Dharma Academy of North America (DANAM)

12th

Annual DANAM Conference 2014

AGENDA

21–23 November 2014 San Diego, California

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DHARMA SUSTAINS DIVERSITY

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12

th Annual DANAM Conference 2014

Sponsored by

Dharma Academy of North America (DANAM)

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21–23 November 2014

Location: Hilton Bayfront Hotel San Diego, California

Held in conjunction with the 2014 American Academy of Religion (AAR) Annual Meeting

12th DANAM CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS: Adarsh Deepak, Ph.D.

Chairman, Taksha University President, DANAM

Rita D. Sherma, Ph.D. Vice President, DANAM

University of Southern California

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PURPOSE of the CONFERENCE

To provide a Dedicated Forum where scholars of Dharma Traditions (Hindu, Jain,

Buddhist, and other Guru-Shishya Dharma-s) can engage in the examination of, and

constructive approaches to, contemporary issues in Dharma Studies. While there are

multiple scholarly arenas for presentation of new textual, sociological, anthropological,

and historic approaches to the study of cultural and religious traditions that originated in

South Asia, there are few dedicated venues for discourse on, and the presentation of,

constructive theological and philosophical approaches to pedagogy, epistemology,

theology, or philosophy in these systems. It is hoped that this meeting can explore the

possibility that the academic study of these traditions is now mature enough to include

and move beyond the limitations of phenomenological methodologies in order to

engage the conceptual depth and intellectual applicability of these traditions in an

inclusive forum.

DANAM Summary

DANAM (Dharma Academy of North America) is an independent, non-political,

donation-based, non-profit organization of Virginia, with a focus on constructive

presentation of Dharma traditions in the North American context. Its mission and

objectives are described at its web site at www.danam-web.org, which lists the advisory

committee of reputable scholars under Board of Distinguished Visiting Scholars (BDVS)

drawn from various disciplines. DANAM is a sponsor of the peer-reviewed Journal of

Vaishnava Studies, and the peer-reviewed Contemporary Issues in Constructive

Dharma volumes. DANAM holds its Annual Meeting in conjunction with the yearly

conference of the American Academy of Religion.

Proceedings of DANAM Conference Sessions

The proceedings of the DANAM Conference sessions are available at Deepak

Heritage Books (DHB), www.deepakheritage.com, unless otherwise stated. They are

listed as follows: Contemporary Issues in Constructive Dharma Volume I (Eds. Rita D.

Sherma and Adarsh Deepak, 2003. Contemporary Issues in Constructive Dharma Volume II:

Epistemology and Hermeneutics (Eds. Rita D. Sherma and Adarsh Deepak, 2004). Asceticism

Identity and Pedagogy in Dharma Traditions (Eds. Graham M. Schweig, Jeffery D. Long,

Ramdas Lamb and Adarsh Deepak, 2006). Dying Death and Afterlife in Dharma Traditions and

Western Religions (Eds. Adarsh Deepak and Rita D. Sherma, 2006). Authority and Its

Challenges in Hindu Texts, Translations, and Transnational Communities (Ed. Deepak Sarma).

Yoga and Ecology: Dharma for the Earth (Ed. Christopher K. Chapple).

12TH DANAM CONFERENCE 2014

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AGENDA

12th Annual DANAM Conference 2014 (DANAM14)

San Diego, California

21 November (8:30 am) – 23 November 2014

LOCATION OF ACADEMIC SESSIONS

Friday: Hilton Bayfront Hotel, Aqua Room 314

Saturday: Hilton Bayfront Hotel, Indigo Ballroom D

Sunday: TBA

Friday, 21 Nov 2014

8:30 a.m. DANAM CONFERENCE REGISTRATION DESK opens. To receive the complimentary

Conference Package, including the Abstract Digest, please register ahead with contact information.

Participation at DANAM sessions at the AAR Annual Meetings is complimentary; there is

NO FEE involved. However, please register online. Your registration will help us utilize our

resources more efficiently to ensure conference sessions run smoothly. The first 108 registrants

will receive the Conference package. This information is strictly meant for planning purposes

and to facilitate communications.

