Category Archives: Announcement

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Chlodwig Werba (1955–2019)

You might not know yet that Chlodwig Werba passed away last Friday, the 25.1.2019.

Chlodwig was professor at the University of Vienna (ao. Universitätsprofessor) and served the University almost until the end with a dedication and loyalty that ranged from the carefulness with which he co-edited the Wiener Zeitschrift für Südasienkunde (WZKS) to the attention he paid in switching off all lights and closing all doors when he left in the evening. He was meticulous and extremely precise, always striving for perfection. He expected perfection and dedication from his students (and colleagues), but most of all from himself, because he regarded the study of Sanskrit (and of Indo-Iranian languages in general) as a sort of sacred duty, and every shallow study as a profanation.

His masterpiece, Verba Indoarica, has been used by students and scholars from all over the world. Others will remember his ability to move from Old Persian to Middle Indo Aryan languages via Vedic and Avestic and from a given Prakrit to Pāli and Sanskrit. Though primarily a linguist, he loved Sanskrit and Vedic poetry and though a “scientist” he spoke with enthusiasm of classical music (he played the piano throughout the weekend, he once told me).

If you also had the chance to meet him, read his work or receive his accurate comments on a piece you sent to WZKS, please feel free to share your experience in the comments. You can find some memories by, among others, Asko Parpola and Jan Houben in the January archive of the Indology mailing list.

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Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions: Call for papers for the 2019 Symposium

I received the following announcement from Brian Black:

We invite proposals for papers for the 43rd Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions, which will be hosted by Lancaster University, 12-14 April 2019.

The theme this year is ‘gender’. Our purview includes both religions of South Asian origin wherever in the world they are being practised, and those of non South Asian origin present within South Asia. We welcome papers based upon all research methods, including textual, historical, ethnographic, sociological and philosophical.

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About the International Association of Sanskrit Studies

The following petition has been recently posted on the Indology mailing list:

Dear Colleagues,

A number of Sanskrit scholars plan to present the following letter to the International Association of Sanskrit Studies. We think it’s important that everyone in the field of Sanskrit studies who is concerned about its future should have the opportunity to read it and add his or her voice. If you would like to add your name, send a message to iassletter@gmail.com (not to me, please). After a week or two, the list will be finalized and presented to the IASS.

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Coffee Break Conference, Oxford 2018 Call for papers

We invite proposals for papers for the 9th Coffee Break Conference, which will be hosted at Wolfson College, University of Oxford, 4-6 December 2018.

The theme of the conference this year is “Science and Technology in Premodern Asia.” We welcome proposals of papers on the topics of (1) Mathematics & Astronomy and (2) Technology & Applied Science, both in premodern Asia. The papers can be based upon all research methods; cross-cultural or cross-disciplinary approaches are especially welcome. Doctoral students are also invited to submit proposals.

Before the conference, papers and handouts will be pre-circulated among all the participants. Each speaker will be allotted 20 minutes for the paper and another 20 minutes for discussion.

We will be able to cover the 3-night accommodation in Oxford for every participant. We may also have funding to partly cover travel expenses (in principle, only within Europe), but we expect participants to pay for most of their other expenses. There are no registration fees for the conference.

We are delighted to announce that our keynote speaker for the conference will be Prof. Christopher Minkowski, Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford.

If you would like to give a paper on the theme of Mathematics & Astronomy, please send a title and abstract (max. 300 words) to Matt Kimberley, Matt.Kimberley@bl.uk, by 31 October.

For papers on the theme of Technology & Applied Science, please send a title and abstract (max. 300 words) to Dr. Jonathan Duquette, jonathan.duquette@orinst.ox.ac.uk, by 31 October.

Further information about the conference will soon be available.

For any other question, please contact Yiming Shen (yiming.shen@wolfson.ox.ac.uk) or Dr. Jonathan Duquette (jonathan.duquette@orinst.ox.ac.uk).

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The next IIGRS is approaching

Call for paper

International Indology Graduate Research Symposium

We are pleased to announce that the tenth International Indology Graduate Research Symposium (IIGRS 10) will take place at SOAS, University of London, on Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th September 2018.

We look forward to receiving abstracts from graduate students, as well as early career researchers who have completed their PhD within the past five years.

Abstracts should be submitted to iigrsuk@googlemail.com by the 6th of May 2018. We will consider all Indological topics provided they are based on primary sources studied in the original language.

Abstracts should not exceed 300 words and should include:
1) Your name and institution + indication of research degrees and positions held;
2) the title of your paper;
3) a broad indication of its subject area;
4) an outline of its contents.

Please send your abstract in both Word and PDF format. More information can be found at:
https://iigrs.wordpress.com/

For further questions, contact us directly at iigrsuk@googlemail.com

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Sanskrit Reading Room at Soas (London)

I received the following announcement from Karen O’Brien-Kop and I am glad to advertise it, also because several readings will be conducted by long-term colleagues and friends of mine. You can read Karen’s very interesting posts about the reading sessions on her blog.

The Sanskrit Reading Room at SOAS is a graduate initiative that holds fortnightly readings of Sanskrit texts with leading scholars. This year we are looking at a number of texts from the Indian philosophical traditions. The reading seminars are open to all, although knowledge of Sanskrit is recommended. Participants can book their place in advance and will receive the reading in order to familiarize themselves with the text. Selected sessions will be live-streamed via our Facebook page and all sessions will be recorded for an audio archive on our blog.