Visiting Fellows

Diljit Rana Fellows

Joseph O'Connell

USA
Trinity term 2001

Ph.D in Religion (Comparative study of the major world religions) - Harvard University (1970)

BA in History - College of the Holy Cross (USA)

Prof. Joseph O'Connell was a Professor in the Study of Religion, retired after thirty years of teaching at Saint Michael's College in the University of Toronto, Canada. His doctoral thesis and much of his later research, translations (from Sanskrit and Bangla) and scholarly publications focus on Vaishnava bhakti (devotional) religion and its social implications in Bengal and beyond.

Since his retirement Professor O'Connell served in visiting capacities in the Centre for Hindu Studies and the Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford; Department of Philosophy and Religion, Visva-Bharati; and Department of World Religions and Culture, University of Dhaka. Professor O’Connell was also the Academic Director of OCHS from 2002-2004.

Professor O'Connell passed away on May 6, 2012 - http://ochs.drupalgardens.com/news/passing-joseph-oconnell.

Dr Kathleen O'Connell

Trinity term 2001

Ph.D. in modern Bengali culture - University of Toronto

M.A. in comparative literature - Jadavpur University, India

Dr O'Connell teaches courses on the humanism of Satyajit Ray and philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore at the University of Toronto. Currently she is preparing an anthology of Tagore's own writing on education and doing research on ideas about medicine in Bengal at the turn of the twentieth century.

Publications include:

  • Translations of short stories by Satyajit Ray, Bravo! Professor Shonku - Rupa (1985)
  • History of Rabindranath Tagore's educational project at Santiniketan, Rabindranath Tagore: The Poet as educator - Visva-Bharati (2002).

 

Shivdasani Fellows

Prof. Dilip Loundo

Hilary term 2015

Dilip Loundo is Professor and Coordinator of the Centre for the Study of Indian Religions and Philosophies at the Postgraduate Program of Religious Studies of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (Brazil). He has been a Visiting Scholar in several universities and a former Itamaraty Chair Professor of Indo-Brazilian Studies at Goa University (India). Prof. Loundo is a Ph.D. in Indian Philosophy from the University of Mumbai (India), an M.A. and M.Phil. in Philosophy from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Sanskrit from the University of Mumbai (India). He has authored several articles and books on the Vedas, Advaita Vedānta, Mīmāṃsā, Mādhyamika Buddhism, the aesthetic tradition, and the Indo-Brazilian intellectual dialogue.  His recent publications include: “Adhyāropa-apavāda Tarka: The Nature and Structure of the Soteriological Argument in Śaṅkarācārya’s and Swami Satchidanandendra Saraswati’s Advaita Vedānta” (Oxford, 2015); “Comments on Nāgārjuna’s Two Truth Doctrine” (São Paulo, 2014); “Buddhavacana e Śabda Pramāṇa in Mahāyāna Buddhism and Advaita Vedānta” (Campinas, 2014); “Ritual in Vedic Tradition: Openness, Plurality and Teleology” (João Pessoa, 2013).

Archana Venkatesan

Hilary term 2013

PhD in South Asian Studies (Tamil) – University of California (2004)

MA in South Asian Studies – University of California (2000)

BA (Highest Honors) in English Literature, University of California (1997)

Professor Venkatesan currently has a Joint appointment as the Assistant Professor in the Program in Comparative Literature as well as the Program in Religious Studies at the University of California. Her specialist area is Tamil Bakti texts, in which she undertakes close readings and analysis through translation. At present, Professor Venkatesan is collaborating with Professor Francis Clooney on a translation and study of the Satakopan Nammalvar’s ninth century poem.

Publications include:

  • The secret Garland:Translations of Tiruppavai and Nacciyar Tirumoli – American Academy Texts and translations Series, Oxford University Press 2010
  • Why abondon a lovely rabbit to chase after a crow? The talaivi in the matal powem of tirumankairalvar. – Tropes, Territories and Competing realities, Toronto: The toronto South Asian review 2007

Dr Swarupa Gupta

Michaelmas Term 2012
PhD in History – School of Oriental and African Studies
MA in History – Jadavpur University
BA in History - Jadavpur University
 
Dr Swarupa is currently a fellow at the Maulana Abul kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta. Her areas of academic interests include notions of nationhood, history of religion, religious diversity, identity politics, ethnicity and ethnic movements, transnationalism and connected histories, intercultural dialogue, social and cultural history of modern Bengal and India. Dr Gupta has also been the Visiting Scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Germany, where she worked in the Department of Religious Diversity.
 
Publications Include:
  • Notions of Nationhood in Bengal: Perspectives on Samaj, c. 1867 – 1905 (monograph) – Leiden, Boston: Brill (2009)

Professor M. Narasimhachary

Hilary Term 2012

PhD in Sanskrit - University of Madras

Founder Professor & Head (Retired), Department of Vaishnavism, University of Madras, India. His specialist subjects include the Pre-Ramanuja Religion and Philosophy, Pancharatra Agama Literature, Telugu and Sanskrit Literature and popularisation of Sanskrit as a spoken tongue. He has published a number of articles and monographs in academic journals on topics such as the Samskrita Svapnah, Bhakti & Prapatti in Srivaishnava Philosophy and the Pancaratra-kantakoddhara.

Publications include:

  • The Contribution of Yaamuna to Visistadvaita - Jayalakshmi Publications, Hyderabad
  • Critical Edition and Study of Yaamuna's Aagamapraamaanya - Gaekwad's Oriental Series, Baroda
  • English translation of Sri Vedanta Desika's Padukasahasram and all of his 32 Stotras.

