Professor Simmons gives plenary address at conference in Sanchi, India.

Dec. 19, 2018

Professor Simmons delivered a plenary address at The Dharma/Dhamma International Conference on Shaktatantra at Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies in Sanchi, India.

His address was titled "Navārṇa Mantra and Meaning: Bhāskararāya's Interpretation of a Śrīvidyā Mantra" and examined how the 18th-century Śrīvidyā scholar Bhāskararāya understood the relationship between mantra and meaning in his Guptavatī, a commentary on the Devī Māhātmya.

For more information on the conference, click here.

Professor Vargas selected to Young Scholars in American Religion Program

Jan. 24, 2019

Professor Daisy Vargas has been selected to the 2019-2020 cohort of the Young Scholars in American Religion Program. The prestigious program aims to train and mentor the next generation of leading teachers and scholars in American religion. The program is supported by the Lilly Endowment and assists rising stars in the discipline in the improvement of their teaching and research, as well as in the development of professional communities.

Read more about the 2019-2020 cohort and the Young Scholars in American Religion Program here.

Congratulations to Professor Vargas on this spectacular achievement!

Professor McComb Sanchez to be featured on AZPM's "The Buzz"

Dec. 7, 2018

Professor Andrea McComb Sanchez was recently interviewed by Christopher Conover of Arizona Public Media for the show "The Buzz." Professor McComb Sanchez was interviewed as part of an episode that centers on the winter solstice. The interview will air on December 21 (the winter solstice) at 8:30 am and 6:00 pm and then on 22nd at 3:30 pm.

Tune-in to "The Buzz" 89.1 FM/1550 AM on December 21 or 22 to learn more.

Film Screening: Homes for Gods and Mortals

When
10:30 a.m., Dec. 5, 2018
Where
Pacheco Integrated Learning Center (ILC) Room 150

The Department of Religious Studies and Classics is pleased to invite you to a screening of the film Homes for Gods and Mortals, followed by a Q&A session with the director Gayatri Chatterjee.

Homes for Gods and Mortals, a film by renowed film scholar Gayatri Chatterjee, centers on life in two little villages around the famed Hindu temples of Khajuraho. But the film is about the people living here--the nature of their faith and modes of worship--and how all their lives create a vast network bringing them close. It shows how people’s lives are shaped in and around the temples and explores a continuous history of migration, displacement, settlement...and poverty. Together, Homes for Gods and Mortals tells a story about the ways that history and mythology mingle.

Professor Gayatri Chatterjee is a film scholar based in Pune. She has taught and lectured widely in India, the USA, and Europe. She is visting faculty at the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. Her book Awara (reissued by Penguin in 2003) won the President’s Gold medal (swarna-kamal ) for the best book on cinema in 1992. Her book Mother India (2002) belongs to the BFI film classics series of the British Film Institute. Gayatri’s articles have featured in several edited volumes published nationally and internationally.

 

Tibetan master visits Prof. Dachille's "Tibetan Buddhism" class

Nov. 13, 2018

On November 13, 2018, Prof. Rae Dachille's Tibetan Buddhism class (RELI 358) was joined by several prominent Tibetan ascetics and researchers, including Venerable Ani Thukden Dema, a nun studying as part of Emory Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI); Rangdol Rinpoche, amonk studying as part of ETSI; Tsondue Samphel, a translator for ETSI; and Drupon Tinley Ningpo Rinpoche, a master from the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.

Students were able to learn about developments in the conversation between Buddhism and Western science as well as to hear more about meditation and the lives of famous masters.

 

 

Hataali Jone Benally, Navajo Healer & Hoop Dancer

When
9 a.m., Nov. 19, 2018
Where
Cesar E. Chavez Building, Room 301

Jones Benally is a leading Hataali (Traditional Healer) of the Dineh (Navajo) tradition from Big Mountain, Arizona. He was awarded the first "Hoop-Dance Legacy Award" by the Heard Museum in Phoneix in 2013 for his training of hundreds of hoop dancers from all over the country. He has danced for 75 years all over the world as a representative of the Dineh nation and Indigenous people. Hataali Benally has been active in the movement to protect sacred sites in Arizona, especially the San Francisco Peaks. Hataali Benally will be accompanied by his assistant and will do a presentation on Indigenous Traditions and Cultures.

For more information CONTACT: Dr. Julian Kunnie at (520) 621-0017 or via email at jkunnie@email.arizona.edu

Prof. Esaki publishes in AAR's Religious Studies News "Spotlight on Teaching"

Nov. 5, 2018

Professor Brett Esaki's essay "Whiteness Studies--Why Not to Teach it (As an Untentured Professor)" was recently published in the American Academy of Religion's professonal magazine Religious Studies News in the "Spotlight on Teaching" special issue on Anti-Racism Education. 

Click to read Prof. Esaki's essay or the entire special issue.

Screening of Disney's Coco followed by discussion with Prof. Vargas.

When
10 a.m., Oct. 30, 2018
Where
César Chávez Room 205

As part of the celebration of Día de los Muertos, the Adalberto and Ana Guerrero Student Center will be screening Disney's Coco. The film will be followed by a discussion of the film hosted by Religious Studies Professor Daisy Vargas.

The screening and discussion are open to all students. 

Please join Professor Vargas for this exiting opportunity!

 

For more events associaed with Guerrero Student Center's celebration of Día de los Muertos, please see the attached flyer.

Attachments

Religious Studies and Classics hosts World History Students

Oct. 8, 2018

The Department of Religious Studies and Classics hosted local high school students enrolled in AP World History courses. Over two days (Oct. 8-9), the visiting students met with Professors Alison Jameson and Robert Stephan and attended several courses offered by Religious Studies and Classics professors on campus. 

For more information, see coverage of the event in the UA Daily Wildcat.

 

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