Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions

Monday, February 18^th, 4:00 pm

Room 117, Anderson Hall, University of Florida

Bio: Dr. Steven M. Vose is the Bhagwan Mahavir Assistant Professor of Jain Studies and Director, Jain Studies Program, at the Florida International University.  Dr. Vose’s main areas for research and teaching are the religious traditions of South Asia, primarily in Jainism and secondarily in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Islam. He examines the history of interactions within and between these traditions to understand the meaning and contexts of community identity formation, religious authority, and the relationships between religious communities and the state in the medieval and early modern periods. Dr. Vose is interested in devotional practices as public religious expressions, especially pilgrimage and temple ritual; and the place of “tantra” and alchemy in medieval Indian society. Dr. Vose also works on the development of vernacular literary traditions, especially in Old Gujarati, and the interaction of Sanskrit, Prakrit and vernacular languages and literatures. Finally, his work examines architecture, sculpture and manuscript painting practices, especially in western India. More broadly, he is interested in historiography in the study of religion, literary theory and religious reading practices, modern and premodern religious identity politics, religious and ethno-nationalism, conflict and non-violence in South Asia. His early training was primarily anthropological, and he brings a focus on the lived reality of religious life to his study of the medieval and early modern Indian past.

**CHiTra gratefully acknowledges the support of the JAINA Academic Liaison Committee, USA**