For Latest Updates of the Agenda, please continue to check the web site at:

www.danam-web.org/events.htm

12TH DANAM CONFERENCE 2014

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SESSION SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2014

Location: Hilton Bayfront Hotel, Aqua Room 314

9:00 – 9:05 a.m. Opening Remarks

9:05 – 11:00 am Session 1 (M21-100)

Session 1: Hindu Theology Convener: Kusumita P. Pedersen, St. Francis College Presider: Rita D. Sherma, University of Southern California

Anant Rambachan, St. Olaf College

"Methodological Approaches to Advaita Liberation Theology"

Nika Kuchuk, University of Toronto

"The Synthesis of All Things: Language and Poetry in the Thought of Sri Aurobindo"

Ramakrishnan Parameshwaran, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University

" Studying Rama’s Grief Resolution Using Bharata’s Rasa-Bhava And Modern

Neuropsychological Theories”

Jonathan B. Edelman, Mississippi State University

"Critique and Conservation in Gaudiya Vaisnava Theology"

Kiyokazu Okita, Kyoto University

"No Entry Unless Authorized: Hindu Theology and the Question of Qualification"

11:00 am – 1:00 pm Session 2 (M21-104)

Session 2: Polytheology: The Vision of Plural Divinities

Convener and Presider: Anne Vallely, University of Ottawa

Ramdas Lamb, University of Hawai’i

“Conceptualizing Divinity: One, None, or Many”

Jessica Ford, University of Ottawa

“Conceptualizing the Divine: How Hindu Deities are Presented in High School World Religions

Courses in Canada”

Kamini Gogri, University of Mumbai

“Devotions of Attachment and Detachment & the Myriad Divinities of Jainism”

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R. Jeremy Saul, University of Michigan

"When Hanuman Became a Jain: The Miraculous Story of Babosa"

Karma Lekshe Tsomo, University of San Diego

“Deities, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas: Nontheism in a Theocratic Universe”

Responder: Anne Vallely, University of Ottawa

2:00 – 4:00 pm Session 3 (M21-202)

Session 3: Academia and Activism: Dharmic Perspectives Convener: Jeffery D. Long, Elizabethtown College Presider: Neela B. Saxena, Nassau Community College

Pravrajika Vrajaprana, Vedanta Society of Southern California

“Work and Non-Work: Service and Spirituality in the Ramakrishna Mission”

Philip Goldberg, Interfaith Minister

"Engaged Yoga: The New Social Activism in the American Yoga Community"

Nadya Pohran, University of Ottawa

“Jain Panjrapoles and Animal-Rights Activism"

Veena Howard, CSU, Fresno

"Philosophical Principles, Practical Applications: Gandhi’s Hybrid Approach to Bridge

Philosophy and Practice"

Al Collins, Independent Scholar

"Indian Psychology: Reframing Western Behavioral Science through Samkhyan Categories"

4:00 – 6:00 pm Session 4 (M21-300)

Session 4: Dharma Traditions’ Responses to Secularism and the Secular Age

Convener and Presider: Purushottama Bilimoria, UC-Berkeley/Sophia-Melbourne

Brian Black, Lancaster University, UK

“Sources of Indian secularism? Dialogues on Politics and Religion in the Hindu and Buddhist

traditions”

Nalini Bhushan, Smith College

“Secularing Perspectives on Suffering and Evil in Twentieth-Century Colonial India”

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Sushumna Kannan, San Diego State University

“Responding to Taylor’s Secularity via Two Indian Thinkers: Vivekananda and Gandhi”

Laurie Patton, Duke University

“How Secularity Might Work When All Religions are Hindu”

Joseph Prabhu, California State, Los Angeles

“A Critique of Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age from Panikkar and Socially Engaged Buddhism”

SATURDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2014

Location: Hilton Bayfront Hotel, Indigo Ballroom D

9:00 am – 11:30 pm Session 5 (M22-106 )

Session 5: Relationships between Devotional Paths and Tantric Paths Convener and Presider: Phyllis Herman, California State University, Northridge

Karen Pechilis, Drew University

"A Tamil Poetess as Tantric Practitioner? (Karaikkal Ammaiyar)"

Loriliai Biernacki, University of Colorado, Boulder

"The Bhāvanā of the Body: Bhakti in Tantra in nondual Kashmiri Śaivism"

June McDaniel, College of Charleston

"Bhakti and Tantra in Balinese Hinduism"

Jeffrey Lidke, Berry College

"Anuttara Sakti Bhakti: Adoration of the Highest Power in the Non-Dual Tantra of

Abhinavagupta"

Respondent : Sthaneshwar Timalsina, San Diego State University

11:00 – 1:00 am Session 6 (M22-107)

