[INDOLOGY] The place of Indology in the Academy

[Arlo Griffiths]

Responses have so far mainly come from our colleagues in the US, revealing patterns broadly comparable with what I remember from when I was working in the Netherlands and what I know to be true elsewhere. Especially the natural law that East Asia always gets (much) more external funding than do South and Southeast Asia rung very true; I think the same holds everywhere for student enrolment in the various areas (Southeast Asia, or rather its constituent parts, being lowest on the totem pole, behind South Asia and East Asia). I think the situation in France is un peu différente, but I do not dare to attempt a summary; other members of the list have more direct experience than I do.
Maybe it would be useful for Dominik to state the background of his questions?
Arlo GriffithsEFEO Jakarta (soon to be Paris/Lyon)

From: wujastyk at gmail.com
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 15:14:19 +0100
To: indology at list.indology.info
Subject: [INDOLOGY] The place of Indology in the Academy

In Germany, there are (still) departments of Indology.  In a sense, such German departments are conceptually parallel  to departments of Classics.  In most universities elsewhere, Indology "lives" somewhere within a larger unit, such as Religious Studies, Classics, Asian Studies (or Oriental Studies), Philosophy or History.

Institutionally speaking, where does Indology flourish best?  For what reasons?  

Clearly there are determining issues, perhaps principally, "how many Indologists are we talking about?"  If there is one Indological faculty member, she would normally be appointed within History, Philosophy or Religious Studies, etc.   But if there are three or four faculty members (not so common?), a critical mass is beginning to form that requires its own institutional recognition.  What is this critical mass?

The faculty or department with which Indology shares space will also therefore form the main group of competitors for Indological resources (faculty positions, library budget, teaching room allocation, etc.).  With whom do Indologists compete successfully?  Perhaps this always reduces to issues of personality and local dynamics.  

Best,
Dominik


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