot go to New York and see the exhibit of Buddhist art from Myanmar at the Asia Society, you can watch experts examine some of the pieces in the clips below. The exhibit opened in early February and continues until May 10. The New York Times called it “quietly majestic” and the Guardian called it “beautiful and fascinating.” I saw the exhibit this weekend and loved the way it’s organized. The first floor includes images related to the life of... Read more

Since the attack on Charlie Hebdo in January, French Muslims have faced a backlash, especially in Marseilles which has a sizable Muslim community. In an essay for the New York Times, James Estrin describes the difficulty these Muslims have blending into French society. According to Bharat Choudhary, who has studied Muslim communities in the Untied States and Europe, the dreams and aspirations of French Muslims are destroyed by a society they see as against them. He notes that “for the... Read more

Take a virtual guided tour through the fascinating Suleymaniye Mosque, built in the century  after the Ottomans came to power in 1453. The mosque was built during the reign of Sultan Süleyman known as Süleyman the Magnificent. The Sultan hired the architect, Mimar Sinan, to design the mosque in which you can see both Islamic and Byzantine influences. The tour includes several speakers who review the significant architectural details inside and outside of the mosque. The tour is part of... Read more

Are Hindus losing their reverence for cows?  That’s what Fred de Sam Lazaro suggests in this clip from PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. He notes that over 40,000 cows roam the streets of Dehli and “are increasingly seen as a nuisance, clogging traffic and foraging through garbage heaps.” But why are cows revered in the first place?  This is what make the clip so interesting,especially to students. De Sam Lazaro interviews a number of Hindus who explain the significance of the... Read more

Can Abercrombie & Fitch deny a Muslim teenager a sales job because she wears a headscarf? Abercrombie says head-coverings of any kind would have interfered with the preppy image they wanted to portray. But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) concluded that the company discriminated against the teenager on the basis of religion when they did not offer her an accommodation. The case is now before the Supreme Court and the justices heard oral arguments today. At stake is whether it is... Read more