OCHS Summer School 2016
(For information on the 2017 Summer School, click here)
Following on from 2014's very successful and enjoyable Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Summer School we are now taking bookings and expressions of interest for this year's event.
At the Summer School a thoughtful community of enquiry was quickly formed and I do hope we will be able to welcome you to Oxford to join that group.
Dates and times
Friday 24 June – Sunday 26 June
Morning sessions run from 10am–1pm and the afternoons from 3–5.30pm (except Sunday, where there is no afternoon session )
There will be a lunch break from 1–3pm.
Venues
Friday: University Church Library, University Church, High St (https://goo.gl/maps/LS9maqWTAD82)
Saturday: Chester Room, Nuffield College (https://goo.gl/maps/Ek1viPkdvA82)
Sunday: Old Common Room, Balliol College (https://goo.gl/maps/52KSZxQtdw42)
Schedule
Friday 24 June
University Church Library, University Church, High St
Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/LS9maqWTAD82
10.00–11.25am: Worlds Made of Words: Reading/Hearing/Seeing Hindu Texts
Dr Jessica Frazier
India has produced some of the world's longest, richest, and most influential texts. From the arabesque of stories that is the Mahabharata, to the dense philosophical formulas of the sutras, to the heady wordplay of bhakti poetry, Hindu texts can be difficult to unlock, but each has its own key. We explore the culture in which language has the power to capture reality, and even to change it. As Plato was banishing poets from his ideal state, India was beginning a two millennia process of affirming language as that which makes humans special.
11.40am-1.00pm: Ethics and Dialogue in the Mahabharata
Prof. Brian Black
We start by introducing the main story of the Mahabharata and look at the structure of the text. We will demonstrate how the complex literary structure itself successfully conveys an ethical teaching.
3.00–4.10pm: Gender and Dialogue in the Mahabharata
Prof. Brian Black
Here, we focus on the women in the Mahabharata. What do these characters say about gender relations and how might the Mahabharata help us understand some of the complex and wide-ranging roles of women in Hinduism more generally?
4.20–5.30pm: Many Mahabharatas
Anuradha Dooney
"What is not here, is nowhere else" the Mahabharata declares in its first book.While not contesting this bold claim, this talk sketches an outline of what is there and some of the many ways this massive text has been approached/understood.We will further explore how the story works to convey its many meanings and ask why it is that it's retelling remains important for so many Hindus today.
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5.30pm: Tour of the Oxford Union by Ashvir Sangha, former union President.
Saturday 25 June
Chester Room, Nuffield College
Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/Ek1viPkdvA82
10.00–11.25am: What is the Value of Knowledge? The Upanisads on the Teaching that Delivers the World
Dr Jessica Frazier
The Upanishads are the most sophisticated of Hinduism's many early texts. They record the reflections of a class of elite thinkers who had grown tired of ritual and rote learning. In the Upanishads we will see how an urban elite in a cosmopolitan culture, succeeded in persuading a continent of largely illiterate people, that education is the key to the world, and ideas have the power to make us 'immortal'.
11.40am-1.00pm: Sitting at the Guru's Feet: Teachers, Students, and Education in the Upanisads
Dr Rembert Lutjeharms
The Upanisads are among the most influential Hindu sacred texts. Though often cryptic, they form the foundation of Vedantic discourse, and still influence the religious imagination of countless spiritual seekers, both traditional and modern. Its 'secret' teachings are often presented through the voices of Vedic teachers, and the roles these teachers play is central to these teaching, as indicated by a traditional etymology of the word upanisad (“to sit in the proximity [of the guru]”). Focusing on the stories found in these religious texts, this talk will explore the character of the Upanisadic gurus, the roles they played, the way they taught, and their relationship with their disciples, and thereby reflect on the value and ways of education in the modern world.
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3.00–4.10pm: Is the Gita Ambiguous? The "Truth" of Interpretation
Professor Julius Lipner
It is well-known that the Bhagavad-gita is a key religious text of many traditions in Hinduism. But it is also well-known that it has received many interpretations, each claiming to be true, starting from the great theologians of the past. During this session we shall look at the interpretations of Shankara and Ramanuja as a means to understanding the problems and issues of the interpretation of texts.
4.20–5.30pm: Radical Surrender to God: Readings from the Rāmāyaṇa on seeking refuge (prapatti)
Dr Rembert Lutjeharms
One of the central debates in Southern Indian devotional (bhakti) traditions concerns the nature of seeking refuge (prapatti or śaraṇāgati) in God: what does it mean to seek refuge in God, what is necessary for it to occur, and why is it so controversial? In this session we will read selected episodes of Valmīki's Rāmāyaṇa that exemplify prapatti, and explore the way they have been read over the centuries by various Hindu commentators.
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Sunday 26 June
Old Common Room, Balliol College
Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/52KSZxQtdw42
10.00–11.25am: The Gita and the Mahabharata
Anuradha Dooney
This session locates the Gita in the Mahabharata. The Gita is not just a chapter of a larger work: it shows how its own teachings, examples, and perspectives are best understood in relation to the whole book. We will examine Krishna's character, dilemmas faced, and the practical advice given in Gita in light of the Mahabharata.
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11.40am-1.00pm: Historical Transformations in Yoga
Dr Jason Birch
Yoga is one of India's gifts to the world and its long history reveals that this art of transformation has itself transformed many times. There are significant differences between the well-known Haṭhayoga texts (such as the fifteenth-century Haṭhapradīpikā) and the Indian yoga of the early twentieth century which has grown to become a global phenomenon. Together, we will examine some of the important innovations in medieval Haṭhayoga that have come to define modern yoga.
Meals
We will book lunches and dinners at nearby restaurants allowing attendees to discuss the sessions among themselves and with scholars and students of the OCHS (cost not included).
If you have any further enquires, contact Lal Krishna at lal@ochs.org.uk or 07982-255279