Moderated by Dr. Jayne Moneysmith

This research project will be exploring the connections and discords between the cultural and moralistic values in the Ramayana as well as in America’s Modern society This project will be using the Ramayana, by Valmiki translated from Sanskrit by R.K. Narayan. Our research examines the key archetypes and questions in response to the readings. The methods used to explain these concepts are academic research and taking on the roles of characters in the text to better emphasize the characters’ actions and understand their position in the story. Using these methods, we explain and propose our ideas and findings through an audio format resembling a podcast. Each student takes on the role and voice of a character to demonstrate our claims and conclusions. While being able to connect with and examine each character closely, we were able to draw some conclusions about the key differences and similarities between ancient India (4th century BCE) and modern American society.