Prof. Narasimhachary received the Certificate of Honour for Proficiency in Sanskrit from the President of India for the year 2004 and was the director of Academic Affairs at the OCHS from 2000-2001

Purushottama Bilimoria

Michaelmas Term 2011

PhD in Indian Doctrine of Testimony – La Trobe University (1983)
PgDiplArts (M.A equivalent at N.Z. University) - Otago University (1975)
BA – Auckland University

Dr Bilimoria is Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Studies at Deakin University in Australia and Senior Research Fellow at University of Melbourne. A visiting Professor and Lecturer at University of California, Berkeley and Dominican University, San Anselmo, and Shivadasani Fellow of Oxford University. His areas of specialist research and publications cover classical Indian philosophy and comparative ethics; cross-cultural philosophy of religion and diaspora studies. During his stay in Oxford, Professor Bilimoria personally tutored 11 students on a wide range of topics and engaged with several professors in various colleges.

Publications include:

  • Indian Ethics I, Ashgate 2007; OUP 2008,
  • Sabdapramana: Word and Knowledge (Testimony) in Indian Philosophy (revised reprint), Delhi: DK PrintWorld 2008;
  • Editor of a book series a book series with Springer on Sophia: cross-cultural studies in Culture and Traditions.

Professor Bilimoria is also Editor-in-Chief of Sophia, Journal of Philosophy of Religion.

Dr Ruby Sain

Trinity term 2011

PhD in Sociology – University of Kalyani (1992)
MA in Sociology – University of Kalyani (1982)
BA in Sociology – University of Kalyani (1979)
 
Dr Sain is currently the Head of the Sociology of Religion department, which she set up at Jadavpur University. The OCHS is supporting this enterprise through contributing to publications and conferences held on the topic
 
Publications include:
  • Nutritional status of tribal children in Economic and Political Weekly (vol.Xxix.18,p1513, 1994)
  • State of Nutrition – A Case Study of the Santal Tribe of West Bengal in Jadavpur University Journal of Sociology (vol-1,no1, p87-90, November 2005)

Professor Joseph O'Connell

Trinity Term 2011
USA
 
Ph.D in Religion (Comparative study of the major world religions) - Harvard University (1970)
BA in History - College of the Holy Cross (USA)
 
Prof. Joseph O'Connell is a Professor in the Study of Religion, retired after thirty years of teaching at Saint Michael's College in the University of Toronto, Canada. His doctoral thesis and much of his later research, translations (from Sanskrit and Bangla) and scholarly publications focus on Vaishnava bhakti (devotional) religion and its social implications in Bengal and beyond.Since his retirement Professor O'Connell has served in visiting capacities in the Centre for Hindu Studies and the Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford; Department of Philosophy and Religion, Visva-Bharati; and Department of World Religions and Culture, University of Dhaka.
 
Professor O'Connell passed away on May 6, 2012 - http://ochs.drupalgardens.com/news/passing-joseph-oconnell

Dr T. Ganeshan

Michaelmas term 2010
India

PhD in thesis title "Neo-Vedantic Approach to the Philosophy of Advaita Vedanta with special reference to Swami Vivekananda"
MA in Sanskrit - University of Madras (1981)

Dr. T. Ganeshan is a researcher at the French Institute of Pondichery where he is also Director of the History of Śaiva Siddhānta project. He is an expert in the Sanskrit and Tamil sources of the Śaivism generally and the Śaiva Siddhānta in particular and is engaged in writing a history of Śaivism and preparing a critical edition of the Sūkṣmāgama.

Publications include:

  • Two Saiva teachers of the sixteenth century. Nigamajnana I and his disciple Nigamajnana II (IFP – Publications Hors série n° 9, 2009), xviii, pp. 274;
  • Sarvajnanottaragama (Yogapada) with the commentary of Aghorasivacharya and Tamil translation, (Sri Aghorasivacharya Trust, Chennai, 2009);
  • The Acintyavisvasadakhyagama (2 chapters) along with the Tamil versified adaptation Civapunniyattelivu of Nigamajnanadesika, (Sri Aghorasivacharya Trust, Chennai, 2009).

Dr Ravi Gupta

Trinity Term 2010
USA
 
D.Phil. in Hinduism - University of Oxford (2004)
MSt in the Study of Religion - Oxford University (2000)
B.Sc. in Mathematics - Boise State University (1999)
BA in Philosophy - Boise State University (1999)
 
Ravi's thesis focused on the early development of Vedanta philosophy in the Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition, based on original manuscript sources.  Ravi was our youngest student, entering Oxford University at the age of 17. He has won a number of prestigious awards including: a full Yate Scholarship from the University Theology Faculty and St. Hugh's College; and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from Linacre College. Ravi is currently Associate Professor of Religious Studies at The College of William and Mary (USA).
 
Publications include
  • The Chaitanya Vaishnava Vedanta of Jiva Goswami - Routledge (2007)

Dr Diwakar Acharya

Hilary term 2010

PhD for the thesis on Vācaspati Miśra’s Tattvasamīkṣā – University of Hamburg (2004)
MA - Sampurnananda Sanskrit University, Varanasi
 
Dr Acharya studied Sanskrit with traditional teachers, beginning with his father, and at universities in Nepal and before starting his teaching career as a Lecturer at Mahendra Sanskrit University. He has also worked for the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project, and for the Nepalese-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project. Since April 2006 he has been a Visiting Foreign Lecturer at Kyoto University. His research covers a wide range of topics in Sanskrit literature, Sanskritic religious and philosophical traditions, and Nepalese history. He is currently working on what appears to be the only surviving Solar (Saura) tantra, and on two unpublished early Pañcarātra (Vaiṣṇava tantric) scriptures—all of these works he discovered in early Nepalese palm-leaf manuscripts.
 
