New Books Network

Indian Religions January 20, 2022

Swami Vivekananda

His Life, Legacy, and Liberative Ethics

Rita D. Sherma

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Rita D. Sherma's book Swami Vivekananda: His Life, Legacy, and Liberative Ethics (Lexington Books, 2021) re-assesses the life and legacy of Swami Vivekananda from the vantage point of socially-engaged religion in …

Indian Religions January 13, 2022

A Conversation with Laurie Patton

Professor of Religions and President of Middlebury College

Laurie Patton

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Raj Balkaran speaks with Laurie Patton, Professor of Religions and President at Middlebury College, about her scholarly journey, educational administration, poetry, trends in scholarship, the significance of Indian myth, and …

Indian Religions January 11, 2022

Hindu Theology and Biology

The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory

Jonathan B. Edelmann

Hosted by Shruti Dixit

In Hindu Theology and Biology: The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory (Oxford University Press, 2020), Professor Jonathan B. Edelmann develops a constructive and comparative theological dialogue between Hinduism and Western …

Indian Religions January 6, 2022

Neha Sahgal on the Pew Study “Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation”

Neha Sahgal

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Neha Sahgal, Associate Director, Research, at the Pew Research Center speaks of Pew’s ground-breaking research on Indian public opinion on religion. The data shows that Indians maintain a commitment to …

Indian Religions December 30, 2021

Vaiśeṣikasūtra

A Translation

Ionut Moise and Ganesh U. Thite

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

This book introduces readers to Indian philosophy by presenting the first integral English translation of Vaiśeṣikasūtra with the earliest extant commentary of Candrānanda on the old aphorisms of Vaiśeṣika school …

Indian Religions December 21, 2021

A Conversation with Vasudha Narayanan about Hindu Studies

Vasudha Narayanan

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Raj Balkaran has a candid conversation with seasoned scholar Dr. Vasudha Narayanan about her academic journey, the current state of Hindu Studies and her ground-breaking work on Hindu temples and …

Sports January 12, 2022

The Story of Yoga

From Ancient India to the Modern West

Alistair Shearer

Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Alistair Shearer, a freelance scholar of South Asian religion and culture, and teacher of yoga and the psychology of yoga. He is also the author …

Indian Religions January 4, 2022

Words of Destiny

Practicing Astrology in North India

Caterina Guenzi

Hosted by Ujaan Ghosh

Astrologers play an important role in Indian society, but there are very few studies on their social identity and professional practices. Based on extensive fieldwork carried out in the city …

Indian Religions December 23, 2021

The Cloud of Longing

A New Translation and Eco-Aesthetic Study of Kalidasa's Meghaduta

E. H. Rick Jarow

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

The Cloud of Longing: A New Translation and Eco-Aesthetic Study of Kalidasa's Meghaduta (Oxford UP, 2021) is a translation and full-length study of the great Sanskrit poet Kālidāsa's famed Meghadūta …

Indian Religions December 16, 2021

Savoring God

Comparative Theopoetics

Gloria Maité Hernández

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Gloria Maité Hernández's Savoring God: Comparative Theopoetics (Oxford UP, 2021) compares two mystical works central to the Christian Discalced Carmelite and the Hindu Bhakti traditions: the sixteenth-century Spanish Cántico espiritual …

Religion December 13, 2021

Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities

Sustenance and Sustainability

Pankaj Jain

Hosted by Tiatemsu Longkumer

In Indic religious traditions, a number of rituals and myths exist in which the environment is revered. Despite this nature worship in India, its natural resources are under heavy …

Indian Religions December 9, 2021

Nine Nights of Power

Durgā, Dolls, and Darbārs

Ute Hüsken, Vasudha Narayanan, and Astrid Zotter

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

The autumnal Navarātri festival—also called Durgā Pūjā, Dassehra, or Dasain—is the most important Hindu festival in South Asia and wherever Hindus settle. A nine-night-long celebration in honor of the goddess …

Indian Religions December 3, 2021

Hindutva as Political Monotheism

Anustup Basu

Hosted by Shruti Dixit

In Hindutva as Political Monotheism (Duke University Press, 2020), Professor Anustup Basu provides a genealogical study of Hindutva. The interview is a discussion upon the connection drawn by the author …

Indian Religions December 2, 2021

Devotional Hindu Dance

A Return to the Sacred

Sabrina D. MisirHiralall

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Devotional Hindu Dance: A Return to the Sacred (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021) sheds light on the purpose of Hindu dance as devotional. Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall explains the history of Hindu …

Gender Studies November 30, 2021

Pink Revolutions

Globalization, Hindutva, and Queer Triangles in Contemporary India

Nishant Shahani

Hosted by Shraddha Chatterjee

Pink Revolutions: Globalization, Hindutva, and Queer Triangles in Contemporary India (Northwestern UP, 2021) describes how queer politics in India occupies an uneasy position between the forces of neoliberal globalization, on …

Indian Religions November 30, 2021

Elusive Nonviolence

The Making and Unmaking of Gandhi’s Religion of Ahimsa

Jyotirmaya Sharma

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

In Elusive Nonviolence: The Making and Unmaking of Gandhi’s Religion of Ahimsa (Westland, 2021), Jyotirmaya Sharma argues that Gandhi acknowledged the absence of any serious tradition of non-violence in India …

Indian Religions November 18, 2021

Sanskrit Tools on the Web

A Discussion with Martin Gluckman (Part 2)

Martin Gluckman

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

This interview continues the conversation with Martin Gluckman, Researcher at University of Capetown and Director at Sanskrit Research Institute. We discuss his Panini Research Tool, Sanskrit Writer, Text to Speech …

Buddhist Studies November 18, 2021

The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje

Master of Mahamudra

Ruth Gamble

Hosted by Cuilan Liu

A scholarly yet accessible biography of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, one of the great historical figures of Tibetan Buddhism. Known for his mastery of teachings across sectarian lines, his …

Indian Religions November 17, 2021

Christianity in India

The Anti-Colonial Turn

Clara A. B. Joseph

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

By studying the history and sources of the Thomas Christians of India, a community of pre-colonial Christian heritage, this book revisits the assumption that Christianity is Western and colonial and …

Indian Religions November 15, 2021

Kali in Bengali Lives

Narratives of Religious Experience

Suchitra Samanta

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

In Kali in Bengali Lives: Narratives of Religious Experience (Lexington Books, 2021), Suchitra Samanta examines Bengalis' personal narratives of Kali devotion in the Bhakti tradition. These personal experiences, including miraculous …