The University of Toronto is pleased to announce that its Third Annual Summer School on the Languages and Literatures of Jainism will be held between August 14^th and 18^th 2023 on the Mississauga campus. The primary mode of instruction will be in-person, but we will accommodate people who wish to attend online. This year’s summer school will focus on Jain Prakrit from the first millennium of the common era. Participants will read both literary works by poets like Haribhadrasūri, Pālitta and Śīlāṅka, as well as exegetical and doxographic literature, such as the Niryukti (Nijjutti) tradition of the Śvetāmbaras and Darśanasāra of the Digambara author Devasena.  

Professor Andrew Ollett of the University of Chicago will be leading our reading sessions. Professor Ollett is a specialist of Indian literature and intellectual history, and works across several languages, including Prakrit, Sanskrit, and Kannada. His first monograph, The Language of the Snakes (UC Press, 2017), is a critical study of Prakrit’s place in Indian literary culture. He also recently published a translation of Koūhala’s Prakrit romance, the Līlāvaī (Murty Classical Library, 2021). Dr. Heleen de Jonckheere, Lecturer in South Asian Religions at SOAS, University of London, will also lead reading sessions, guiding our study of the Digambara materials. Dr. de Jonckheere’s research focuses on translation in Jain literature, as well as manuscript culture. She has done extensive work on the Dharmaparīkṣā tradition. She is also the co-editor of a forthcoming volume entitled Pure Soul: The Jaina Spiritual Traditions. Professor Aleksandra Restifo, the Bhagavan Mahavir Assistant Professor of Jain Studies at Florida International University, will also lend us her expertise in Prakrit literature, leading sessions on Śīlāṅka’s Cauppanamahāpurisacariya. Professor Restifo is a specialist of Prakrit and Sanskrit literatures, and has published on topics such as, Jain dramatic literature, aesthetic theory, and the history of emotions in Jain literary and ritual materials. She will also present new research at the summer school about the use of upamā- and vyatireka-śleṣa in the works of poets like Śīlāṅka. 

There will be two reading sessions each day: one in the morning and another in the afternoon. The focus will be Prakrit narrative literature in the morning, and exegetical texts in the afternoon. While prior study of Prakrit is not required, participants should have an intermediate to advanced knowledge of Sanskrit. Materials relating to Prakrit grammar will be circulated prior to the start of the summer school. It is important that participants review these beforehand so that we may make the most of our week together.  

The summer school itself is free to attend, and there will be funding available for room and board for a limited number of applicants from outside the Greater Toronto Area. We also ask that all in-person participants be fully vaccinated. 

Those interested in attending this year’s summer school should send their CV and a statement of interest of about 200 words via email. Please make sure to mention whether you wish to attend in-person or at a distance. Applications are due by June 20^th. 

Please contact Timothy Lorndale ( timothy.lorndale@utoronto.ca ) to apply to the summer school or for any further information.