Oct. 26 — The Study of Jainism: A Symposium in honor of Prof. Padmanabh Jaini's 90th Birthday

Symposium | October 26 | 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. | 220 Stephens Hall, Townsend Center for the Humanities Sponsors: Center for South Asia Studies, Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, Townsend Center for the Humanities, Catherine and William L. Magistretti Chair in South and Southeast Asian Studies, Center for Buddhist Studies, Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion The symposium brings together a select group of leading experts of Jainism from Europe and the US who work in different arenas of Jain Studies and represent different disciplines, including textual studies, anthropology, history, and art history. They will present papers on different aspects of Jainism drawing upon their current research. In this way the current state of Jain Studies will be brought to bear in its disciplinary breadth. This is to allow for discussions on past accomplishments and also the challenges and the new directions that may be envisaged for this important and still rather neglected field of study. The symposium is organized in honor of Prof. Padmanabh Jaini who has pioneered the study of Jainism in the English speaking world. His "The Jaina Path of Purification" (first published in 1979) has brought the study and knowledge of Jainism to a broader English speaking public, and his numerous further publications—such as his book "Gender and Salvation: Jaina Debates on the Spiritual Liberation of Women" (1991) and his "Collected papers on Jana studies" (2000)—have made him one of the leading scholar in this field. Even as he is about to become a nonagenarian he continues to work and publish at the forefront of Jain Studies, and will also present himself. Participants: Prof. Christopher Chapple, Indic and Comparative Theology at Loyola Marymount University Prof. John Cort, Director of Denison University Department of Religion Prof. Paul Dundas, Reader in Sanskrit at the University of Edinburgh Dr. Peter Flügel, Chair of the Centre for Jaina Studies at SOAS, University of London Prof. Phyllis Granoff, Religious Studies - Yale University Dr. Shalin Jain, S.G.T.B. Khalsa College, University of Delhi Prof. Padmanabh Jaini, Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley Prof. Robert Goldman, Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley Prof. Olle Qvarnström, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University Prof. Alexander von Rospatt, Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley Dr. Audrey Truschke, ACLS Fellow at Stanford University Dr. Kristi Wiley, Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley Program: 9: Welcomes 9:10 -10:30 Phyllis Granoff: The Stages of Life. Olle Qvarnström: Jain and Buddhist critique of Samkhya philosophy. 10:30-10:50: Coffee Break 10:50-12:10 Paul Dundas: Hemacandra Maladharin's Allegorical Narratives. Padmanabh Jaini: A South Indian Jaina rathayatra in Tulu Nadu Jain Bramanical priests and brahminisation of temple rituals. 12:10-1:10: Break 1:10-2:30 Peter Flügel: Wishful Thinking: The Padmāvatī Shrine at Humcha. John Cort: Digambar Jains in Gujarat. 2:30-2:50: Coffee Break 2:50-4:50 Robert Goldman: Ahiṃsā Warriors: Epic Heroes and Avatāras in Jaina Narrative Literature. Kristi Wiley: Nigodas Revisited. Alexander von Rospatt: Beyond Jainism. Reflections on the survival of Indic Buddhism in Nepal.