[INDOLOGY] New Directions in Indic Studies | An Interdisciplinary Conference

[Patricia Sauthoff]

Dear esteemed colleagues,

New directions in Indic studies is an important and timely topic. I am
pleased to see this discussion move forward with a cohort of Indian and
Western academics. However, I want to point out two things.

First, the gender makeup of this conference is concerning. Of thirteen
speakers, only two are women. I implore you all in the future to take note
of such demographics and work to form panels with a more equal gender
representation.

Second, I am saddened to see that Professor Sunaina Singh, vice chancellor
of Nalanda University is included in the list of inaugural speakers. As
some of you know, my own experience at Nalanda University under Professor
Singh's leadership was mired in controversy. Not only did Professor Singh
make her issues with my course public, she made comments about me to
several journalists of a very personal (and false) nature that did not make
it into print. She also blocked me from receiving my final month's salary
for the work that I did at the university. In the year after I worked at
Nalanda, an atmosphere of fear and censorship was reported in the press,
with students feeling trapped, instances of physical abuse, and the
mistreatment of foreign academic staff.
https://scroll.in/article/854841/it-is-a-closed-place-why-students-are-leaving-nalanda-university

I hope that in its new directions, Indic studies can be a safe haven for
scholars of all backgrounds to work together rather than one in which
academics are lambasted in the press, threatened, and told that their
ethnic background disqualifies them from teaching.

Patricia Sauthoff


On Wed, May 5, 2021 at 3:47 PM Prof. Pankaj Jain पंकज जैन, Ph.D. via
INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

>
> A two-day virtual interdisciplinary conference on ‘New Directions in Indic
> Studies’. The conference will delve deep into topics such as Sanskrit
> Buddhism, Victorian Indologists, Indian Music, Natya Shastra, History of
> Indian Philosophy, Jain Studies in the Global Academy, Jain Contribution to
> Global Civilization, amongst others.
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>
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