Online Program Book

This roundtable features four first monographs that offer new theoretical interventions in Hindu studies. The authors are grouped in pairs to respond to each other's books and to discuss how these new works may be incorporated into their own scholarship and pedagogy. The first pair features literary studies of figures and texts central to any idea of Hinduism: the Upanishadic figure of Yajnavalkya on one hand, and the multitude of regional language tellings of the Mahabharata on the other. The second pair turns to the social and cultural history of Hinduism in the early modern period. One book traces the emergence of the "Hindu" in a northwestern Indian kingdom; the other develops a new approach to the study of south Indian temple murals. Spanning diverse locations from Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu and a variety of methodologies, the panel displays the breadth and diversity of Hindu studies.

Pretendians, that is, individuals claiming to have Native heritage who in fact have none, are a matter of serious concern. They effectively steal resources from Native American scholars. They may claim to speak for a Native American community when they have authority to do so. They may publicly discuss matters a Native American community may not want to made public. They may violate the sovereignty of Native nations to decide who can claim citizenship in the given nation. So, the issue of Pretendians in the academy deserves open, frank, and serious discussions. This roundtable will start that process. We will engage in a discussion of the issues and propose that the American Academy of Religion develop a statement on the issue of ethnic fraud and develop a policy concerning those who engage in academic dishonesty in making false claims of Native American identity.

Building upon the work of historians of science, most scholars in the field of science and religion accept that "science" and "religion" are not natural categories. These terms emerged in the modern period and often carry questionable philosophical assumptions. The question, then, is what follows? Should scholars abandon the categories and replace them—and indeed the field of science and religion—with something else? Or can one use the terms “science” and “religion” responsibly without committing the philosophical error of essentialism? Conducting scholarship in science and religion inherently requires generalizations—so can it proceed without categories? Does rejecting these terms not inadvertently reinforce other categories and binaries? Our panel of historians, theologians, and social scientists working in the area of science and religion will address this ongoing debate.

How does power function in the classroom? How might teachers of religion use pedagogy to reshape traditional classroom power dynamics, creating good learning conditions for all students, including those on the margins? Panelists will explore the effects of their theoretical interests and commitments--such as dedication to an open and relational standpoint or to pragmatism and empiricism--on their pedagogy. They will describe their attempts to reimagine power-sharing in the classroom through creative teaching techniques and alternative grading practices. This session will include time for open discussion with the audience. Attendees are encouraged to bring pedagogical questions to "brainstorm" with the panelists or to share their own examples of transformative pedagogy.

This panel brings leading scholars of Islam, Islamic law, and Islam and Gender into conversation with Shehnaz Haqqani’s forthcoming book (Oneworld Academic, October 2024), Feminism, Tradition and Change in Contemporary Islam: Negotiating Islamic Law and Gender. The book investigates Muslims’ relationship with change, gender, and the Islamic tradition, asking what lay Muslim Americans understand to be the criteria for changing seemingly established Islamic practices and teachings. The diverse panel – which consists of scholars of various generations and ranks, racial backgrounds, expertise, and genders – will highlight the book’s contributions to the study of Islam specifically and Religion more broadly. Among the points they will discuss are Haqqani’s treatment of how contemporary American Muslims engage in ethical and theological reasoning, the relationship between textual Islam and lived reality, scholars’ and practitioners’ roles in re-evaluating Islamic teachings and practices in new contexts, and the book’s contributions to under-studied areas in Islamic studies.