Schedule (subject to change due to unforseen circumstances)
**FRIDAY 21st April**
Registration: 12.30pm-1.00pm
PANEL: Narrative Lineage Constructions in Early Hindu Literature 1.00pm-2.30pm
Sanne Dokter-Mersh (Leiden, Netherlands)
Purāṇic Influencers: Authoritative Lineages in the Bhaviṣyapurāṇa
Simon Brodbeck (Cardiff, UK)
‘Taking Back the Disgraced Wife in the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata’
15 minutes break
PANEL: Sikh Traditions of Authority, 2.45pm-5.00pm
Satnam Singh (Independent Scholar, Denmark)
Intellectual Authority in the Early Modern Sikh Tradition: A case study of Bhai Mani Singh
Julie Vig (York, Canada)
Imagining Early Modern Punjab in Gurbilās literature: Tensions, Affinities, and Conflicts
Nirinjan Khalsa-Baker (Loyola Marymount, USA)
Subjectivity, Sovereignty, and Authority in the Sikh Kirtan Renaissance
30 minutes break
OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS 5.30pm-6.30pm
Professor Tulasi Srinivas (Emerson College, USA) – ONLINE
The Lake of Fire: Water, Caste and Gender in India’s Climate Apocalypse
**SATURDAY 22nd April**
Postgraduate Panel 9.00am-10.30am
Arkamitra Ghatak (Heidelberg, Germany)
The Divine Mother as Vaishnava Guru: Female Leadership, Charismatic Authority and Succession Dispute in the Nimbārka Sect in the early Twentieth Century
Imran Visram (Oxford, UK)
The Shi’a Imam as the Satgur: Religious Authority in the Satpanth Ismaili Muslim tradition
Tillo Detige (Bochum, Germany)
Successions of Sovereignty: Digambara Jaina Ascetic Lineages of Early Modern Western India
15 minutes break
PANEL: Constructing Authority on Texts, and Writing Texts on/for Authority, 10.45am-1.00pm
Nabanjan Maitra (Bard, USA)
Provincializing the Digvijaya: Jain Antecedents to Śankara’s Rule at Śṛṅgeri
Rosina Pastore (Ghent, Belgium)
How does a King become a Philosopher? Jasvant Singh of Mārvāḍ (1626–1678) and his Vedāntic Writings
Avni Chag (SOAS, UK)
Sources of Schism Formations in the Svāminārāyaṇa Sampradāya
Lunch one hour (1pm until 2pm)
PANEL: Constructing Self-made Identity/Authority (1), 2.00pm-3.30pm
Taushif Kara (King’s College London, UK)
The Imam between the Merchant and the King
Christine Marrewa-Karwoski (Columbia, USA)
The Political Dynasty of Gorakhpur’s Godmen: The Nath Mahants, the Ramjanmabhoomi Movement, and a New Era for India
15 minutes break
PANEL: Constructing Self-made Identity/Authority (2) 3.45pm-5.15pm
Amanda Lucia (California-Riverside, USA)
‘Self-styled God man’: lineage versus criminality in media discourse
Jon Keune (Michigan State, USA)
Babasaheb’s Heavy Mantle: Buddhism and Community Leadership after Ambedkar
15 minutes break
PANEL: Gender and Leadership, 5.30pm-7.00pm
Leah Comeau (Saint Joseph’s, USA, and Hamburg, Germany)
Organic Leadership at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram: the Samadhi, the Mother, and her flowers
Dr Waithanji Mutiti (Gretsa, Kenya)
Patriarchy, Women and Leadership Contestations in Hinduism in Kenya
CONFERENCE DINNER (with ticket) – 7.30pm onwards close by King’s College London
**SUNDAY 23rd April**
Postgraduate Panel 9.00am-10.30am
Tushar Shah (Cambridge, UK)
‘The Guru Never Leaves the Earth’: Death, Transition and Continuity
Kirtan Patel (Texas, USA)
Politics of Piety: Schism, Sovereignty, and Obedience in Colonial Gujarat, 1870-1905
Lucy May Constantini (Open University, UK)
Evolutions in the Transmission of Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘, a South Indian Martial Art
15 minutes break
PANEL: Tradition, lineage and succession, 10.45am-12.15pm
Jonathan Edelman (Florida, USA)
Lineage and Ontology: The construction of tradition and conversion in Hindu and Christian Scholasticism
Måns Broo (Abo Akademi, Finland)
Rupture and Reform of Succession: The Case of the Gauḍīya Maṭha
CLOSING KEYNOTE ADDRESS, 12.15-1.15pm
Professor Gwilym Beckerlegge, Professor of Modern Religions (Open University, UK)
From Gurus and Svāmīs to Workers, Trusts and Managing Committees
1.15-1.30 Closing discussion
1.30pm Conference ends