Dr. T. Ganeshan is a researcher at the French Institute of Pondichery where he is also Director of the History of Śaiva Siddhānta project. He is an expert in the Sanskrit and Tamil sources of the Śaivism generally and the Śaiva Siddhānta in particular and is engaged in writing a history of Śaivism and preparing a critical edition of the Sūkṣmāgama. Among his recent publications are Two Saiva teachers of the sixteenth century. Nigamajnana I and his disciple Nigamajnana II (IFP – Publications Hors série n° 9, 2009), xviii, pp. 274; Sarvajnanottaragama (Yogapada) with the commentary of Aghorasivacharya, critically edited for the first time with introduction and Tamil translation, (Sri Aghorasivacharya Trust, Chennai, 2009); and the Acintyavisvasadakhyagama (2 chapters) along with the Tamil versified adaptation Civapunniyattelivu of Nigamajnanadesika, (Sri Aghorasivacharya Trust, Chennai, 2009).
Visiting scholars
Makarand Paranjape is a Professor of English at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. A critic, poet, fiction writer, and literary columnist with over thirty books and 100 published academic papers to his credit, he is also the author of more 250 reviews, notes, and popular articles. His latest book is Another Canon: Indian Texts and Traditions in English (Anthem Press, forthcoming).
Professor Olivelle is very well known and highly regarded for his work on early Indian religions. Among his many publications are The Asrama System: The History and Hermeneutics of a Religious Institution (OUP 1993), The Early Upanishads (OUP, 1998), and The Laws of Manu (OUP, 2004). Among his research interests are ascetic traditions and the history of the idea of dharma. Professor Olivelle teaches at the University of Texas at Austin.
USA
Linacre College
BA in Philosophy and B.Sc. in Mathematics, Boise State University, USA, 1999.
MSt in the Study of Religion, Oxford University, 2000.
D.Phil. in Hinduism in the Faculty of Theology at Oxford. Ravi's thesis focused on the early development of Vedanta philosophy in the Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition, based on original manuscript sources 2004.
Ravi was our youngest student, entering Oxford University at the age of 17. He has won a number of prestigious awards including: a full Yate Scholarship from the University Theology Faculty and St. Hugh's College; and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from Linacre College.
Prof. Joseph O'Connell is a Professor in the Study of Religion, retired after thirty years of teaching at Saint Michael's College in the University of Toronto, Canada. he was born in Boston in 1940 and educated in the United States where he received his BA in History from the College of the Holy Cross and his Ph.D. in Religion (Comparative study of the major world religions) from Harvard University in 1970. His doctoral thesis and much of his later research, translations (from Sanskrit and Bangla) and scholarly publications focus on Vaishnava bhakti (devotional) religion and its social implications in Bengal and beyond. He has also edited (solely or jointly a number of volumes.
Since his retirement Professor O'Collnell has served in visiting capacities in the Centre for Hindu Studies and the Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford; Department of Philosophy and Religion, Visva-Bharati; and Department of World Religions and Culture, University of Dhaka. He is currently preparing a textbook on the history of religion in the Bengal region and is assisting in the development of academic study of religion in Bangladesh and India. He may be contacted at joconnel@chass.utoronto.ca
Dr Rich Freeman, Study of Religions, Duke University. Dr Freeman is an Anthropologist who has worked for many years in Kerala and is fluent in Malayalam. Dr Freeman’s work is particularly valuable because he combines textual knowledge of the Kerala traditons, both through Malayalam and Sanskrit, with ethnography. His initial focus of research was the teyyam dance tradition on which he is the world’s leading expert and he has published on the history of Malayalam religious literature and continues to work on the tantric traditions of Kerala.
Prof. Sumathi Ramaswamy is Professor of History at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Prior to this appointment, she was Professor of History at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Assistant Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. She studied for her MA and M.Phil. in ancient Indian history at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She also has a Master’s in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891–1970 (University of California Press, 1997) and The Lost Land of Lemuria: Fabulous Geographies, Catastrophic Histories (University of California Press, 2004). She has also edited a volume entitled Beyond Appearances? Visual Practices and Ideologies in Modern India (Sage, 2003), and has recently completed a book manuscript entitled The Goddess and the Nation: Picturing Mother India that is part of a larger project on empire, nationalism, and cartographic culture.