Publications Include:
  •  Vacaspatimisra/'s Tattvasamiksa, the Earliest Commentary on Mandanamisra's Brahmasiddhi – NRC Publications 2009
  • A Clay Cart – Translation published by New York University Press (2009)

Dr. Makarand Paranjape

Michaelmas term 2009

PhD in Mysticism in Indian English Poetry - University of Illinois (1985)
MA in English – University of Illinois
BA (Hons) in English - University of Delhi (1980)

 
Makarand Paranjape is a Professor of English at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. A critic, poet, fiction writer, and literary columnist with over thirty books and 100 published academic papers to his credit, he is also the author of more 250 reviews, notes, and popular articles.
 
Publications include:
  • Another Canon: Indian Texts and Traditions in English - Anthem Publications, New Delhi (2010)
  • Bollywood in Australia: Transnationalism and Culture - University of Western Australia Press, Perth (2010)
  • Science, Spirituality and the Modernization of India - Anthem Publications, New Delhi (2008)

Professor Patrick Olivelle

Trinity Term 2009

PhD - University of Pensylvania (1974)
BA (Hons) in Sanskrit, Pali and Indian Religions - University of Oxford (1972)

Professor Olivelle is very well known and highly regarded for his work on early Indian religions. His research interests are Ascetic Traditions and the History of the Idea of Dharma. Patrick Olivelle is a Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Texas.
 
Publications include:
  • The Asrama System: The History and Hermeneutics of a Religious Institution - Oxford Unievrsity Press (1993),
  • The Early Upanishads - Oxford University Press (1998),
  • The Laws of Manu - Oxford University Press (2004).

Dr Rich Freeman

Michaelmas Term 2008

Dr Freeman is an Anthropologist who has worked for many years in Kerala and is fluent in Malayalam. Dr Freeman’s work is particularly valuable because he combines textual knowledge of the Kerala traditons, both through Malayalam and Sanskrit, with ethnography. His initial focus of research was the teyyam dance tradition on which he is the world’s leading expert and he has published on the history of Malayalam religious literature and continues to work on the tantric traditions of Kerala.

Dr. Piyali Palit
Michaelmas Term 2008

Professor, Department of Philosophy, Jadavpur University, did her Ph.D. thesis on ‘The Role of Syncategorimaticity as the Principle instrument in Linguistic behaviour in Vedic and Popular Usages’. She did her MA in Sanskrit from Visva Bharati, Santiniketan and Acharya in Advaita Vedanta from Rashtriya Sanskrita Sansthan, New Delhi. She was awarded a fellowship for the project on ‘Influence of Indian Tradition on Rabindranath Tagore’ at the Asiatic Society, Kolkata. She is also associated with the Centre of Advanced Studies in Philosophy at Jadavpur University. Presently she holds the chair of Principal Investigator, Major Research Project in Indian Philosophy and Research Methodology, sponsored by University Grants Commission, Govt. of India.

Apart from a number of articles published in various National and International journals, proceedings, and anthologies, she has authored titles including:

  • Basic Principles of Indian Philosophy of Language,
  • A Treatise on Arthasamgraha, Samksepa-Sariraka (Trans. & Comm.),
  • Panchikarana-Varttika and Vedanta-Sanja-Prakarana (both of which are transcribed from rare original manuscripts

Professor Sumathi Ramaswamy
Trinity Term 2008

PhD in History - University of California
Mst. in Anthropology - Univerisity of Pennsylvania
M.Phil in Ancient Indian History - Jawaharlal Nehru University
MA in Ancient Indian History - Jawaharlal Nehru University

Professor Sumathi Ramaswamy is Professor of History at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Prior to this appointment, she was Professor of History at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Assistant Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Publications include:
  • Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891–1970 - University of California Press (1997)
  • The Lost Land of Lemuria: Fabulous Geographies, Catastrophic Histories - University of California Press (2004)
  • The Goddess and the Nation: Picturing Mother India - Duke University Press (2010)

Professor Gaya Charan Tripathi
Trinity Term 2008

D.Litt. in Ancient Indian History and Culture - University of Allahabad
D.Phil in History of Religions, Comparative Indo-European Philology and Latin - University of Freiburg (1966)
PhD in "Vedic Deities and their subsequent development in Epics and the Puranas" - University of Agra (1962)
MA in Sanskrit - University of Agra (1959)

Professor Gaya Charan Tripathi is presently Professor and Head of the Research and Publication wing of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Delhi. He has contributed around ninety papers in English, German, Sanskrit, and Hindi to various Indian and International Journals on Religion, Literature, and Vedic/Puranic studies. His specialisations are: Indian Religions and Philosophy, Vishnuism, Vedic studies, Philology, Cult practices of Orissa, and Gaudiya Vishnuism. Professor Tripathi is Chief Indologist and Field Director of the Orissa Research Project (1970–5) of the German Research Council (DFG), and has been Principal of the Ganganatha Jha Research Institute, Allahabad, for over twenty years.
 
