Indian and Chinese Religions in Dialogue Unit
Call for Panel and Paper Proposals 2025:
We welcome papers and panels focused on but not limited to:
Aesthetics in Indian and Chinese Religions:
Co-sponsored with Yogācāra Unit
This panel explores approaches to aesthetics in South Asian and East Asian traditions to promote an intereligious and intercultural dialogues on taste, beauty, and nature, broadly construed.
Contact: Jingjing Li
Cakravartins: Violence, Liberation and the Path to Freedom:
Contact: Jessica Zu
Children in Art in Indian and Chinese Religions:
Contact: Kelly Carlton and Dessi Vendova
Prana and Qi:
The panel brings together experts in religious studies, philosophy, and medicine to examine the convergences and divergences between qi (氣) and prāṇa across East and South Asian traditions.
Contact: Eyal Aviv
Silk Routes:
This panel invites papers that consider exchanges, dialogues and differences between Indian and Chinese religious thought and practices through land and maritime Silk Routes. We welcome historical and contemporary perspectives and a range of disciplinary approaches, from philosophy and material culture, to texts and politics.
Contact Karen O’Brien-Kop
Festivals and Celebrations in Indian and Chinese Religions:
Contact: Dessi Vendova
Pramāṇa between India and China
Contact: Yat Ching Yeung
The Buddhist conception of the means of knowledge (pramāṇa) was systemized by Dignāga and Dharmakīrti in India. Their ideas spread to China with different linguistic adaptations and philosophical discussion. This panel delves into the transmission, key translations, and commentaries in Chinese, examining how Indian Buddhist theories of knowledge were interpreted, integrated, and transformed within the cultural and intellectual landscape. It hopes to explore the value and difficulties of this cross-cultural dialogue.
The Chinese Laṅkāvatārasūtra
Contact: Chris Jones
christopher.jones@univie.ac.at
Unit statement: This Research Unit draws together scholars who study the religions of India and China in discrete, dialogic or comparative frames. Given the increasing global importance of China and India in the contemporary world, this unit serves as an important forum for sustained discussion of their religio-cultural relationship in historical and modern contexts. Our panels can connect scholars working on diverse traditions, regions, and eras who otherwise might not have the opportunity to learn from each other. We also encourage a range of disciplinary approaches and innovative panel formats. Interested members are encouraged to join our (low volume) email list by contacting the co-chairs.
This Unit draws together scholars who study the religions of India and China in discrete or comparative frames. Given the increasing global importance of China and India in the contemporary world, this unit serves as an important forum for sustained discussion of their religio-cultural relationship in historical and modern contexts. Our panels can connect scholars working on diverse traditions, regions, and eras who otherwise might not have the opportunity to learn from each other. Interested members are encouraged to join our (low volume) email list by contacting the co-chairs.
| Chair | Dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Eyal Aviv | aviv@gwu.edu | - | View |
| Karen O'Brien-Kop, University of Roehampton | karen.obrien-kop@kcl.ac… | - | View |