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The Xivth Conference of the International Association for Buddhist Studies (IABS)

International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR)

Ninth East-West Philosophers’ Conference

 


The Xivth Conference of the International Association for Buddhist Studies (IABS)
London: 29 August to 3 September 2005
School of Oriental and African Studies (Department of the Study of Religion) with the British Library and British Museum

The Conference will be structured along the following lines. First, there will be number of panels dealing with specific topics. A panel will normally consist of either five or ten speakers. Panels are organized by their conveners who will be responsible for the thematic unity, academic content and internal structure. Second, various sections will be formed by the conference Organizing Committee itself. Each section will, as far as possible, maintain a general thematic consistency. All papers that have not been submitted as part of a panel will automatically be assigned to the most appropriate section by the Organizing Committee.

The following thirteen panels have been accepted:

Buddhism and Modernity in Korea (JY Park), Buddhist Art: Historical Evidence from Gandhara (Kurt Behrendt), Buddhist Sanskrit Manuscripts from Central Asia and Afghanistan (Jans-Uwe Hartman), Chinese Buddhist Historiography (Elizabeth Morrison), Ancient Champa to Modern Siam Perspectives on Buddhist Art in Southeast Asia (Pattaratorn Chirapravati), Studies in Gandhara Buddhist Manuscripts (Richard Solomon), Issues in the Art History of Early Indian Buddhism (Robert DeCaroli), Mahayana Sutra Literature (Jonathan Silk), Meanings of Lotus Sutra for Contemporary Humanity (Tsugunari Kubo), Newar Buddhism (William Thuladhar-Douglas), Social and Intelelctual History of Buddhism in Tibet (Derek Maher), Tantra in Dunhuang (Jacon Dalton, Sam van Shaik) and Vernacular Texts and Textual Communities in South and Southeast Asia (Justin MacDaniel).

In addition, the Organizing Committee has identified the following 20 themes in the Buddhist Studies that serve as provisional section titles:

Abhidharma and Schools of Buddhist Philosophy, Buddhism and Brahmanism, Buddhism and other Religions in East Asia, Buddhism and the Sramanas, Buddhism in the Himalayan Area and Inner Asia, Buddhist Art and Architecture, Buddhist Hermenutics, Scholasticism and Commentarial Techniques, Buddhist Music, The Canonical Languages of Buddhism in South Asia, Contemporary Developments in Buddhism, The Development of Buddhism in East Asia, Early Buddhism in India, Information Technologies in Buddhist Studies, Logic and Epistemology in Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism in South Asia, Manuscripts and Codicology, Schools of Mahayana Buddhism, Schools of Sravakayana Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism and Vinaya Studies.

If you wish to present a paper in a section or in a panel, please send an abstract of no more than 300 words to the organizers of the Conference by 31 January 2005. The abstracts should be sent, as an attachment, by email to: iabs2005@soas.ac.uk Alternatively, you may send them a floppy disk or a CD containing your abstract. Should you have no access to computer, please, contact the Organizing Committee to arrange for suitable submission format of the abstract.

For more information please contact Dr. Ulrich Pagel, the Secretary of the Organizing Committee (up1@soas.ac.uk)

Address:

Secretary (XIVth IABS Conference Organizing Committee)
Department of the Study of Religions,
SOAS
Russell Square
Thornhaugh Square
London WC1H 0XG
Great Britain

 


International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR)

A Regional Conference co-hosted by IAHR under UNESCO
January 2005: New Delhi

Theme: Cultural and Religious Mosaic of South and Southeast Asia: Conflict and Consensus through Ages

This is the inaugural conference of South and Southeast Asian Association for the Study of Religion (SSEASR) . The convenor is Dr. Amarjiva Lochan of University of Delhi.

