The Program in West and South Asian Religions offers seminars and dissertation supervision in religious traditions of this region (principally Islamic, Hindu, and early Buddhist). The program studies these religions in terms of their texts, practices, systems of thought and values, institutions, and symbolic formations. Preparation is offered in each of these religious traditions, along with their relations to others (e.g., Islamic-Jewish, Hindu-Christian, Islamic-Hindu).

General issues in the interpretation of religion as an orientation to foundational understandings and values regarding human meaning are enhanced by being explored in relation to the religious formations of this region. Seminars are offered in the history, literatures, ethnographies, practices, legal traditions, diaspora and trans-national traditions and practices, religious thought, and interrelations with other traditions.

In addition to the modern language requirement of the Graduate Division of Religion, students are required to demonstrate advanced research proficiency in one West or South Asian language. Emory offers introductory to advanced levels of instruction in the following languages: Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Hindi, and Hebrew.

Significant library holdings in West and South Asian religions are housed in Woodruff Library. The Pitts Theology Library also has extensive holdings related to West and South Asian religions, especially in the area of history of Christian missions. Considerable acquisitions are being pursued via electronic formats.

Emory and Atlanta offer wide resources in support of the program. The Law and Religion Program of Emory Law School offers seminars and occasional major international symposia in the interrelations among law, religion, and religious human rights, including attention to Islamic ethics, law, and politics. The Atlanta metropolitan area offers significant opportunities for the study of West and South Asian religious traditions in their diaspora context in the American South. Emory enjoys cordial relations with many religious communities, which have been most hospitable in welcoming students to observe and study their communities and practices.

West and South Asian Library Resources

West and South Asian Religions Faculty

Abdullahi An-Na'im (Ph.D., University of Edinburgh, 1976) Professor of Law and Fellow in the Law and Religion Program. Islamic Law and human rights.

Vincent Cornell (Ph.D., Univeristy of California-Los Angeles, 1989) Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Middle East and Islamic Studies. Sufism, Islamic philosophy, and Islamic law.

Paul B. Courtright (Ph.D., Princeton, 1974) Professor. Hinduism, religion, and colonial culture.

John Dunne ( Ph.D. Harvard University) Assistant Professor. Buddhist philosophy and practice, epistemology, philosophy of language, and contemplative practice.

Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1984) Associate Professor. Popular religion in South Asia, religion, ethnography, and performance.

Ruby Lal (D. Phil, University of Oxford) Assistant Professor. South Asian Studies, South Asian historiography and premodern history, Mughal history; Islam, gender, and sexuality.

Richard Martin (Ph.D., New York University, 1975) Professor. Arabic and Islamic studies, history of religions, Islamic theology, religion and social conflict.

Sara L. McClintock ( Ph.D. Harvard University) Senior Lecturer and Research Associate in Religion and Asian Studies. P hilosophical traditions of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, with a special interest in the rhetorical nature of Buddhist conceptions of reason.

Gordon Newby (Ph.D., Brandeis University, 1966) Professor. Early Islam, Muslim-non-Muslim relations.

David S. Pacini (Ph.D., Harvard University, 1979) Associate Professor. Nineteenth century intellectual history, ideologies of colonialism, comparative religious interpretation.

Laurie L. Patton (Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1991) Winship Distinguished Research Professor. Religion in ancient India, Vedic studies, history of religions.

Eric Reinders (Ph.D., University of California-Santa Barbara, 1997) Associate Professor. Chinese religion; discourses and practices of the body.

Vernon K. Robbins (Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1969) Professor. Religions of Hellenistic Mediterranean, comparative study of sacred texts.

Devin Stewart (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1991) Associate Professor. Arabic and Islamic Studies; Persian literature; Shi'ism.

Associated Faculty

Anthropology:

Robert A. Paul (Himalayan religion, religion and psychoanalysis)

Michael G. Peletz (Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1983). Social and cultural theory, gender, sexuality, kinship, law, religion (especially Islam); anthropology of Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia.

History:

Gyanendra Pandey (D.Phil., Oxford University, 1975); South Asian and postcolonial history; violence, citizenship and marginality.

Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies:

Rkia Cornell (Arabic)

Robert Greeley (Arabic)

Benjamin Hary (Judeo-Arabic language and literature)

Rakesh Ranjan (Hindi)

Hossein Samei (Persian)

Rima Semaan (Arabic)

Manojbala Tiwari (Hindi)

Political Science:

Carrie Wickham (Islam and Politics in the Middle East)

Candler School of Theology:

Thomas Thangaraj (South Asian Christianity, Hindu-Christian-Muslim dialogue)

Department of Religion:

Geshe Lobsang Negi (Tibetan Buddhism)

Tara Doyle ( Ph.D. Harvard University) Senior Lecturer and Director of Tibetan Studies Program in India. Buddhist and Hindu pilgrimage, ex-untouchable Buddhist converts, contemplative practices, Buddhism in America, and socially engaged Buddhism.