Prof. Gaya Charan Tripathi was born at Agra (India). He went to school and pursued higher studies at Agra, Pune, and Benares. He has a Masters in Sanskrit (1959) from the University of Agra with a Gold Medal and first position in the University. He received his Ph.D. from the same University in 1962 on Vedic Deities and their subsequent development in the Epics and the Puranas supported by a Fellowship of the Ministry of Education. He is a Fellow of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for Higher Studies in Germany. He has a Dr.Phil. from the University of Freiburg/Br (1966) in History of Religions, Comparative Indo-European Philology, and Latin (besides Indology) as elective subjects in the grade Summa cum Laude. D.Litt. in Ancient Indian History and Culture from the University of Allahabad on ‘A critical Study of the daily Puja Ceremony of the Jagannatha Temple in Puri’ (published under the title ‘Communication with God’). He has taught at the Universities of Aligarh, Udaipur, Freiburg (twice), Tuebingen (twice), Heidelberg, Berlin, Leipzig, and British Columbia (Vancouver). He is Chief Indologist and Field Director of the Orissa Research Project (1970–5) of the German Research Council (DFG), and has been Principal of the Ganganatha Jha Research Institute, Allahabad, for over twenty years. He is presently Professor and Head of the Research and Publication wing of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Delhi. He has contributed around ninety papers in English, German, Sanskrit, and Hindi to various Indian and International Journals on Religion, Philosophy, History, Literature, and Vedic/Puranic studies. Published 22 books on subjects mostly pertaining to religions and literature of India. His specialisations are: Indian Religions and Philosophy, Vishnuism (especially Pancharatra school), Vedic sudies, Sanskrit Literature, Grammar, and Philology, Cult practices of Orissa, and Gaudiya Vishnuism.
Shashiprabha Kumar is presently Chairperson, Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, New Delhi. She is an acclaimed Sanskrit Scholar, well versed in classical Indian Philosophy, particularly the system of Vaisesika, which was her area of Ph.D. research. Dr Kumar received the Sri Ramakrishna Sanskrit Award (World Education Foundation, Canada, 2003) for her distinguished and outstanding contribution to Sanskrit research and teaching, and Shankar Puraskar award (K.K.Birla Foundation, New Delhi, 1998) for her first book, Vai'sesika Dar'sana mein Padartha-Nirupana. She has won many other prestigious awards and fellowships. She has written fourteen books and has contributed more than sixty research papers to reputed journals and edited volumes. She has participated in several international conferences and seminars as well as lecturing in India and abroad.
Prof. Sangeetha Menon has been working in Consciousness Studies for over eighteen years. Her core research interests are Indian ways of thinking in classical philosophical schools, Indian psychology and Indian dramaturgy, and current discussions on consciousness. Her doctorate thesis was ‘The concept of consciousness in the Bhagavad Gita’. After graduating in science (zoology) she took her postgraduate degree in philosophy from University of Kerala. A gold-medallist and first-rank holder for postgraduate studies, she received national University Grants Commission fellowship for her doctoral studies. Since 1996, she has worked as Fellow at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), in the campus of Indian Institute of Science.
She has co-organised national and international conferences including ‘Scientific and Philosophical Studies in Consciousness’ (1998, NIAS), ‘Science and Metaphysics: Consciousness and Genetics’ (2002, NIAS), ‘Science and Beyond’ (2003, NIAS), and ‘Consciousness, Experience and Ways of Knowing’ (2006,NIAS).
Her book Dialogues: Philosopher meets the Seer (2003, Srishti Publishers) is a set of nine dialogues with her spiritual teacher on socio-cultural issues of contemporary importance and the common concerns of science and spiritual quest. The Beyond Experience: Consciousness in Bhagavad Gita is Menon’s latest book (2007, Blue Jay Books, New Delhi). Dr Menon has co-edited four books: Consciousness, Experience and Ways of Knowing: Perspectives from Science, Philosophy and the Arts (2006, NIAS), Science and Beyond: Cosmology, consciousness and technology in Indic traditions (2004, NIAS), Consciousness and Genetics (2002, NIAS) and Scientific and Philosophical Studies on Consciousness (1999, NIAS). She has several articles in peer-reviewed journals, and contributed chapters on a variety of issues relating to science and religion, self, mind, and consciousness. She contributed a chapter on ‘Hinduism and Science’ for the recently published Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006, OUP). She has also authored monographs on consciousness in the context of Indian thought. Presently she is engaged in writing a book on ‘Consciousness and Agency' as part of the Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality award', received from Universite Interdisciplinaire de Paris, and Elon University supported by Templeton Foundation.
She has received national awards for her achievements in the field of consciousness and Indian contributions. She also received the Young Philosopher Award (2003) from the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, for her research work.
Graham M. Schweig is currently Associate Professor of Religion and Director of the Indic Studies Program at Christopher Newport University; he is also Visiting Associate Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Virginia. Schweig is the author of Dance of Divine Love: India's Classic Sacred Love Story: The Rasa Lila of Krishna (Princeton 2005).
