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१५८ : श्रमण, वर्ष ५६, अंक १-६ / जनवरी - जून २००५
spreading very fast in the world. Indian studies have now become part and parcel of South Asian Studies, which is making rapid advances in the universities all over the globe. In American universities because of the new pluralistic outlook, an increasing number of faculty of Indian origin and the felt need of think globally, the study of Indian religions has emerged as a great discipline. Though Jainism is the oldest of Indian traditions and presents a rich field of scholarship, it has comparatively miniscule status in academia in North America. This made anxious to Prof. Cromwell Crawford and he decided to work for the promotion of Jainism. With the help of Dr. Sulekh Jain who is known as a pioneer of Jaina Studies in western countries, Dr. Crawford worked out a programe of reciprocal collaboration and exchange of students and faculty members between Indian Jaina Institutions and Hawaii University, Honolulu, USA. With a view to shape his dreams of promotion of Jaina Studies in abroad, Prof. Crawford arrived India on 21st December, 2004. He was given warm welcome by Shri Indrabhooti Barar Joint Secretary, and Shri B. N. Jain, Former Secretary to Parshwanath Vidyapeeth, along with their family members. During his stay of total thirteen days in India, he visited all the prominent Jaina Institutions of India to explore the possibilities of infrastructurs needed for the course. He, along with Dr. Shripraksh Pandey, Asst. Director at Parshwanath Vidyapeeth, visited Jaina Vishva Bharati, Ladnun; Kundakund Jnanapeeth, Inodore; Vidyasagra Institute of Management, Bhopal; BLII, Delhi; Ahimsa Foundation, Delhi and Parshwanath Vidyapeeth, Varanasi. At Parshwanath Vidyapeeth, he addressed a symposium organized on "Jaina Ahimsa and Development in Medicine, Science & Technology' and delivered a talk on "The Role of Ahimsa in Health Care Ethics". After, due discussions with many of the scholars of Banaras Hindu University, philanthropists, business men and heads of the Jaina Institutions, he decided to send a group of the seven American scholars including faculty members to India for Jaina studies for at least eight weeks.
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