Fairfield University’s College of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Institute will host a two-day symposium on Tantra and Buddhist ritual in medieval South Asia, on Feb. 21-22, at Bellarmine Hall, Diffley Board Room.
Presenters from around the country will explore ritual developments in South Asia from roughly 600-1200 CE, discuss Buddhist and non-Buddhist tāntrikas in the medieval period, and examine the way these ritual developments were carried beyond the Himalayas into Tibet proper, and their subsequent developments up to the modern period. Panelists will share their abstracts and participate in Q&A and group discussion.
This symposium is being held to celebrate and mark a transition in the study of Buddhism, Tantra, and Asian traditions more broadly at Fairfield University. The topic was inspired by the work of Professor Emeritus Ronald M. Davidson, PhD, in Indian Esoteric Buddhism and the Tibetan Renaissance. Dr. Davidson is scheduled to deliver the conference keynote address. The Humanities Institute, in collaboration with Samuel Grimes, PhD, assistant professor of Religious Studies, helped bring this event to fruition. Dr. Grimes will be a featured speaker, along with the following panelists:
Kristina Anderson, The Art Institute of Chicago
Keith Cantú, PhD, Harvard University
Pronoy Chakraborty, University of California, Berkeley
Jacob Dalton, PhD, University of California, Berkeley
Sonali Dhingra, PhD, University of California, Berkeley
David Germano, PhD, University of Virginia
Shaman Hatley, PhD, University of Massachusetts, Boston
John Nemec, PhD, University of Virginia
Davey Tomlinson, PhD,Villanova University
