CONFERENCEONTHESTUDYOFRELIGIONSOFINDIA
NotQuiteDivine:Co‐starsandSupportingCastsinSouthAsianReligions
June27toJune30,2013atDrewUniversityinMadison,NewJersey
TheCSRIhasbeeninexistencesince1971.CurrentAdvisoryCouncilmembersare:CorinneG.
Dempsey(Chair),ReidB.Locklin,KarenPechilis,TracyPintchman,BrianPennington
CSRI2013ishostedbyProf.KarenPechilisoftheComparativeReligionDepartmentinDrew’s
CLA.ThisprogramissponsoredinpartbytheCaspersenSchoolofGraduateStudiesatDrew.
3pm‐6pm
5:30‐6:30
THURSDAY,JUNE27th
ArrivalandcheckinatMcLendonHall,#39oncampusmap.Conferenceparticipants
mayconsulttheDrewonlinecampusmapat
http://www.drew.edu/wp‐content/uploads/sites/131/DrewCampusMap.pdf
DinneratUniversityCommons(#13oncampusmap)
Note:ALLSESSIONSWILLBEHELDINBROTHERSCOLLEGE(BC)ROOM101
(BCis#47oncampusmap)
SESSION1:DECIDEDLYNOTEVENCLOSETODIVINITY
Chair:CarolAnderson,KalamazooCollege
7:30‐8:00
8:15 DebunkingDivinity:RationalistCritiquesofSaintsandtheSemi‐Divine
RobinRinehart,LafayetteCollege
Retireforrelaxationandrefreshment
FRIDAY,JUNE28TH
7:30‐8:30
BreakfastatUniversityCommons
8:45‐9:00
DrewGreetingbyDeanRobertReady,CaspersenSchoolofGraduateStudies
SESSION2:EXPLORINGTHEGREYZONES:QUESTIONINGCATEGORIESOF(NEAR)DIVINITY
Chair:ReidLocklin,St.Michael’sCollegeUniversityofToronto
9:00‐9:30
HinduandJainVisionsofPradyumna:TheAvatara'sAvatara
ChristopherR.Austin,DalhousieUniversity
9:30‐10:00
10:00‐10:15
10:15‐10:45
10:45‐11:15
SilentSpectator:TheParticipationoftheRoyalSwordintheFestivalofRato
MacchindranathofNepal,AnneMocko,ConcordiaCollege
Break
ToSpeakinTongues:IntroducingtheAmbiguouslyDivinePaandimuniofMadurai,
SouthIndia,GillianGoslinga,WesleyanUniversity
APartofGod,ApartfromGod:ConceptionsoftheAlmost‐DivineintheGarhwal
Himalaya,BrianPennington,MaryvilleCollege
SESSION3:DIVINEPRODUCTIONSANDTHEIRPRODUCTSINTHEMODERNERA
Chair:JenniferB.Saunders,FairfieldUniversity
11:20‐11:50 HowtoMakeaGod:ABasicGuide,R.JeremySaul,UniversityofMichigan
11:50–1:00 LunchatUniversityCommons.Lunchservicebeginsatnoon.
1:00‐1:30
FromPartialGoddesstoParmeshwari:TheJourneyofAaiKhodiyar,theLimping
GoddessofGujarat,NeelimaShukla‐Bhatt,WellesleyCollege
1:30‐2:00
Break
2:00‐2:30
ASecularTamilSaint?Karunanidhi'sUseofDivineImageryinDravidianPolitics,
Amy‐RuthHolt,TheOhioStateUniversity
2:30‐3:00
Nobody’sCo‐star:MadhuriDixitasFilmStarandGoddess
KathleenErndl,FloridaStateUniversity
3:00 TriptoNYC
SATURDAY,JUNE29TH
8:00‐9:00
BreakfastatUniversityCommons
SESSION4:RECOGNIZINGANDACCESSING(NEAR)DIVINITYACROSSRELIGIOUSBOUNDARIES
Chair:LindseyHarlan,ConnecticutCollege
9:00‐9:30
9:30‐10:00
TheProphetasPatron:ACaseofSyncretisminIslamicTamilLiterature
LeahComeau,UniversityofPennsylvania
SanctifyingShirdiSaiBaba:ComparingtheHagiographiesofDasGanuand
Narasimhaswami,KarlineMcLain,BucknellUniversity
10:00‐10:30 Break
10:30‐11:00 PowerEncounters,‘Spirited’Evangelism,andRecuperativeConversionsintheGrowthof
IndianPentecostalism,ChadM.Bauman,ButlerUniversity
11:00‐11:30 HinduSaintlyHumansintheWordsofaChristianMonk,Analysis,Contribution,and
Legacy,EnricoBeltramini,NotreDamedeNamurUniversity
11:30‐1:00
LunchatUniversityCommons.LunchServicebeginsatnoon.
SESSION5:ASCETICSANDTHEIR(NEAR)DIVINEPOWERS
Chair:VishwaAdluri,HunterCollege
1:15‐1:45
1:45‐2:15
2:15‐2:45
TheCurseoftheIndianAscetic:AnExaminationofNarrativeandPower
CarlOlson,AlleghenyCollege
“AstralSiddhasandYogi‐Christs:BodilyImmortalityinAutobiographyofaYogi”
AnyaPokazanyeva,UniversityofCalifornia,SantaBarbara
Break
SESSION6:THEPOLITICSOFAPOTHEOCIZATION
Chair:SufiaUddin,ConnecticutCollege
2:45‐3:15
3:15‐3:45
3:45‐4:15
4:15‐4:45
4:45
Sacrificing(to)Bhairav:TheApotheosisandSacrificeofaLocalHinduKing
MichaelBaltutis,UniversityofWisconsin–Oshkosh
StraddlingtheSacredandtheSecular:TheMaintenanceofReligiousandSecular
InfluenceinthePuṣṭiMārga,ShandipSaha,AthabascaUniversity
Break
Vāsudeva,PrativāsudevaandtheFalse‘Vasudeva’:ReflectionsonanEarlyIndian
Concept,KanadSinha,JawaharlalNehruUniversity
Freetime;Dinnerat5:30atUniversityCommons
SUNDAY,JUNE30th
8:00‐9:00
BreakfastatUniversityCommons
SESSION7:THERIGHTPLACEATTHERIGHTTIME:UNFORSEENPATHSTO(ANDFROM)
DIVINIZATION
Chair:PaulYounger,McMasterUniversity
9:00‐9:30
9:30‐10:00
10:00‐10:30
11:00 ButHowDoBreastsinPerfectCirclesPlayHavocWithMyLife:ImagesoftheFemale
GazeandLongingintheGitagovindaofJayadeva,JaclynHarte,DrewUniversity
TheGhostintheText:HarsuBrahmandtheCoalescenceofFolkloreStudies
PeterGottschalk,WesleyanUniversity
Businessmeeting
Boxlunch(forparticipantswhoboardedoncampus)anddeparture.Boxlunchtobe
deliveredtoMcLendonby11:30.
VandepartsfromDrewtoNewarkAirportatnoonfromMcLendon‐onevanonly