________________
84 : Śramaņa, Vol 62, No. 2 April-June 2011
8. ISSJS 2011. 6W India May 29 to July 8 2011 Eleven senior participants from USA, Thailand and India are attending this program. The group consists of three professors, two Ph.D.s and the rest graduate students preparing for their Ph.D. studies. This time the group consists of very serious participants. Some of them know Sanskrit and Hindi as well. The discussions are always very lively and of high academic nature. Some of the papers, notably by Mr.James Madio and Dr. Ariane Eroy who were awarded the first and second prize were very detailed and researched. Dr. John Thomas Casey also presented a well researched paper. The program will end with valedictory function on July 8 attended by a number of academicians from BHU and other universities in Varanasi. 9. Special modules This year ISJS announced some special one week modules as well. Three participants took advantage of the one week pilgrimage to Dilwara, Ranakapur, Mathura, Gwalior, Devgarh and Sonagir temples. Some more participants wanted to join this group but their schedule of ISSJS2011.6W did not permit them to do so. 10. Important side developments ISJS is now continuously having one or two alumni visit India for 4 to 6 weeks to learn Prakrit with ISJS. One, Prof. Josef Bartolsek from Czech Republic came for pilgrimage tour of three weeks also. ISJS takes advantage of such visits to have them deliver special talks on the subject of their choice to Jain academicians in India. Mr. Christopher Fleming, ISSJS 2009 alumni is coming as a Full Bright scholar for nine months to ISJS to learn Sanskrit and Prakrit through Jaina texts. He will start his studies in the last week of August 2011at Parashwanath Vidhyapeeth, Varanasi and then process to Madras University for a month as well. ISJS welcomes Mr. Fleming and hope this will be the beginning of more such scholars coming to ISJS in the near future.
