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We invite proposals for papers for the 42nd Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions, which will be held at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, on 7th-9th April 2017, with the theme “Appearance and Reality”.

Throughout the history of Indian thought we find explorations of the distinction between those things that are real in the fullest sense, and those to which only an illusory or apparent existent can be ascribed. Submissions will engage with this distinction as it is understood in the context of South Asian religion, philosophy, and intellectual history more generally. We welcome papers based upon any and all research methods, including textual, historical, ethnographic, sociological and philosophical.

Presenters are allocated forty minutes for their paper and twenty minutes for discussion, and will normally be expected to pay their own conference registration and expenses. The Symposium fee, including food and accommodation, will be £190, with a non-residential rate of £80. Registration details will be sent separately. Limited financial assistance may be available for early career scholars or scholars from South Asia. If you are unable to access institutional funds for your conference fee please contact the Treasurer, Dr Nick Swann (nick.swann [AT] southwales.ac.uk) to enquire about available support.

We also welcome proposals from doctoral students, who will be allocated twenty minutes for their paper and ten minutes for discussion, and offered free registration at the Symposium. Postgraduate papers need not address the Symposium theme.

We are delighted to announce our keynote speakers for the Symposium: Dr Anne MacDonald (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna) will give a paper entitled ‘Real Illusions, Illusory Realities: Appearance and Reality in Mahāyāna Buddhism’, and Professor David Gellner (University of Oxford) will speak on ‘The Politics of Religious Affiliation in Nepal’.

If you would like to give a presentation, please send a title and abstract (maximum 500 words) to Dr Jan Westerhoff at jan.westerhoff [at] lmh.ox.ac.uk by 31st October 2016.

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