Indian Religions Podcast

Religion

Everyday Shi'ism in South Asia

Karen Ruffle's Everyday Shi'ism in South Asia (John Wiley & Sons, 2021) is an introduction to the everyday life and cultural memory of Shi’i women and men, focusing on the religious worlds of both individuals and communities at particular historical moments and places in the Indian subcontinent. Ruffle draws upon an array primary sources, images, …

Guest: Karen G. RuffleDate: 5/26/2021
Religion and Myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Breaking box office records, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has achieved an unparalleled level of success with fans across the world, raising the films to a higher level of narrative: myth. Michael D. Nichols's Religion and Myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (McFarland, 2021) is first book to analyze the Marvel output as modern myth, comparing …

Guest: Michael NicholsDate: 5/21/2021
Muslim Communities and Cultures of the Himalayas

Jacqueline Fewkes and Megan Adamson Sijapati edited volume Muslim Communities and Cultures of the Himalayas: Conceptualizing the Global Ummah (Routledge, 2020) explores individual perspectives and specific iterations of Muslim community, Muslim practice and experience of Islam in the Himalayan region as well as the concept of the general Islamic …

Guest: Jacqueline Fewkes and Megan Adamson SijapatiDate: 5/19/2021Publisher: Routledge
Brian Carwana on World Religions

Why study World Religions? This podcast features words of wisdom from Dr. Brian Carwana, Executive Director of Encounter World Religions who advocates for widespread religious literacy. We learn core insights Dr. Carwana has arrived at having avidly studying and taught the world’s religions for over 20 years. Raj Balkaran is a scholar, educator, …

Guest: Brian CarwanaDate: 5/5/2021
Teaching Buddhist Studies Online

Join Raj Balkaran as he talks with Dr. Kate Hartmann, Assistant Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Wyoming and Director of Buddhist Studies Online, a new educational platform providing coursework on the history, philosophy, and practices of Buddhism. Founded in 2021 by Seth Powell as a sister institute to Yogic Studies, Buddhist …

Guest: Kate HartmannDate: 4/30/2021
Regional Communities of Devotion in South Asia

Gil Ben-Herut and Jon Keune's book Regional Communities of Devotion in South Asia: Insiders, Outsiders, and Interlopers (Routledge, 2019) explores the key motif of the religious Other in devotional (bhakti) literatures and practices from across the Indian subcontinent. The primary aim of this book is to reconsider and challenge inherited notions …

Guest: Gil Ben-Herut and Jon KeuneDate: 4/28/2021Publisher: Routledge
World Religions Reader

Preparing online materials since 2005 (including Hindusim the EBook, 2016), Dr. Hillary Rodrigues has been working on a fantastic resource for anyone interested in studying or teaching world religions. See www.robinest.org.  Designed as an introductory reader for a World Religions course, the eBook World Religions Reader: Understanding Our …

Guest: Hillary RodriguesDate: 4/23/2021
The Science of Satyug

The first in-depth study of the All World Gayatri Pariwar, a modern Indian religious movement. The All World Gayatri Pariwar is a modern religious movement that enjoys wide popularity in North India, particularly among the many STEM workers who joined after becoming disillusioned with their lucrative but unfulfilling private-sector careers. …

Guest: Daniel HeifetzDate: 4/22/2021Publisher: SUNY Press
The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana

Join Raj Balkaran as he discusses yoga philosophy with Ian Whicher. We begin with a discussion on how he began his journey towards yoga philosophy before probing his assertion that the Yoga-Sūtras do not advocate abandonment of the world, but rather support a stance that enables one to live more fully in the world without being enslaved by …

Guest: Ian WhicherDate: 4/13/2021Publisher: SUNY Press
Daya Krishna and Twentieth-Century Indian Philosophy

Daya Krishna and Twentieth-Century Indian Philosophy: A New Way of Thinking about Art, Freedom, and Knowledge (Bloomsbury Academic, 2020) by Daniel Raveh introduces contemporary Indian philosophy as a unique philosophical genre through the writings of one its most significant exponents, Daya Krishna (1924-2007).  It surveys Daya Krishna's main …

Guest: Daniel RavehDate: 3/30/2021Publisher: Bloomsbury USA