Prof. T.S. Rukmani has a distinguished academic record and has been teaching and researching mainly in the areas of Hinduism, Advaita Vedanta and Sankhya-Yoga for the past 40 years. She has taught in India, South Africa, where she held the first Chair for Hindu Studies and Indian Philosophy at University of Durban Westville, and joined the Department of Religion, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, as Professor and Chair for Hindu Studies in 1996. Since the establishment of Delhi University 80 years ago, she is the only academic in its Department of Sanskrit to have been honored with the highest degree of D.Litt. In 1972, she was awarded the Ida Smedley International Fellowship to work as a post-doctoral fellow on comparative philosophy, under the guidance of the late Prof. B.K. Matilal, at Toronto University. Prof Rukmani has won many awards and her four-volume work on Vijnanabhiksu's Yogavarttika and her two-volume work on Sankara's Yogasutrabhasyavivarana have been widely acclaimed in scholarly circles as significant contributions to the furtherance of Yoga Philosophy. She has also written and edited seven other books dealing with different aspects of religion and philosophy and has published many research papers in academic journals, both in India and in other parts of the world. Prof. Rukmani has been active in "Women's Studies" and programs connected with women. She was President of the University Women's Association of Delhi for two years and was a member of the International Federation of University Women's Fellowship Committee in Geneva (Switzerland) for three years.
Prof. Mandakranta Bose studied Sanskrit in Calcutta (Smrti and Mimamsa) and in Oxford, focusing her research on the Natya-sastras. She taught religion and gender studies in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Among her many publications are: Classical Indian Dancing: A Glossary (1970), Movement and Mimesis: The Idea of Dance in the Sanskritic Tradition (1991), Nartananirnaya: A Critical Edition (1991), Faces of the Feminine in Ancient, Medieval and Modern India (2000), Speaking of Dance: The Indian Critique (2001), The Ramayana Revisited (2004). Her most recent work, a critical edition, with translation, of Sangitanarayana, is in press. One of her recent research projects focuses on performances of the Ramayana and she continues to work on editing Sanskrit Sangitasastra texts. Prof Bose is the former director of the Centre for India and South Asia Research at the University of British Columbia, and is an Emeritus Professor there. She is at present teaching as a Visiting Professor at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada.
Himanshu Prabha Ray has degrees in Archaeology, Sanskrit and Ancient Indian History and teaches at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. In her research she adopts an inter-disciplinary approach for a study of the archaeology of religion in South Asia, this being evident in her most recent paper, "The Apsidal Shrine in Early Hinduism: Origins, Cultic Affiliation, Patronage", World Archaeology, 36,3, 2004: 343-359.
Her major publications include Monastery and Guild: Commerce under the Satavahanas, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986; The Winds of Change: Buddhism and the Maritime Links of Ancient South Asia, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994 (reissued as Oxford India Paperbacks, 1998, 2000); The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003 and edited volumes titled Tradition and Archaeology, New Delhi, Manohar, 1996 (with Jean-Francois Salles); Archaeology of Seafaring: The Indian Ocean in the Ancient Period, New Delhi, Indian Council of Historical Research Monograph I, 1999; Archaeology as History in Early South Asia, New Delhi, Aryan Books International, 2004 (with Carla Sinopoli).
The series of lectures and seminars at Oxford draws on her ongoing research on "The Archaeology of Sacred Space: The Hindu Temple in Peninsular India (2nd-1st century BC to 8th century AD)", which she hopes to complete during her tenure as Shivdasani Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
Dr Ashok Aklujkar, the author of Sanskrit: an Easy Introduction to an Enchanting Language, received his M.A. degree in Sanskrit and Pali from the University of Poona and his Ph.D. degree in Sanskrit and Indian Studies from Harvard University. He has been teaching courses in Sanskrit language and in the related mythological and philosophical literatures (occasionally also in Indian belles lettres in general) at the University of British Columbia since 1969. His published research is mostly in the areas of Sanskrit linguistic tradition and poetics. For the last several years he is engaged in the ambitious project of preparing critical editions of the works of Bhartihari, a grammarian-philosopher, and of the commentaries elucidating those works. Advanced students have worked under Aklujkar's guidance in the areas of Buddhist and Brahmanical philosophy, religion, and mythology.
Professor, Department of Philosophy, Jadavpur University, did her Ph.D. thesis on ‘The Role of Syncategorimaticity as the Principle instrument in Linguistic behaviour in Vedic and Popular Usages’. She did her MA in Sanskrit from Visva Bharati, Santiniketan and Acharya in Advaita Vedanta from Rashtriya Sanskrita Sansthan, New Delhi. She was awarded a fellowship for the project on ‘Influence of Indian Tradition on Rabindranath Tagore’ at the Asiatic Society, Kolkata. She is also associated with the Centre of Advanced Studies in Philosophy at Jadavpur University. Presently she holds the chair of Principal Investigator, Major Research Project in Indian Philosophy and Research Methodology, sponsored by University Grants Commission, Govt. of India. Her recent research works extend in the areas: Analytic Research and Theory Development, Ontological Issues in Ayurveda, Advaita Vedanta, Vaisesika, Purva Mimamsa and Panini-Vyakarana. Apart from a number of articles published in various National and International journals, proceedings, and anthologies, she has authored titles including Basic Principles of Indian Philosophy of Language, A Treatise on Arthasamgraha, Samksepa-Sariraka (Trans. & Comm.), Panchikarana-Varttika, Vedanta-Sanja-Prakarana (both are transcribed from rare original manuscripts).