12th World Sanskrit Conference: First Circular

Wed Aug 8 13:11:54 UTC 2001

12th WORLD SANSKRIT CONFERENCE
Helsinki, Finland, 14-19 July, 2003

As decided by the International Association of Sanskrit Studies (IASS)
at its 10th and 11th World Sanskrit Conferences held in Bangalore (India)
in 1997 and in Turin (Italy) in 2000, the 12th World Sanskrit Conference
will be held in Helsinki (Finland), from the 14th to the 19th of July,
2003. The conference is organized by the IASS and the Department of
Indology, Institute for Asian and African Studies, University of
Helsinki. The organisers look forward to welcoming fellow scholars to
Helsinki for the conference.

MODE OF OPERATION AT THE 12th WORLD SANSKRIT CONFERENCE

The 12th World Sanskrit Conference will operate in 14 parallel sections
organized by scholars specializing in the particular field. They will
be responsible for selecting the papers to be presented in the section,
for supervising the meetings of the section and for editing the papers
subsequently in a separate volume. The chairpersons may modify the title
of their section and volume, for example by giving it a specific theme.
        To guarantee a high scholarly level for the conference, we have
asked the chairpersons to pre-select a proportion of the speakers by
invitation. Scholars wishing to present a paper but not directly
contacted by the respective chairpersons in advance will be in
competition with each other. Titles and abstracts of unsolicited papers
should be sent to the conference organizers in Helsinki; they will be
forwarded to the relevant chairpersons, who will review them and select
the best.

SECTIONS AND CHAIRPERSONS

The 14 sections and their chairpersons, who have all kindly agreed to
accept their demanding task, are indicated below. Specific themes, as
well as individual speakers and the titles of their papers, will be
announced on the web-page of the conference and in its later circulars,
as and when this information becomes available.

1. Veda - Asko Parpola, Masato Fujii
2. Epics - Muneo Tokunaga, Robert P. Goldman
3. Puranas - Hans Bakker, Petteri Koskikallio
4. Agamas and Tantras - Bruno Dagens, Alexis Sanderson
5. Vyakarana - George Cardona, Madhav Deshpande
6. Linguistics - Bertil Tikkanen, Heinrich Hettrich
7. Poetry, Drama and Aesthetics - Edwin Gerow, Virpi Hämeen-Anttila
8. Scientific Literature - Michio Yano, Dominik Wujastyk
9. Buddhist Studies - Richard Gombrich,
10. Jaina Studies - Colette Caillat, Nalini Balbir
11. Philosophy - Johannes Bronkhorst, Albrecht Wezler
12. History and Epigraphy - Klaus Karttunen, Richard Salomon
13. Law and Society - Patrick Olivelle, Harry Falk
14. Art and Archaeology - Adalbert J. Gail, Gerd J. R. Mevissen

PAPERS

The time for presenting a paper at the conference is limited to either
15 or 30 minutes including discussion; the length of the written version
intended for publication is to be agreed with the chairpersons. Papers
offered without special invitation will be selected on the basis of
one-page abstracts (200-400 words). The abstracts are to be submitted
at least on paper but preferably also in electronic form, either by
e-mail or on a diskette, by the end of December, 2002. The decision
about acceptance or refusal of the paper will be notified by the end
of February, 2003. Invited speakers are asked to send the abstract
of their paper by the end of May, 2003. The papers presented will be
published afterwards in a series of volumes.

CONFERENCE FEE AND REGISTRATION FORMS

The conference fee is EUR 175 for participants who are not members of
the IASS, EUR 150 for members of the IASS, and EUR 75 for students.
If the fee is paid later than the end of March, 2003, it will be
increased by EUR 25; and there is a cancellation fee of EUR 25. Banking
details will be given in the second circular.
        The registration form, the abstract form and (later) the hotel
registration form will be available at the web-site of the conference
(http://www.helsinki.fi/hum/aakkl/12wsc).

CONFERENCE VENUE

The conference will be held in the handsome premises of the University
of Helsinki, in the centre of Helsinki. Reservations for accommodation
have been made in hotels of different categories, most of them within
walking distance. A list of the hotels and their prices (approximately
between EUR 170 and 50 per day) will be given in the second circular.

PRE- AND POST-CONFERENCE TOURS

Participants who wish to visit places of interest in Finland, Sweden
(e.g. Stockholm), Russia (e.g. St. Petersburg), or Estonia, Latvia or
Lithuania before or after the conference will have an opportunity to
make individual travel arrangements. A selection of the most popular
pre- or post-conference tours with their prices will be given later.

FLIGHTS TO FINLAND

SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System), the Official Airline of the 12th
World Sanskrit Conference, will offer special conference fares for the
participants.

CIRCULARS

- First circular: general information + pre-registration form,
in July/August 2001
- Second circular: more detailed information about the programme,
accommodation, travel, etc. + registration form + hotel reservation form,
in August 2002
- Third circular: provisional schedule, interim list of participants,
other updated information, in March 2003

This circular and other information relating to the conference can be
found on the conference homepage, which will be updated at least on the
above-mentioned dates. The 2nd and 3rd circulars will be sent to all
those who have returned a completed pre-registration form.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

President:  Asko Parpola
Secretary:  Petteri Koskikallio
Other Finnish Members:  Virpi Hämeen-Anttila
                        Klaus Karttunen
                        Bertil Tikkanen
International Members:	
        Ram Karan Sharma (President of the IASS)
        John Brockington (Secretary General of the IASS)
        Colette Caillat (Former Treasurer of the IASS)
        Bruno Dagens (Treasurer of the IASS)

ADDRESSES

Mailing address:
        12th World Sanskrit Conference
        Institute for Asian and African Studies
        P.O.Box 59
        FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
        FINLAND

Visiting address of the Institute:
        Unioninkatu 38 B, Helsinki

Phone:  +358-15-444130 (Petteri Koskikallio)
        +358-9-19122674 (Asko Parpola)
Fax:    +358-9-19122094
web-site: http://www.helsinki.fi/hum/aakkl/12wsc

e-mail: petteri.koskikallio at helsinki.fi
        asko.parpola at helsinki.fi
        klaus.karttunen at helsinki.fi