News

Spring brought two new Shivdasani Fellows to the centre: visiting scholars who use their time in Oxford to teach, discuss, and open a new window onto Indian culture.

The Routledge Hindu Studies Series, in association with OCHS, is going from strength to strength under the auspices of new editor, Prof. Gavin Flood. Developed to bring the depth and originality of current scholarship into the public sphere, the Routledge/OCHS series brings ancient Hindu traditions into dialogue with the latest trends in contemporary thought. New and forthcoming titles explore new horizons for understanding India's religion, history and culture.

Our Shivdasani Visiting Fellow for Michaelmas term was Dr Himanshu Prabha Ray, who took a term away from the Centre for Historical Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi to explore the archaeology of ancient Hindu temples in her talks at the OCHS.

This term sees Gopal Gupta from Boise Idaho, USA, arriving at OCHS to pursue an MSt in Science and Religion. In recognition of his excellent work to date, the University of Oxford have awarded him a full Clarendon Fund Scholarship to support his studies at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. The highly sought-after Clarendon Scholarship, which is given to encourage scholarship in important and often ground-breaking fields, covers the fees for Gopal's Masters and Doctoral degrees in the emergent field of Science and Hinduism.

The Centre has been fortunate to host two distinguished scholars this academic year. In autumn 2004,Vasudha Narayanan, Professor of Religion at the University of Florida and past president of the American Academy of Religion, came to the OCHS as the Tamil Krishna Goswami Visiting Fellow. She delivered the Wahlstrom Lecture, providing insight into the breadth of Hindu cultural expansion beyond the borders of modern India, with examples from Angkor Wat and other Cambodian sacred sites.

Following in the footsteps of senior scholars like Prof.Frank Clooney (Harvard University, USA)and Prof.Pratap Kumar (KwaZulu Natal,South Africa),from October 2005 the new Academic Director of OCHS will be Prof.Gavin Flood,who is currently the senior lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Stirling, Scotland.

Scholars, students, and community leaders from across the country came together last Thursday for the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (OCHS) 7th annual Board of Governors dinner. The event, which took place at Oxford Town Hall, was an occasion for friends and well-wishers to learn and reflect upon the diverse and rewarding activities of the OCHS over the past year.

On Thursday, the 26 of May, Sir Mark Tully, formerly the BBC's longstanding correspondent in India, addressed an audience of 450 at an evening dinner organised by the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.

Over the last twelve months the work of our Continuing Education Department has again focused on offering the Certificate in Hindu Studies at new locations across the country. Classes have continued in Harrow, Ilford and Leicester, and in January 2005 the course started in a new venue in Birmingham. At present we have over eighty students registered on the Certificate Course, engaged in university level study of Hindu traditions and culture.

This year the Centre launched its 'Friends ' programme. It is an invitation, by Lord Dholakia of our Patrons Council, for the public to join our 'Friends of the OCHS' campaign. The Centre has achieved great academic success. But to ensure that the OCHS achieves its full potential we need the generous support of private and corporate sponsorship.

This is a great opportunity for those who are passionate about the education of young people, and the preservation and promotion of the culture. Together we can help define and develop the subject of Hindu Studies.