Annual Summary of Indic Workshops 2018-19

In the year 2018-19, Indic Academy conducted 12 Workshops across India and the US. Below is an annual summary of the workshops.

Indic Academy organised a one-day workshop addressed by Prof Vishwa Adluri and Dr Joydeep Bagchee on the Mahabharata Critical Edition and the many academic and popular misconceptions about it. The three workshops on Mahabharata Critical Edition was based on their latest book, “Philology and Criticism”. The workshops were comprehensive but tied to a specific aspect of textual criticism. The workshops were conducted at New Delhi, Bangalore and Pune in the month of August.

Dr. Vishwa Adluri is Adjunct Assistant Professor in Religion and Philosophy at Hunter College, City University of New York, USA, where he specializes in Ancient Philosophy, 20th Century Continental Philosophy, and Indian Philosophy.

Dr Joydeep Bagchee is a post-doctoral fellow at Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich. He has a PhD in Philosophy form the New School of Social Research, New York and has studied at the universities of Berlin, Freiburg and Marburg. His doctoral thesis was on the problem of time in Heidegger’s early writings and in Being and Time.

Prof. Adluri is the author, along with Dr. Bagchee, of The Nay Science: A History of German Indology (introduction available here) and Philology and Criticism: A Guide to Mahābhārata Textual Criticism (full book available in open access here) and editor, also along with Dr. Bagchee, of Argument and Design: The Unity of the Mahābhārata.

Mahabharata Critical Edition (11th August 2018 – New Delhi)

The workshop was conducted at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in New Delhi. The workshop discussed the correct interpretation of the edition, and relate Doniger’s claim to a tradition of viewing Hinduism as “monstrous.”

Mahabharata Critical Edition (15th August 2018 – Bangalore)

Indic Academy organised a one-day workshop addressed by Prof Vishwa Adluri and Dr Joydeep Bagchee on the Mahabharata Critical Edition and the many academic and popular misconceptions about it. The workshop was conducted in Bangalore and examined the claim that the Mahabharata critical edition reconstructs a “normative redaction,” that is, a deliberate Brahmanic redaction of an earlier, heroic oral epic. It will show why this claim is false, and relate the claim, made by Georg von Simson, John Brockington and James L. Fitzgerald, among others.

Mahabharata Critical Edition (19th August 2018 – Pune)

Indic Academy organised a one-day workshop addressed by Prof Vishwa Adluri and Dr Joydeep Bagchee on the Mahabharata Critical Edition and the many academic and popular misconceptions about it. The workshop was conducted at the MIT Campus in Pune.

Shastric Research Methodology Workshop – (20th – 23rd October 2018, Nagpur)

Indic Academy conducted a 4-Day National Tutorial workshop on Shastric Research Methodology on 22nd & 23rd October 2018 at Nagpur. The workshop was conducted at the Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University and was organised for aspiring researchers in the Indic knowledge studies, Research scholars and advanced gurukul students proceeding for research M Phil, PhD and Post doctoral Fellowship in Indic Shastras, independent researchers, freelancers, university & college faculty and participants of postgraduate courses.

The course outline included:

Inputs – The source of Shastric knowledge and how to decipher them.

Method – Indic approach to critical inquiry and research

Outlook – The role of cultural context in research, especially in Shastric tradition

Output – Indic method of thesis-writing

Case studies – Illustrations of above concepts in specific Indic scientific treatises.

A host of academicians and subject-matter-experts including Dr.Nagaraj Paturi, Dr.Srinivas Varakhedi, Dr.Kapil Kapoor, Dr.M Jayaraman, Dr.Ananth Dharamadhikari, Dr.Madhusudan Penna, Dr.V N Jha & Dr.K Gopinath addressed the various subjects at the workshop. 8 participants have benefitted from Indic Academy Grants.

In the months of November and December, Indic Academy organised 5 Workshops across the USA on Indic Public Leadership by Dr Bharat Gupt.

Dr Bharat Gupt is a former Associate Professor in English at the College of Vocational Studies of the University of Delhi. He is an Indian classicist, theatre theorist, sitar and surbahar player, musicologist, cultural analyst, and newspaper columnist. He is also the author of multiple books on Drama, the Natyashastra and Indian culture.

