Wendy Doniger

Background

Wendy Doniger's research and teaching interests revolve around two basic areas: Hinduism and mythology.

Her courses in mythology address themes in cross-cultural expanses; her courses in Hinduism cover a broad spectrum that, in addition to mythology, considers literature, law, gender and ecology.

Cross-cultural offerings have included courses about death, dreams, evil, horses, sex and women. Among her many books are Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook (Penguin Classics, 1975), translated from the Sanskrit; The Rig Veda: An Anthology, 108 Hymns Translated from the Sanskrit (Penguin Classics, 1981); The Laws of Manu (Penguin Classics, 1991); Siva: The Erotic Ascetic (Oxford University Press, 1981); The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology (University of California Press, 1980); Other Peoples' Myths: the Cave of Echoes (University Of Chicago Press, 1995); The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth (Columbia University Press, 1999), and The Hindus: An Alternative History (Penguin Books, 2009).