The proposed sub-themes are as follows: Religious Conflict: past and present, Religion and Polity, Dialogue between civilizations: problems and prospects, Symbols of religious and ethnic identities, sacred places, sacred waters and sacred mountains: the role of pilgrimage, Syncretism in art, iconography and architecture, syncretism in language and literature, Elite and folk cultures in religion and culture: ‘higher tradition vis-à-vis lower tradition’, Gender in religion, Orality and Sacrality in South and Southeast Asia, Performing arts: reflections of consensus, Medicine, health systems and religion, Economics and the role of religion, Methodology in the study of South and Southeast Asian religions, Emerging socio-cultural trends and visions for the mid-21st century, Science and religion, Philosophy of life and value systems: the various eyes of religions, Religion in relation to tradition and modernity, and Religion, human rights and law.

The last day submission for abstracts is September 30, 2004. Confirmation of the acceptance of the proposals: October 31, 2004. Please submit a 300 words abstract preferably by email to the following address: iahr@indiatimes.com

Online registration is possible at: www.icvsolutions.com/iahr

For more information contact Asanga Tilakaratne, Program Committee Sri Lanka representative (tasanga@sltnet.lk)

 


Ninth East-West Philosophers’ Conference

University of Hawai i . 2530 Dole Street . Honolulu, Hawai,
i 96822 - 2383
Phone : (808) 956 - 8734, (808) 956 - 7288
Fax: (808) 956 - 9228
E-mail address : rtames@hawaii.edu

CALL FOR PAPERS
“educations and their purposes :
Aphilosophical dialogue among cultures”
Ninth east-west philosophers’ conference university of hawai’i
east-west center may 29 june 11, 2005

The Ninth East-West Philosophers Conference will be dedicated to the singular importance of “Educations” - purposely plural - in the shaping of a pluralistic world. Education is the point of departure for the cultivation of human culture in all of its different forms. While there are many contested conceptions of what the curriculum of education might be, no one would challenge the premise that education is a good thing for the future of humanity, and that we should continue to invest heavily in it. In fact, many of us would allow that the only resolution to the many problems that continue to beset the human species is a mutual accommodation of cultures made possible by a dialogue that only education can sustain.The only antidote to violence and injustice is tha cultivation of a broad social intelligence.

Not long ago a human being could live and die in a world that remaine relatively constant and familiar. But no more. Humanity has arrived at the edge of the third millennium. The past century has witnessed a veritable explosion in the growth of technologies, affecting every aspect of the human experience-education, health, economics, environment, communication, politics, security. And none of the world’s cultures has remained unchallenged as the half-life of these technologies grows shorter, and the speed and power they have to shape our lives accelerates. And the pace just gets faster.

But all of the contemporary issues that people of good-will need to address ultimately return to education. The collective and overruling responsibillty of each generation of humanity has been to sustain the world for the children yet unborn. In our historical moment, more than ever before, this prime directive means that technological power must be accompanied by the considered wisdom that only education can provide. We need to continue a global converstion that enables us, with deliberation, to see where we are going, and why. Some Possible themes might be:

Educating whole persons for whole Lives : The Educated Body An Epistemology of Feeling : Education and the Emotions Education and the Visual Arts

Islam, Peace, and Education
Education, Indoctrination, and Indigenization : Civilizing or Colonizing?
Innovation, Improvisation, and the Value of the Unexpected: Education as Creativity
Music and Moral Education
From the Abacus to the Supercomputer: Education and Their Technologies
Education and Negotiations of Power
Education and the Environment
Education and Poverty
Education and the Prisons
Education and the State : Civic Education
The Privatization of Education: Education of Training?
Religious Education: Terror, Militarism, and Peace
The Media and the curriculum: Who will educate, Teachers or Journalists?
Academic Standards and the Standardization of the Academy
Education sa Activism and Resistance
We are inviting philosophers to propose a paper or a panel that will address these or other themes relevant to the general topic. A short abstract can be sent to the organizing committee by mail, fax, or e-mail to the address on this letterhead by October 1, 2004. As in past,we will be preparing a volume with selected papers from the conference. We are anticipating that this conference will be an historic event.

Roger T. Ames, Director.