New Books in Indian Religions · Marshall Poe

M.A. in Yoga Studies with Christopher Chapple

·38 min·3 clips

Students build on yoga practice with philosophical and historical understanding, not just decorating it.

This episode features an interview with Dr. Christopher Chapple, a professor and founding director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies program at Loyola Marymount University. The host, from the "New Books in Indian Religions" podcast, explores the structure and philosophy of this unique graduate program. Dr. Chapple details the interdisciplinary curriculum, which includes required Sanskrit grammar study, history, philosophy, and health sciences related to yoga. The program has operated for 13 years and attracts a diverse student body ranging from recent undergraduates to practicing lawyers and PhD holders. A foundational two-week residential intensive in Los Angeles begins each year with a daily practice incorporating pranayama, asana, and reflection on the yamas and niyamas. The curriculum examines texts like the Yoga Sutra and Bhagavad Gita while also surveying Buddhist, Jain, and Sufi traditions. Students visit Southern California spiritual sites, including a Self-Realization Fellowship center and a studio founded by actor Michael B. Jordan. The program is fully accredited for online delivery, with students enrolled from over 30 U.S. states and countries like India, Germany, and Bahrain. A surprising insight is that the program was designed for simulcast and archived video from its inception in 2013, making it uniquely prepared for the shift to online learning. Dr. Chapple shares that meaningful community and meditative depth can be achieved virtually, as evidenced by his long-running online meditation group. The program encourages critical engagement, with one student's research leading to a re-evaluation of a studio's historical ties to the controversial Swami Rama. Graduates have pursued diverse paths, including tenure-track positions at Stanford and USC, doctoral research on yoga and sleep hygiene, and running community-focused studios. The conversation highlights how intellectual study and embodied practice are designed to complement and enhance one another. The tone is conversational and educational, flowing like an informative dialogue between two knowledgeable scholars. Listeners interested in graduate-level religious studies, the pedagogy of online education, or the academic study of yoga will find this episode compelling. Those seeking only instruction on yoga postures or a purely spiritual discussion without scholarly rigor might find it less applicable.

As heard by us

A calm look at yoga study as both scholarship and lived practice.

Dr. Chris Chappell presents LMU’s Masters in Yoga Studies as a serious academic path built around teaching, practice, and close reading of texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutra.

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Listen for a grounded account of yoga studies as teaching, practice, and education.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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