Session 6: Theologies of Oneness Convener and Presider: Graham Schweig, Christopher Newport University

Anantanand Rambachan, Saint Olaf College

“Not-Two is Not One: An Advaita Theology of Oneness”

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Rita Sherma, University of Southern California

“The Many Flavors of the One Taste of Reality in Trika-Kaula Tantra”

Jeffery D. Long, Elizabethtown College

“Oneness in the Theology of the Vedanta Society”

Gopal K. Gupta, The College of Idaho

“The Uniting Power of Yoga and the Illusory Veil of Maya”

Respondent: Christopher K. Chapple, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles

SUNDAY, 23 NOVEMBER 2014

Location: TBA

Time TBA Session 7 (Mxx-xxx)

Session 7. Dharma and Halacha

Convener: Ithamar Theodor, University of Haifa Presider: Yudit Kornberg Greenberg, Rollins College

Yudit Kornberg Greenberg, Rollins College

“The Languages of Love and Desire in the Gitagovinda and the Song of Songs”

Ithamar Theodor, University of Haifa

“Dharma and Halacha – Links between Hindu and Jewish Ethics”

Aaron Gross, University of San Diego

Humane Subjects and Eating Animals:

“Receiving Law and Taking Vows in Contemporary Jewish and Jain Dietary Practice”

Shoshana Razel Gordon Guedalia, Harvard University

“Lethal Wives and Impure Widows”

DANAM 2014 Adjourns

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Contacts For Further Information

For Conference Administration & Logistics:

Diana McQuestion, Conference Manager: d.mcquestion@taksha.org Tel: 757-897-3745

For Conference Program:

Dr. Adarsh Deepak, President, DANAM: a.deepak@taksha.org Tel: 757-272-3066 cell

CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION

STEERING COMMITTEE

Ramdas Lamb, Chair, University of Hawai'i, Manoa

Purushottama Bilimoria, UC Berkeley & Melbourne, IJDS/Sophia

Anne Vallely, University of Ottawa

Karma Lekshe Tsomo, University of San Diego

Kusumita P. Pedersen, Past Chair, St. Francis College

Christopher Key Chapple, DANAM Advisory Board Representative, Loyola

Marymount University

Jeffery D. Long, DANAM Advisory Board Representative, Elizabethtown College

Rita D. Sherma, Director of Programs, DANAM, University of Southern California

Phyllis K. Herman, California State University, Northridge

DANAM ACADEMIC ADVISORY BOARD

The Academic Advisory Board of DANAM includes Professors Rita D. Sherma, Ph.D.,

Chair, (DANAM Vice President, University of Southern California); Christopher K.

Chapple, Ph.D. (Loyola Marymount University, CA); Rita M. Gross, Ph.D. (University of

Wisconsin, Eau Claire, WI); Jeffery D. Long, Ph.D. (Elizabethtown College, PA); Kusumita

P. Pedersen, Ph.D. (St. Francis College, NYC); Anantanand Rambachan, Ph.D. (St. Olaf

College, MN); Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad (Lancaster University, UK), T. S. Rukmani,

Ph.D. (Concordia University, Canada); Graham M. Schweig, Ph.D. (Christopher Newport

University, VA); Arvind Sharma, Ph.D. (McGill University, Canada); Vesna Wallace, Ph.D.

(University of California, Santa Barbara, CA); Ian Whicher (University of Manitoba,

Canada).

DANAM VICE-PRESIDENT and DIRECTOR of ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

Rita D. Sherma, Ph.D.

Chair, DANAM Board of Distinguished Visiting Scholars (BDVS) University of Southern California

12TH DANAM CONFERENCE 2014

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CONFERENCE COORDINATION COMMITTEE

Diana McQuestion, Conference Manager

Pat Deepak Jyoti Gandhi

Anjalee Sinha Meera Rao

Ravi Deepak

DANAM PRESIDENT

Adarsh Deepak, Ph.D. Chairman, Taksha University;

Publisher of Journal for Vaishnava Studies (JVS), and academic volumes in Dharma Studies.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

General Co-Chairs: Dr. Rajinder Gandhi, Chairman, DANAM

Adarsh Deepak, Ph.D., President, DANAM, & Chairman, Taksha University

TRAVEL INFORMATION

The following information website can be viewed for the convenience of the attendees of DANAM14 Conference and/or 2014 AAR Annual Meeting.

From AAR web site:

http://www.aarweb.org/node/245