Publications include:
  • Communication with God - Motilal UK Books of India; (2004)
  • The Ritual of Founding A Brahmin Village - GDK Publications (1981)

 

Professor Shashi Prabha Kumar
Trinity Term 2007

PhD - University of Delhi (1983)
MA in Sanskrit - Chaudhary Charan Singh University (1972)

Shashiprabha Kumar is presently Chairperson, Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, New Delhi. She is an acclaimed Sanskrit Scholar, well versed in classical Indian Philosophy, particularly the system of Vaisesika, which was her area of Ph.D. research. Dr Kumar received the Sri Ramakrishna Sanskrit Award (World Education Foundation, Canada, 2003) for her distinguished and outstanding contribution to Sanskrit research and teaching, and Shankar Puraskar award (K.K.Birla Foundation, New Delhi, 1998) for her first book, Vai'sesika Dar'sana mein Padartha-Nirupana. She has won many other prestigious awards and fellowships. She has written fourteen books and has contributed more than sixty research papers to reputed journals and edited volumes.
 
Publications include:
  • Bharatiyam Darsanam - Vidyanidhi Prakashan, Delhi (1999)
  • Facets of Indian Philosophical Thought - Vidyanidhi Prakashan (2005)

Professor Sangeetha Menon
Trinity Term 2007

PhD - University of Delhi (1983)
MA in Sanskrit - Chaudhary Charan Singh University (1972)

Shashiprabha Kumar is presently Chairperson, Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, New Delhi. She is an acclaimed Sanskrit Scholar, well versed in classical Indian Philosophy, particularly the system of Vaisesika, which was her area of Ph.D. research. Dr Kumar received the Sri Ramakrishna Sanskrit Award (World Education Foundation, Canada, 2003) for her distinguished and outstanding contribution to Sanskrit research and teaching, and Shankar Puraskar award (K.K.Birla Foundation, New Delhi, 1998) for her first book, Vai'sesika Dar'sana mein Padartha-Nirupana. She has won many other prestigious awards and fellowships. She has written fourteen books and has contributed more than sixty research papers to reputed journals and edited volumes.
 
Publications include:
  • Bharatiyam Darsanam - Vidyanidhi Prakashan, Delhi (1999)
  • Facets of Indian Philosophical Thought - Vidyanidhi Prakashan (2005)

Professor M. Narasimhachary
Michaelmas term 2006

PhD in Sanskrit - University of Madras

Founder Professor & Head (Retired), Department of Vaishnavism, University of Madras, India. His specialist subjects include the Pre-Ramanuja Religion and Philosophy, Pancharatra Agama Literature, Telugu and Sanskrit Literature and popularisation of Sanskrit as a spoken tongue. He has published a number of articles and monographs in academic journals on topics such as the Samskrita Svapnah, Bhakti & Prapatti in Srivaishnava Philosophy and the Pancaratra-kantakoddhara.

Publications include:

  • The Contribution of Yaamuna to Visistadvaita - Jayalakshmi Publications, Hyderabad
  • Critical Edition and Study of Yaamuna's Aagamapraamaanya - Gaekwad's Oriental Series, Baroda
  •  English translation of Sri Vedanta Desika's Padukasahasram and all of his 32 Stotras.

Prof. Narasimhachary received the Certificate of Honour for Proficiency in Sanskrit from the President of India for the year 2004 and was the director of Academic Affairs at the OCHS from 2000-2001

Professor Himanshu Prabha Ray
Michaelmas Term 2006

PhD in Early Historical Trade - Jawaharlal Nehru University (1984)
M.Phil in Archaeology - University of Camebridge (1980)
MA in Sanskrit - University of Punjab (1971)
BA in English - University of Punjab (1969)

Professor Prabha Ray is the Professor of Archaeology and Maritime History at the Centre for Historical Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her lectures and seminars at Oxford were based on her ongoing research on "The Archaeology of Sacred Space: The Hindu Temple in Peninsular India (2nd-1st century BC to 8th century AD)", which she completed during her tenure as Shivdasani Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
Professor Himanshu Prabha Ray has edited and authored many books.
 
Publications include:
  • Monastery and Guild: Commerce under the Satavahanas, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, (1986);
  • The Winds of Change: Buddhism and the Maritime Links of Ancient South Asia, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, (1994)
  • The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, (2003)

 

Professor Mandakranta Bose
Trinity term 2006

Canada

Prof. Mandakranta Bose studied Sanskrit in Calcutta (Smrti and Mimamsa) and in Oxford, focusing her research on the Natya-sastras. She taught religion and gender studies in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. One of her recent research projects focuses on performances of the Ramayana and she continues to work on editing Sanskrit Sangitasastra texts. Prof Bose is the former director of the Centre for India and South Asia Research at the University of British Columbia, and is an Emeritus Professor there. She is at present teaching as a Visiting Professor at Simon Fraser University, Canada.

Publications include:

  • Classical Indian Dancing: A Glossary (1970),
  • Movement and Mimesis: The Idea of Dance in the Sanskritic Tradition (1991),
  • Nartananirnaya: A Critical Edition (1991),

Professor T.S. Rukmani
Trinity Term 2006,

D.Litt - University of Delhi (1991)
PhD in "A Critical Study of the Bhagavata Puranas with special reference to Bhakti" - University of Delhi (1958)
MA in Sanskrit - University of Delhi (1954)
BA in Economics, English, Sanskrit and Mathematics - University of Delhi (1952)

Professor Rukmani joined the Department of Religion, Concordia University, Canada, as Professor and Chair for Hindu Studies in 1996. Since the establishment of Delhi University 80 years ago, she is the only academic in its Department of Sanskrit to have been honored with the highest degree of D.Litt..Prof Rukmani has won many awards and her four-volume work on Vijnanabhiksu's Yogavarttika and her two-volume work on Sankara's Yogasutrabhasyavivarana have been widely acclaimed in scholarly circles as significant contributions to the furtherance of Yoga Philosophy. She has also written and edited seven other books dealing with different aspects of religion and philosophy and has published many research papers in academic journals.
 
