Vasant Bhatt, an Indian-American student who enrolled in the course ‘Lived Hindu Religion‘ at Houston University, found that the course is Hinduphobic and has distorted India’s political landscape.
The university offers the course online. The video lectures are delivered by Professor Aaron Michael Ullrey weekly. The controversial course misrepresents certain statements about the Hindu religion as facts.
For example, the course claims that the word ‘Hindu’ is a modern construct and has no historical basis. Bhatt, a political science major at the university, raised the issue with the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences under which this course is being offered.
ALERT: A Hindu student at @UHouston is reported to be in a class wherein the Professor is delegitimizing Hindu identity, linking it to politics and religious extremism.
— Hindu On Campus (@hinduoncampus) March 19, 2025
>90% of Muslims and other minority groups see themselves as proud to be Indian (Source: Pew Research Center)… pic.twitter.com/j6nBIQdbSG
He alleged that Professor Ullrey claimed that Hinduism was not an “ancient, lived tradition”, but a “political tool” weaponised by “Hindu nationalists, and a system of oppression against minorities”.
After facing backlash over its course on the Hindu religion alleged to be Hinduphobic, the University of Houston has defended the course in the name of academic freedom.
“Hindutva, or ‘Hindu-ness’, is a term that Hindu nationalists, those who believe Hinduism should be the official religion of India, use to designate their religion and denigrate others, namely Islam,” read a quote from the syllabus shared by Bhatt with India Today.
Dismissing the allegation, Professor Ullrey denied having said anything as alleged and clarified that his words were taken out of context.
Statement by the Houston University
Responding to the student’s allegations, the university released a statement saying that the university valued academic freedom, which allowed faculty to explore complex and challenging topics.
“The University of Houston values academic freedom, which includes allowing faculty to explore complex and sometimes challenging topics in their teaching. While UH does not typically review individual lectures, the university maintains oversight of the curriculum to ensure it meets established academic and pedagogical standards,” read the statement as reported by the ANI.
The university claimed that academic terms can carry different meanings from how they are used in public or political discourse which sometimes leads to misunderstanding.
“The word ‘Hindu’ is not found in the Vedas or the Mahabharata or the Puranas, which is surprising considering the prevalence of the term now. The specific term Hinduism is not found in the inscriptional record, in which the patrons declare affiliation with a specific deity (Saiva) or religious authority (Bauddha), and a king who might be considered Hindu by modern standards could call himself Son of the Gods (devaputra), but the kings and patrons did not use the term Hindu to mark their identities, ” said Professor Ullrey defending his course.
