This essay provides an overview of the distinctive challenges presented to teaching and learning in religious and theological studies by the conditions and characteristics of “millennial” students. While the emerging literature on this generation is far from consistent, it is still instructive and important to engage, as students that are immersed in technology and social networking have different facilities and difficulties that educators would do well to carefully address and critically employ. Teachers in theological and religious studies are distinctly positioned to grapple with such conditions, particularly around the practices of identity formation, media literacy, and embodiment. Attention to the development of such practices engages key issues for both the millennial students and the religious and theological studies teacher: virtual reality, spiritual identity, globalization and violence, critical consumption and ethical creativity, focused and contemplative thinking, and intercultural and interpersonal respect.

The Bhagavad Gita is a philosophical Hindu scripture in which the god Krishna imparts lessons to the warrior prince Arjuna about sacred duty (dharma) and the path to spiritual liberation (moksha). This classical scripture has had a long and active interpretive life, and by the 19th century it had come to be regarded as a core text, if not the core text, of Hinduism. During the colonial period, interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita considered the relevance of Krishna’s lessons to Arjuna in the context of British colonial rule. While some Indians read a call to arms into their interpretation of this scripture and urged their fellow Indians to rise up in armed resistance, Gandhi famously read a nonviolent message into it. This article argues that equally as important as Gandhi’s hermeneutics of nonviolence is his commitment to enacting the lessons of the Bhagavad Gita as he interpreted them in the daily life of his intentional communities. When explored through the lens of daily life in these intentional communities (which Gandhi called ashrams), we see that Gandhi’s interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita emphasized not just nonviolence but also disciplined action, including self-sacrifice for the greater good.

Amar Chitra Katha (‘Immortal Picture Stories’) is the leading Indian comic book series, with 440 mythological and historical titles and sales of over 86 million issues. In 1989, after twenty years of publishing success, the producers of this series decided to release two issues on the world-renowned Indian politician and activist, Mahatma Gandhi. But Gandhi, best known for his technique of non-violent civil resistance, presented a formidable challenge: How to depict the Mahatma, paragon of peace and non-violence, in a visual medium that is notorious for its action and violence? This article examines the relationship between text and image in these comics, and draws upon interviews with authors and artists, to better understand the contested memory of Gandhi in India today as well as the contested concept of non-violence.

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Mohandas Karamchand “Mahatma” Gandhi is known worldwide for his nonviolent fight to attain India's independence from colonial rule. Lesser known are his utopian residential experiments conducted at the intentional living communities, or ashrams, that he founded in South Africa and India during his lifetime. Residents at these ashrams engaged in small-scale experiments with the ideals and methods for living a just life that Gandhi would then apply to larger-scale social, religious, and political problems. This article focuses on the communal observances and experiments undertaken by Gandhi along with his co-residents to illuminate the evolution and enactment of Gandhi's concept of sarvodaya, “universal well-being.” It argues that voluntary self-control, which at times bled into self-sacrifice, was central to Gandhi's philosophy of sarvodaya and his utopian vision for individual and communal flourishing. It also argues that Gandhi's intentional communities were the necessary conditions for his experiments with and articulation of that philosophy.