Publications include:
  • Sankara: The Man and his Philosophy - Indian Institue for Advanced Studies (1991)
  • Yogasutras of Patanjali with The Commentary of Vyasa - Chair in Hindu Studies (2001)
  • Hindu Samnyasins: Changing Perspectives - D.K. Publishers, New Delhi (2011)

Dr Ashok Aklujkar
Trinity term 2005

Canada

Ph.D. degree in Sanskrit and Indian Studies - Harvard University.
M.A. in Sanskrit and Pali - University of Poona

Dr Ashok Aklujar has been teaching courses in Sanskrit language and in the related mythological and philosophical literatures (occasionally also in Indian belles letters in general) at the University of British Columbia since 1969. His published research is mostly in the areas of Sanskrit linguistic tradition and poetics. For the last several years he is engaged in the ambitious project of preparing critical editions of the works of Bhartihari, a grammarian-philosopher, and of the commentaries elucidating those works. Advanced students have worked under Aklujkar's guidance in the areas of Buddhist and Brahmanical philosophy, religion, and mythology.
 
Publications include:
  • Sanskrit: an Easy Introduction to an Enchanting Language

K.Maheswaran Nair

Hilary Term 2005

Ph.D. in Sanskrit - University of Kerala
MA in Russian Language and Literature
MA in Sanskrit Special

Professor Nair currently works at the Department of Sanskrit, University of Kerala, and also Hon. Director of the Centre for Vedanta Studies of the University of Kerala. Previously he worked at Govt. Sanskrit College and also as Editor of the Dept. of Cultural Publications, Kerala. He has been teaching Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy for over three decades. His areas of research includes, dialectics in Vedanta and materialism, Patanjali's Yogasutra, The renaissance movement in Kerala, manuscript studies etc. He has published a number of articles and authored a number of books in Sanskrit, Malayalam and English.
 
Publications include:
  • Advaitasiddhi: A Critical Study along with a foreword by Dr. Asoke Chatterjee Sastri - Calcutta University, 1990
  • Advaitavedanta, Dialectics and Indian Philosophy,foreword by E.M.S.,1997.
  • Manuscriptology,foreword by Dr.N.P.Unni,1998

Rangachar Vasantha
Michaelmas Term 2004,

India

PhD in thesis “Narayanaswami temple at Melkote” – (1990)
MA in Ancient History and Archaeology
BA in Indology, Philosophy and Sanskrit from Mysore University
 
Professor Rangachar is currently the Chairperson of the department of History at Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur, and Andhra Pradesh. Having taught Indological studies for twenty-five years, she has also developed an Art & archaeological and a folk art museum at Sri Krishnadevaraya University. Her Ph.D. work " The Narayanasvami Temple at Melkote - a historical and archaeological study " (Government of Karnataka, 1992) has been acclaimed internationally as of very high standard.
 
Publications include:
  • Folk Art and Culture - Government of India, HRD, New Delhi, 1996;
  • Penugonda Fort: A Defense capital of the Vijayanagara Empire - History, Art and Culture - Sharada Publishing House, Delhi, 1999;
  • Nava Narasimha temples at Ahobilam - Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams, Tirupathi, 2000;

Daniela Rossella
Hilary Term 2004

Italy

Ph.D, magna cum laude, Essay on "Women's characters in Classical Indian poetry" - University of Rome (2000)
Degree (promotion), magna cum laude, in Sanskrit Language and Literature - University of Milan

 

Throughout her career, her work has followed two different, albeit parallel, trends: First, the women¹s position in India (both in past and the present) from the perspective of law, religion, literature, and sociology. Second, the study of Indian classical texts (epic, poetry, law, drama, innology, etc.), in order to reach a holistic vision of Indian civilisation. She has translated many Sanskrit texts, several of which had not yet been translated into any Western language, and she has taken part in many international conferences and congresses. Since 1991, Dr Rossella has served as Department Assistant in the Oriental Studies Department of the University Milano, Italy.From the academic year 2001-2002 she serves also as Department Assistant in the Department of Philosophical, Linguistic, and Literary-Linguistic Sciences of the University of Perugia (Italy), and she also works as Master organizer and tutor at IULM, the Free University of Languages and Communications of Milano.

Publications include:

  • Poetry and Poetic Devotionalism in the Indian and Western Traditions - ODC-LIBRI, Parma 2005.
  • Nature in Literature and Ritual - Publications of Charles University, Prague 2006.
  • On the Origins of Kāvya: A Never-Ending Story? - Publications of Charles University, Prague, 2011.

Nilima Chitgopekar
Hilary Term 2004

PhD in History of Religions "Development of Shivaism in Madhya Pradesh c. AD 550-1200" - University of Delhi (1992)
MA in Ancient Indian History - University of Delhi (1982)
BA in History - University of Delhi (1979)

Professor Chitgopekar is an Associate Professor and currently the Head of the History Department at the Jesus & Mary College ( Delhi University). Along with this undergraduate teaching Nilima has been teaching the post-graduate students in a separate campus. The course is entitled Development in Indian Religions and the topics that she covered include The Emergence and Spread of Tantrism, The Evolution of the Vaishnava Pantheon and Growth of Shivaism.Nilima Chitgopekar's interest in the study of religion is exemplified in the methodology used in her book Encountering Shivaism The Deity the Milieu the Entourage ( Munshiram Manoharlal, 1998). Here she looks at the development of a sect at a particular point of time and in a specific geographical locale.
 
