[INDOLOGY] Upcoming symposium on the Greater Magadha theory

[Dominik Wujastyk]

Dear friends,

I take the points that have been made here.  Here's a word about how the
thing was planned.  I started out with a very limited budget in 2019 and
planned the conference to take place in April last year, as a necessarily
small meeting held physically here in Edmonton, where I work.  Financially,
I could only invite a very few international people, or even travellers
from other parts of Canada (which is huge).  As a matter of priority, I
reached out to several historians in India, including two lady professors,
but to my regret they all said no.  Then I had to cancel everything because
of the pandemic.  Now, doing it online, I'm basically working with the
people who kindly agreed back at the beginning.  But now, precisely because
it has become non-local, it doesn't look like a small, local meeting any
more.  But against that, the time-zone problem means that we can only meet
for a few hours each day, so it is not feasible to enlarge the symposium.
Interesting lessons.

There are lots of people who have thought about the GM theory.  A real
factor is that I am simply not very well informed about everyone who has
thought a lot about GM.  I was initially guided by people who had published
prominent book reviews of the GM book and who responded positively to my
enquiries in 2019 and who were able to travel to Edmonton.

This symposium is just one meeting.  GM is a major theory and deserves more
discussion than just this symposium.  I hope other colleagues can organize
something more comprehensive and inclusive, in the future.

Best,
Dominik
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