Hinduism and Ecology

October 2-5, 1997

• Opening Session and Plenary Address

• Introductory Session

• Gandhi and Ecology

• Contemporary Ecological Issues: Forests

• Rivers

• Film Showing

• Women's Issues and Ecology

• Literature as Ecological Resource

• Plenary Address

• Krishna, the Bhagavad Gita, and Ecology

• Panel Discussion on Policy Implications

• Biographical Sketches of Conference Participants

Opening Session and Plenary Address

Chair - Arvind Sharma, McGill University

Kamla Chowdry, Society for the Promotion of Wastelands Development, New Delhi

Gandhi's Truth and Sustainability for the 21st Century - ABSTRACT

Respondent - Diana Eck, Harvard University

Introductory Session

Welcome - Christopher Key Chapple, Loyola Marymount University, and Arvind Sharma, McGill University, Co-conveners

O.P. Dwivedi, University of Guelph

Ecology and Hindu Religion - ABSTRACT

K.L. Seshagiri Rao, Encyclopedia of Hinduism and Indic Religions

The Five Great Elements (Panca Mahabhuta): An Ecological Perspective - ABSTRACT

Respondent - George James, University of North Texas

Gandhi and Ecology

Chair - Mary Evelyn Tucker, Bucknell University

Larry Shinn, Berea College

The Inner Logic of Gandhian Ecology - ABSTRACT

Vinay Lal, University of California, Los Angeles

Gandhi and Deep Ecology - ABSTRACT

Respondent - Kamla Chowdry, Society for the Promotion of Wastelands Development, New Delhi

Contemporary Ecological Issues: Forests

Chair - John Grim, Bucknell University

Ann Gold, Syracuse University

If You Cut One Branch, You Cut My Finger: Court, Forest, and Environmental Ethics in Rajasthan - ABSTRACT

David Lee, Florida International University

Sacred Plants and Forests: Lessons from the Ramayana - ABSTRACT

Frederique Apffel-Marglin, Smith Colllege, and Pramod Parajuli, Syracuse University

Sacred Groves and Ecology: Ritual and Science - ABSTRACT

Respondent - Frank Korom, Museum of International Folk Art

Rivers

Chair - Lawrence Sullivan, Director, CSWR

Kelly Alley, Auburn University

Separate Domains: Hinduism, Politics and Environmental Pollution - ABSTRACT

David Haberman, Indiana University

River of Love in an Age of Pollution - ABSTRACT

William Fisher, Harvard University

Sacred Rivers, Sacred Dams: Visions of Social Justics and Sustainable Development along the Narmada - ABSTRACT

Chris Deegan, School for International Training

Circumambulating the Narmada: Damming a Sacred Landscape - ABSTRACT

Respondent - Anne Feldhaus, Arizona State University

Film Showing

Kaise Jeebo Re! (How Do I Survive, My Friend!) - SUMMARY

Women's Issues and Ecology

Chair - Arvind Sharma, McGill University

Jael Silliman, University of Iowa

Indian Feminist Responses and Challenges to Environmental Population Paradigms - ABSTRACT

Madhu Khanna, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi

The Ritual Capsule of Durga-Puja: An Ecological Perspective - ABSTRACT

Vijaya Nagarajan, University of San Francisco

Women and the Earth: The Art of Symbolic Expression - ABSTRACT

Respondent - Kusumita Pederson, St. Francis College

Literature as Ecological Resource

Chair - John Grim, Bucknell University

Laurie Patton, Emory University

Nature Romanticism and Violence in Rig Vedic Interpretation - ABSTRACT

Mary McGee, Columbia University

Environmental Consciousness in the Dharmashastras and the Arthashastras - ABSTRACT

Respondent - Julius Lipner, University of Cambridge

Chair - Lawrence Sullivan, Director, CSWR

Philip Lutgendorf, University of Iowa

Having a Forest and Eating It Too: "Narrative Ecosystem" in the Sanskrit Epics - ABSTRACT

T.S. Rukmani, Concordia University

Literary Foundations for an Ecological Aesthetic - ABSTRACT

Respondent - Frank Clooney, Boston College

Plenary Address

Chair - Arvind Sharma, McGill University

Anil Agarwal, Director, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi

Can Hindu Beliefs and Values Help India Meet its Ecological Crisis? - ABSTRACT

Respondent - Jack Hawley, Barnard College

Krishna, the Bhagavad Gita, and Ecology

Chair - Christopher Key Chapple, Loyola Marymount University

Shrivatsa Goswami, Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana

Krishna and Vrindavan: Theology and Play of Ecology - ABSTRACT

Lance Nelson, University of San Diego

Reading the Bhagavad Gita from an Ecological Perspective - ABSTRACT

Ranchor Prime, International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture

Practical Hindu Ecology - ABSTRACT

Respondent - David Eckel, Boston University

Panel Discussion on Policy Implications

Chair - Mary Evelyn Tucker, Bucknell University

Participants -

Anil Agarwal, Center for Science and Environment

Harry Blair, Bucknell University

Christopher Key Chapple, Loyola Marymount University

Kamla Chowdry, Society for Promotion of Wasteland Development

Shrivatsa Goswami, Sri Caitanya Prema Samsthana

Arvind Sharma, McGill University