The Jain Studies Unit welcomes scholars to submit panel proposals for the 2025 AAR Annual Meeting in Boston as well as the online summer session in June. We especially welcome suggestions for panels to be co-sponsored with other units and for panels that address the 2025 Annual Meeting’s Presidential Theme: “Freedom.” Finally, the Jain Studies Unit encourages proposals to include voices that are diverse in terms of race, caste, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, age, socioeconomic status, geographic region, professional rank, and institutional affiliation. Questions can be addressed to either of the unit co-chairs, Gregory Clines (gclines@trinity.edu) and/or Ana Bajzelj (abajzelj@ucr.edu).

Please note that the Jain Studies Unit only accepts proposals for complete panels, roundtables, book discussions, etc. and does not accept individual paper proposals. This is true for both the online summer session and the in-person annual meeting.

The following are proposed panel titles with contact information as of January 27th, 2025. If interested, please contact the listed person(s) directly. Additional panel proposals are welcomed. The Jain Studies unit exclusively uses the AAR PAPERS system for all submissions.

November In-Person Meeting:

• Amṛtacandra and His Works (Jinesh Sheth, jineshrsheth13@gmail.com)
• Caityavāsins, Yatis, Bhaṭṭārakas: Revisiting Jain ‘Semi-Renouncers’ (Tillo Detige, tillodetige@gmail.com, and Anchit Jain, jn.anchit@gmail.com)
• Contours of Freedom: Jain Approaches to Contemplation and Self-Realization (Alba Rodriguez, alba.rodriguezjuan@email.ucr.edu), possible co-sponsorship with Contemplative Studies Unit
• Engaged Jainism (SUNY Forthcoming) Sitting on the Lotus of Engaged Buddhism: An Interdisciplinary Book Review Roundtable (Christopher Miller, christopher.miller@arihantainstitute.org), possible co-sponsorship with Buddhist Critical-Constructive Reflection Unit
• Gender, Women, and Identity: From Texts to Contemporary Shifts (Shivani Bothra, Shivani.Bothra@csulb.edu, and Venu Mehta, vmehta@cst.edu)
• Language of the Gods in the World of Jinas: Jainas and Sanskrit (Seema Chauhan, seemachauhan490@gmail.com)
• The Non-One-Sidedness of Anekāntavāda (Raja Rosenhagen, rosenhagen@mail.fresnostate.edu)

Online Summer Session:

• Jainism and Technology (Corinne Smith, 257635@soas.ac.uk)
• Jain Texts on Conduct (Alba Rodriguez, alba.rodriguezjuan@email.ucr.edu)

Statement of Purpose

This Unit began in 2009 in recognition of the burgeoning state of the field and its relative neglect in the AAR. Originating in India in the first millennium BCE, Jainism — historically as dominant a South Asian religious tradition as Buddhism and Hinduism and, in the light of current demographics, a disproportionately powerful presence in the cultural and economic life of India — is a world religion now extending far beyond South Asia to East Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, and Australia. Given the increasing focus of scholarly attention on Jainism both in India and around the globe, this Unit provides a venue in North America for scholars of Jainism to meet regularly and exchange ideas.

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