Publications Include:
  • Rudra: The Idea of Shiva - Penguin Publications 2007
  • The book of Durga - Penguin Books India 2003
  • Invoking Goddesses: Gender Politics in Indian Religion - Shakti Books 2002

Professor M. Narasimhachary
Michaelmas term 2003

PhD in Sanskrit - University of Madras

Founder Professor & Head (Retired), Department of Vaishnavism, University of Madras, India. His specialist subjects include the Pre-Ramanuja Religion and Philosophy, Pancharatra Agama Literature, Telugu and Sanskrit Literature and popularisation of Sanskrit as a spoken tongue. He has published a number of articles and monographs in academic journals on topics such as the Samskrita Svapnah, Bhakti & Prapatti in Srivaishnava Philosophy and the Pancaratra-kantakoddhara.

Publications include:

  • The Contribution of Yaamuna to Visistadvaita - Jayalakshmi Publications, Hyderabad
  • Critical Edition and Study of Yaamuna's Aagamapraamaanya - Gaekwad's Oriental Series, Baroda
  • English translation of Sri Vedanta Desika's Padukasahasram and all of his 32 Stotras.

Prof. Narasimhachary received the Certificate of Honour for Proficiency in Sanskrit from the President of India for the year 2004 and was the director of Academic Affairs at the OCHS from 2000-2001

Dr Godavarisha Mishra
Michaelmas Term 2003

Ph.D. in Sanskrit - University of Madras (1982)
MPhil in Sanskrit – University of Madras (1982)
MA in Sanskrit – Utkal University (1979)
MA in Philosophy – Sri Venkateswara University (1990)

Dr Mishra is currently a Professor at the Department of Indian Philosophy of University of Madras and prior to this, worked at Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Chennai as the Editor. His areas of Research Interest include Buddhism, inter-school dialectics in Vedanta, and textual studies and editing of rare Sanskrit texts.He was a Charles Wallece Fellow at the University of Oxford and gave a few lectures on the Tarkapada of Brahmasutrabhasya of Sankara in 1995.
 
Publications include:
  • Anubhutiprakasa of Vidyaranya and Advaitamakaranda of Laksmidhara.

Professor S. Ramaratnam
Trinity Term 2003

Ph.D. in Sanskrit - University of Madras (1979)
MA in Sanskrit – University of Madras (1968)

He is Principal of the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College in Chennai (Madras), India. His wide range of publications and research interests include Sanskrit grammar and poetry, and the practice and theory of Hindu domestic ritual

Professor M. Narasimhachary

Trinity Term 2002

PhD in Sanskrit - University of Madras

Founder Professor & Head (Retired), Department of Vaishnavism, University of Madras, India. His specialist subjects include the Pre-Ramanuja Religion and Philosophy, Pancharatra Agama Literature, Telugu and Sanskrit Literature and popularisation of Sanskrit as a spoken tongue. He has published a number of articles and monographs in academic journals on topics such as the Samskrita Svapnah, Bhakti & Prapatti in Srivaishnava Philosophy and the Pancaratra-kantakoddhara.

Publications include:

  • The Contribution of Yaamuna to Visistadvaita - Jayalakshmi Publications, Hyderabad
  • Critical Edition and Study of Yaamuna's Aagamapraamaanya - Gaekwad's Oriental Series, Baroda
  • English translation of Sri Vedanta Desika's Padukasahasram and all of his 32 Stotras.

Prof. Narasimhachary received the Certificate of Honour for Proficiency in Sanskrit from the President of India for the year 2004 and was the director of Academic Affairs at the OCHS from 2000-2001

 

Tamal Krsna Goswami Fellows

Prof Charles S. J. White
Michaelmas Term 2002

Ph.D in Hinduism and the History of Religions - University of Chicago
MA in Hinduism and the History of Religions - University of Chicago
M.A. degree in Estudios Hispano-americanos y Creacion Literaria - La Universidad de las Americas

Professor White is Professor Emeritus and former chairman in the Department of Philosophy and Religion of the American University.
 
Publications include:
  • Translations and commentaries on Hindi literature eg. The Caurasi Pad of Sri Hit Harivams and The Remaining Hindi Works of Sri Hit Harivams.
  • Numerous articles on the history of religions and more especially, the medieval and modern saints of Hinduism and the history of Hindu holy men and women. articles,
  • Books on the Sai Baba Movement, Swami Muktananda, and Jnanananda Saraswati: Mother Guru of Chennai, India.
  • Books on American followers of Ramakrishna Paramahansa.

Dr Vidhaya Sayinath
2003

Dr.Vidya Sayinath of the University of Madras acquired her degree of Doctorate in the System of Vedanta of Indian Philosophy. Her thesis refers to the epistemological aspect as elucidated by Sankara and Ramanuja. Her work highlights the significance of knowledge as expounded by the two philosophers, which served as the substratum for their Ontological structure. Presently she is engaged in the study of Ramanuja's Philosophy. This study examines the Concept of Devotion as the cementing factor of the various aspects of his System. Dr Sayinath writes articles on religion for various publications, including several articles for the Encyclopedia of Hinduism.

