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Progress in Jain Academia
By Dr. Peter Flügel
Studies, which was established at SOAS in November 2004, with the Society for Jaina Studies in Kyoto and a great number of Universities and Jain research centres in India, such as the American Institute of Indian Studies in Gurgaon, the Jain Vishva Bharati Institute in Ladnun, the P.V. Institute in Varanasi, the B.L. Institute in Delhi, and the L.D. Institute in Ahmedabad. Jain scholars and members of general public with an interest in Jainism from all over the world drift naturally towards SOAS as a gateway to the unique and vast resources in the museums, archives and libraries of London.
Yet, the recent successes of SOAS in the field of Jaina studies would not have been possible without the local presence and the global connections of the London Jain community, which is the largest outside India and strongly supportive of the Centre of Jaina Studies. It is a paradigmatic example of how links between academic institutions and religious communities can stimulate interest in the study and research of small but significant academic fields of study that are endangered by changing policies of government funding.
The main meeting point and public focus of the activities of the CoJS are the Annual Jain Lecture and the Jaina Studies Workshops in March, which are popular with both academics and the public, including members of the Jain community, which have the opportunity to keep themselves informed about the latest advances in Jaina studies, to share Jain food and to exchange views with leading scholars in the field. The interaction with the Jain community at the annual meetings is also one of the main attractions for Jain scholars. Young Jains UK and the Centre of Jaina at SOAS will have a great future together.
Peter Flügel is currently at the Department of the Study of Religions at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He has published extensively on the history and ethnography of contemporary Jain schools and sects, Jain stupas, JainaVaisnava syncretism, and the social history of the Jain tradition. He is the founding chair if the Centre of Jaina Studies at SOAS and editor of the Jaina Studies Series (Routledge Advances in Jaina Studies), of the International Journal of Jaina Studies and of Jaina Studies: Newsletter of the Centre of Jaina Studies.
Jan Education International
www.soas.ac.uk/ijjs www.soas.ac.uk/jainastudies
6th March 2008
Maruti Nandan Tivari, Banaras Hindu University A new approach to the study of Jaina art and architecture
10th Jaina Studies Workshop, 2008, at SOAS 6th-7th March 2008
Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre,
School of Oriental and African Studies, Russell Square, London WCIH OXG
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