CONFERENCE ON MODERN AYURVEDA AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 2-3 July (fwd)

[Dominik Wujastyk]

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Indic Health Conference II.
Ayurveda: Modern and Global Identities

2-3 July 2004
Cambridge, UK

On Friday 2 and Saturday 3 July 2004 the Dharam Hinduja Institute of Indic
Research (DHIIR), based at the Faculty of Divinity, University of
Cambridge, will host its 8th International Conference. The conference will
discuss the history and development of Modern and Global Ayurveda as the
second part of a larger project, the Indic Health and Medicine Research
Programme (IHMRP), which has been the focus of DHIIR research since October
2000.

An international network of scholars, practitioners and experts will
present their research at the Ayurveda conference. Their presentations will
cover a wide range of methodological points of view, discussing the case of
Modern and Global Ayurveda from historical, textual, anthroplogical,
socio-political, economic, biomedical and pharmacological perspectives.

'Modern Ayurveda' is here understood to start with the processes of
professionalisation and institutionalisation brought about in India by what
has been called the 19th century revivalism of Ayurveda. 'Global Ayurveda',
on the other hand, refers to the more cosmopolitan and geographically
widespread processes of popularisation and acculturation. Early East-West
exchanges (16th c. onward) were largely limited to the pharmaceutical and
botanical sciences and disregarded ayurvedic epistemology. Pharmaceutical
interests still form a powerful force in the politics of Ayurveda today and
shape both Indian and international perceptions of ayurvedic resources. In
contrast, the more recent wave of international interest in Indic forms of
knowledge tends to include elements of religio-philosophical speculation
and of 'spirituality', in many cases aimed at developing 'holistic'
lifestyles. Such borrowings, however, often substantially altered or
developed through the process of transmission, are not always properly
acknowledged.

Ayurvedic approaches to health and wellbeing are just beginning to become
recognised and, to a lesser extent, integrated in the context of modern
medical sciences and healthcare. Assimilation at the level of complementary
or integrative forms of medicine and self-care has however been more
widespread, and this phenomenon deserves scholarly attention as symptomatic
of needs and aspirations felt by a sizeable number of individuals in
developed communities worldwide.

For up to date information on the conference please see
http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/CARTS/dhiir/indic/conf04.html
For information on the IHMRP as well as the DHIIR's work in general, please
refer to
http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/CARTS/dhiir/

Conference Venue:
Faculty of Divinity
University of Cambridge
West Road
Cambridge CB3 9BS
U.K.