 

Vasudha Narayanan
Michaelmas Term 2004

Professor Narayanan is a Professor of Religion at the University of Florida and a past President of the American Academy of Religion (2001-2002). She was educated at the Universities of Madras and Bombay in India, and at Harvard University. Her fields of interest are the Sri Vaishnava tradition; Hindu traditions in India, Cambodia, America; Hinduism and the environment; and gender issues. She is the author and editor of six books and over ninety articles, chapters, and encyclopedia entries. Her research has been supported by grants and fellowships from several organizations including the National Endowment for the Humanities the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Smithsonian, the American Institute for Indian Studies, and the Social Science Research Council. She was the president of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies.

Publications Include:

  • Understanding Hinduism: Origins, Beliefs, Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Places - Duncun Baird Publishers 2004
  • Hinduism - The Rosen Publishing Group 2010
  • The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recital and Ritual (Studies in Comparative Religion)

Professor Graham M. Schweig

Trinity Term 2006
 
PhD in Comparative Religion - Harvard University (1998)
ThM in Comparative Religion - Harvard University (1985)
MTS in History of Religon - Harvard University (1980)
MA in South Asian Studies - Harvard University (1977)
BA in Interdisciplinary Studies - Harvard University (1976)
 
Graham M. Schweig is currently Associate Professor of Religion and Director of the Indic Studies Program at Christopher Newport University; he is also Visiting Associate Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Virginia.
 
Publications include:
  • Dance of Divine Love: India's Classic Sacred Love Story: The Rasa Lila of Krishna - Princeton (2005).
  • Bhagavad Gita: The Lord's Secret Love Song - Harper Collins, New York (2007)

 

Visiting Fellows

Dr Claire Galien

Hilary Term 2015

Claire is studying 18th-century Orientalism.

Lubomir Ondracka

Michaelmas term 2014

Lubomir has an MA in Indology from Charles University. He is studying Hinduism, yoga, tantrism, and the religions of Bengal.

Dr Parimal Patil
Trinity term 2012

PhD in Philosophy of Religions - University of Chicago
MA in Sanskrit and Indian Studies – Harvard University
BA in Philosophy and Biochemistry - University of Pennsylvania

Parimal G. Patil is Professor of Religion and Indian Philosophy at Harvard University, where he is Chair of the Department of South Asian Studies. His primary academic interests are in Sanskrit philosophy and the intellectual history of religion in India. Currently, he is working on early modern Sanskrit and philosophy, especially the work of the New Epistemologists. For professional reasons his stay in Oxford was shortened, however he managed a busy schedule of lectures, tutorials, and meetings with old colleagues including Dr Jim Benson, an early mentor who started Professor Patil on his journey into Sanskrit. We hope to be able to host Professor Patil again for a full term.
 
Publications include:
  • Against a Hindu God: Buddhist Philosophy of Hindu Religion in India – Columbia University Press (2010)
  • Buddhist Philosophy of Language in India – Columbia University Press 2009

Dr Andrea Acri

Trinity term 2012

PhD (Dharma Pātañjala) - Leiden University (2011), MA in Southeast Asian Languages and Literatures - Leiden University (2006), ‘Laurea’ degree in Oriental Languages and Cultures - University of Rome ‘Sapienza’ (2005) 
 
Dr Acri has held postdoctoral fellowships in the Netherlands (IIAS), Australia (ANU), the UK (OCHS), and Singapore (Asia Research Institute/NUS, Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre/ISEAS). He was the recipient of an Australia Endeavour Award for postdoctoral research, a Darmasiswa scholarship for the study of Indonesian language and culture at Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta, and the principal investigator for an Endangered Archives Project (EAP 280) sponsored by the British Library/Arcadia Foundation. He has travelled extensively across South and Southeast Asia, and spent a number of years in Indonesia.
 
Andrea’s work focuses on the history of ideas in premodern South and Southeast Asia. His main interests are Hinduism and Indian Philosophy, Tantric Śaivism and Buddhism, and the transfer and transformation of Indic religions across Monsoon Asia.  He is involved in the edition and translation of Old Javanese and Sanskrit texts, and has published on premodern Javanese literature and visual/performative arts, as well as modern Balinese Hinduism. He has authored the monograph Dharma Pātañjala; A Śaiva Scripture from Ancient Java Studied in the Light of Related Old Javanese and Sanskrit Texts (Gonda Indological Studies XVI, Egbert Forsten Publishing/Brill, 2011), and co-edited From Laṅkā Eastwards: The Rāmāyaṇa in the Literature and Visual Arts of Indonesia (KITLV Press, 2011) with Helen Creese and Arlo Griffiths.

Professor Deepak Sarma
Michaelmas Term 2003

PhD in Philosophy of Religons - University of Chicago (1998)
MA in Religious Studies - University of Chicago(1993)
BA in Religious Studies - Reed College (1991)

 
Dr Sarma is an Associate Professor of Hinduism in Philosophy, Classics and Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University. His areas of teaching and research specialization include Indian philosophy, Vedanta, Hindu theology, and the comparative philosophy of religions. His expertise is in the Madhva School of Vedanta, of which he is a member, and he is a research scholar of the Purnaprajna Samshodana Mandiram, the research wing of the Purnaprajna Vidyapitham (a Madhva monastery), in India. Dr Sarma has held fellowships from the American Academy of Religion and the Fulbright Commission (USA-India).
 
Publications include:
  • An Introduction to Madhva Vedanta - Ashgate Pub. Ltd, 2003
  • Epistemologies and the Limitations of Philosophical Inquiry: Doctrine in Madhva Vedanta - Curzon-Routledge, 2004.