Indic Public Leadership Workshop by Dr Bharat Gupt – (23rd & 24th November 2018, Houston)

Indic Academy organised the two-day Indic Public Leadership workshop by Dr Bharat Gupt at the Meenakshi Temple in Pearland.

Indic Public Leadership 1-Day Workshop by Dr Bharat Gupt was organised by Indic Academy in the following regions as well. 

– 25th November 2018 , Dallas 

– 1st December 2019, San Jose

– 8th December 2019, Washington DC

– 15th December 2019, Chicago. 

Vedic Social Science by Dr Nagaraj Paturi – (23rd & 24th February 2019, Hyderabad) 

Indic Academy in association with School of Vedic Sciences, MIT-ADT University, Pune, organised its a first of its kind two day tutorial on Vedic Social Sciences on Feb 23 – 24, 2019. The two-day workshop was conducted by Dr Nagaraj Paturi. Prof Paturi is a well-respected scholar in Vedic aesthetics, linguistic and cultural anthropology specializing in folk-classical (Vedic) interface, as well as in Vedic civilizational thought. He teaches courses in Qualitative Research, Ethnography, Semiotics, Cognitive Cultural Studies to students of Design, Communication, Classical Dance, Business Management etc. employing Vedic Science approaches where applicable.

A captivating orator, poet and rigorous thinker, Dr. Paturi has deep knowledge of both western and Indian concepts in Social Sciences and Humanities.

Dr. Paturi is currently the Director of Indic Academy Hyderabad’s Inter-University Center for Indic Knowledge Studies (indicacademy.org). He is also an executive committee member and visiting faculty of the MIT School of Vedic Sciences, MIT-ADT University Pune INDIA (mitvedicsciences.com). He is on the board of studies of several Universities focusing on applied Vedic scientific studies including Chinmaya University and Vivekananda University.

The course outline included:

• India’s Indigenous Knowledge Systems and their contribution to Social Sciences & Humanities
• Critiquing mainstream social sciences and humanities from the Vedic perspective
• Introduction to Vedic Sociology, Vedic Anthropology, Vedic Political Science, Vedic Public Administration and Vedic ‘History’ – their global relevance for handling cultural diversity and conflicts.
• Potential areas of research and application of Vedic Social Sciences in the 21st century

Outcomes:

This tutorial initiated rigorous academic study in various universities on these lines –

• through diploma, MA, and other PG and UG courses in Vedic Social Sciences
• through research courses
• through faculty research and publications

The workshop was curate dby This conference is curated by Dr. Sai Susarla, Dean, School of Vedic Sciences, MIT-ADT University, Pune.

Patanjali Mindfulness by Raghu Ananthanarayanan (6th – 7th March 2019, Rishikesh)

Indica Yoga organised a two-day workshop on Patanjali Mindfulness conducted by Raghu Ananthanarayanan and Dr Vinaychandra BK as part of the International Yog Festival at Rishikesh, Uttarakhand.

Raghu Ananthanarayanan is a renowned author, Indic scholar and management expert. He is a Postgraduate in Biomedical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He is a leading consultant to several blue-chip companies – Indian as well as Multinational. He is one of the founders of Sumedhas – The Academy for Human Context. He is a visiting faculty at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He has taught at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand, and Indian Institute of Management – Bangalore. He has been engaged with Process work, Organizational Behaviour and teaching Yoga for over four decades. He has developed a unique methodology called “Totally Aligned Organisation” that brings together his understanding of Manufacturing Systems, Organizational Processes, Human Processes and Yoga. He is the disciple of Gurus Yogacharya T Krishnamacharya Ji & TKV Desikachar Ji, J.Krishnamurti Ji and Prof. Pulin K. Garg.

4-Day Workshop on “Sringara, Morality & Modernity : A Vedic Perspective” by Dr Bharat Gupt (28th – 31st March 2019, Mysuru)

Indic Academy organised a 4-day intensive residential workshop exploring the Vedic notions of sexuality through a study of Indic Knowledge Texts like Natyashastra, Kamasutra, Manusmriti, and Srimad Bhagavatham.

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