Clelia Bartoli
June-September 2002

Italy

PhD in Human Rights - University of Palermo (2006)
Degree in hermeneutics, comparitive philosophy and ethics - The University of Florence (1998).

Clelia is member of the board of directors of the Journal 'Kykeion' (Florence University Press). She has been published in a number of academic Journals, including 'Kyksion; Orientamenti Pedagogici; Problemi di Pedagogia'.
 
Publications include:
  • C. Bartoli, Razzisti per legge. L’Italia che discrimina, Laterza, Bari Roma 2012
  • C. Bartoli, La teoria della subalternità e il caso dei dalitin India, Cosenza, Rubbettino 2008

Federico Squarcini
June - September 2002

Ph.D in the Historical and Sociological Study of Religion - Bologna University
Laurea and Magna Laude in History of Religions - University of Florence

Dr Squarcini focused his studies on the History and Political Sociology of South Asian Religions. Federico is currently 'Cultore in materia' at the Chair of Sanskrit Language and Literature, University of Florence. Federico conducts seminars at the Department of Sociology, and lectures in the Department of Oriental Studies of the University 'La Sapienza' of Roma; the Department of Oriental Studies dell'Istituto di Studi Orientali dell'Universita di Napoli and in the Department of Social Sciences in the University of Florence.He is member of the board of directors for the Journal 'Religioni e Societa' (Edizioni Scien-tifiche Italiane), and member of the board of directors for the Journal 'Kykeion' (Florence University Press).
 
He wrote and edited the following volumes:
  • F. Squarcini, C. Bartoli, 'Il Monoteismo Hindu. La Storia, i Testi, le Scuole', Pacini, Pisa 1997;
  • E. Fizzotti, F. Squarcini (eds.), 'L'Oriente che non tra-monta. Movimenti religiosi di origine orientale' in Italia, LAS, Roma 1999
  • F. Squarcini (ed.), 'Verso l'India, Oltre l'India. Scritti e ricerche sulle tradizioni intellettuali sudasiatiche', Mimesis, Milano 2002.

Professor M. Narasimhachary
Michaelmas Term 2001

PhD in Sanskrit - University of Madras

Founder Professor & Head (Retired), Department of Vaishnavism, University of Madras, India. His specialist subjects include the Pre-Ramanuja Religion and Philosophy, Pancharatra Agama Literature,Telugu and Sanskrit Literature and popularisation of Sanskrit as a spoken tongue. He has published a number of articles and monographs in academic journals on topics such as the Samskrita Svapnah, Bhakti & Prapatti in Srivaishnava Philosophy and the Pancaratra-kantakoddhara.

Publications include:

  • The Contribution of Yaamuna to Visistadvaita - Jayalakshmi Publications, Hyderabad
  • Critical Edition and Study of Yaamuna's Aagamapraamaanya - Gaekwad's Oriental Series, Baroda
  • English translation of Sri Vedanta Desika's Padukasahasram and all of his 32 Stotras.

Prof. Narasimhachary received the Certificate of Honour for Proficiency in Sanskrit from the President of India for the year 2004 and was the director of Academic Affairs at the OCHS from 2000-2001

Dr Guy L. Beck
Michaelmas Term 2001

PhD in Religion, South Asia- Syracuse University
MA in Fine Arts, Musicology – Syracuse University
MA in both Religious Studies – University of South Florida
BA in Social Studies – University of Denver (

Dr Beck is currently a Lecturer in Asian Religions and Religious Studies at Tulane University, USA. Having studied North Indian music for six years in India, he is also an accomplished performer of Hindustani classical and devotional vocal music. He recently recorded a CD, 'Sacred Raga'. Current projects include a forthcoming edited volume of music in world religions with an accompanying CD.
 
Publications include:
  • Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound' and has published numerous articles and book chapters on aspects of Indian religion and music.

Professor M. Narasimhachary
Michaelmas Term 2001

PhD in Sanskrit - University of Madras

Founder Professor & Head (Retired), Department of Vaishnavism, University of Madras, India. His specialist subjects include the Pre-Ramanuja Religion and Philosophy, Pancharatra Agama Literature, Telugu and Sanskrit Literature and popularisation of Sanskrit as a spoken tongue. He has published a number of articles and monographs in academic journals on topics such as the Samskrita Svapnah, Bhakti & Prapatti in Srivaishnava Philosophy and the Pancaratra-kantakoddhara.

Publications include:

  • The Contribution of Yaamuna to Visistadvaita - Jayalakshmi Publications, Hyderabad
  • Critical Edition and Study of Yaamuna's Aagamapraamaanya - Gaekwad's Oriental Series, Baroda
  • English translation of Sri Vedanta Desika's Padukasahasram and all of his 32 Stotras.

Prof. Narasimhachary received the Certificate of Honour for Proficiency in Sanskrit from the President of India for the year 2004 and was the director of Academic Affairs at the OCHS from 2000-2001

Dr Kathleen O'Connell
Trinity Term 2000

Ph.D. in modern Bengali culture - University of Toronto
M.A. in comparative literature - Jadavpur University, India

Dr O'Connell teaches courses on the humanism of Satyajit Ray and philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore at the University of Toronto. Currently she is preparing an anthology of Tagore's own writing on education and doing research on ideas about medicine in Bengal at the turn of the twentieth century.
 
Publications include:
  • Translations of short stories by Satyajit Ray, Bravo! Professor Shonku - Rupa (1985)
  • History of Rabindranath Tagore's educational project at Santiniketan, Rabindranath Tagore: The Poet as educator - Visva-Bharati (2002).