Guest guest Posted May 8, 2001 Report Share Posted May 8, 2001 Dear Maharajas and Prabhus, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. The following is an introduction to a project which has been deveolping over the last few years in Oxford. We are indebted to everyone who has helped and encouraged us in the task of establishing the Centre. Special thanks go to the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust for their forsight and support which gave the initial push to this important initative. If anyone would like to receive quarterly updates on the development of the project please contact me directly and we would be happy to include you on our list. Your servant, Saunaka Rsi das ---------- THE OXFORD CENTRE FOR VAISHNAVA AND HINDU STUDIES India's culture and spirituality have international importance in today's changing world as perhaps never before. The Oxford Centre for Vaishnava and Hindu Studies, OCVHS, is dedicated to preserving this cultural and spiritual heritage and promoting a better understanding of it through a comprehensive programme of research, publishing and education. The OCVHS was founded in 1997 as an independent academy for the study of Vaishnava and Hindu and culture, religion, languages, literature, philosophy, history, arts and society, in all periods and in all parts of the world. The Centre works closely with Oxford University to meet the highest standards of academic integrity, originality and excellence. In its first year the OCVHS received a major financial gift from the BBT, allowing it to establish premises in Magdalen Street, Oxford. Support received since that time from other bodies and individuals has enabled the development of core academic and administrative staff. This brochure sets out the Centre's aims and programmes. AIMS OF THE OCVHS Scholarship Create a centre of excellence for the study of Vaishnava and Hindu culture and religion Young People Helping young devotees understand their culture and become informed representatives and community leaders Identity Analyse and interpret the various influences on Vaishnava and Hindu identity today Accessibility Provide easy access for all to the intellectual and spiritual heritage of Vaishnavism Voice Help the Vaishnava community achieve a respected, influential and progressive voice in today's society Preservation Preserve Vaishnava and Hindu culture now and for the future - its spirituality, arts, literature and philosophy Build Bridges Promote understanding and co-operation with other cultures and faiths DEFINING OUR SEVEN KEY PRIORITIES Creating a centre of excellence and scholarship The Centre will be at the forefront in providing objective research and information about the history, philosophies and social context of the many cultures that fall under the very broad terms "Vedic" and "Hindu". It will meet the highest standards of academic integrity, originality and excellence. It will address issues and assumptions that have served to distance scholarly, religious and philosophical traditions and worldviews; and it will respond to academic and community needs by creating new programmes and developing new fields of mutual interest. Help the young understand their culture Education is the lifeblood of the next generation. The Centre will give an opportunity to devotee youth who want to gain deeper understanding of their religious and cultural heritage. This will enable them to consider vocations as representatives of their community, enabling them to convey their community's concerns, culture and values with sensitivity and accuracy. Interpreting Vaishnava identity today The Vaishnava communities who arrived in the West in the late twentieth century experienced an extraordinary odyssey and saw huge changes in their lives. The Centre will play a vital role in helping the devotee community to record and reflect on their history, and enable them to define themselves, meet the challenges of integration and the interpretation of Vaishnava tradition in various social and cultural contexts. Making the heritage accessible to all The Centre will spread awareness by making its work available to the general public through a wide variety of media including the internet. It will publish academic and general works, and it will provide resources to the community about Vaishnava and Hindu tradition, including a scholarly journal, a web page and a newsletter. Helping to give Vaishnavism a respected voice The Centre will broaden the influence of the Vaishnava community while promoting respect and understanding between cultures. By association with Oxford University, the Indian and devotee communities will gain in their efforts to develop a progressive and influential relationship with British society and beyond. The Centre will inspire the Vaishnava Community with new perspectives and confidence and enable their contribution in philosophy, education and culture. Preserving Vaishnava culture now and for the future Vaishnava culture and tradition have much to say to today's world, but what is their role and where do they fit in? The Centre will explore Vaishnava values and heritage and examine their contemporary relevance, while taking steps to systematically record and preserve the authentic sources and to deepen modern understanding of them. An important aspect of the Centre's work will be to counter the modern tendency for religious culture to be marginalised or to become the preserve of fundamentalists. This will be facilitated by a deeper study of the tradition, particularly among the international Vaishnava community, at the highest academic levels as well as through media accessible to the wider community. Building a bridge of understanding and co-operation Understanding where the next generation of devotees fits in today's multi-cultural societies requires dialogue, co-operation and vision. This is essential if they are to take their place in society in a meaningful and creative way. Vaishnavas, with their unique world-view, have much to say to other cultures, as well as much to learn. The Centre will build a bridge of understanding and co-operation between Eastern and Western scholarship and points of view. A fellowship programme to bring Vaishnava and Hindu scholars to Oxford will foster co-operation and dialogue beneficial to both traditions. THE STORY OF INDIAN STUDIES AT OXFORD Oxford has been host to the study of India since 1830 when the Boden Chair of Sanskrit was created. Its first occupant was H. H. Wilson, who published his Sanskrit-English Dictionary and laid the foundation of the University's collection of Sanskrit manuscripts. Friedrich Max Mueller, who came to Oxford as Professor of Comparative Philology in 1848, laboured to produce his definitive Sacred Books of the East series and helped to establish Sanskrit as a major classical language. He spent 30 years of his life engaged in translation of the full text of the Rig-Veda with Sayanacharya's fourteenth century commentary. As the nineteenth century progressed, Indian studies were dominated by the demands of government and Christian evangelism. Sir Monier-Williams set up the Indian Institute at Oxford in 1883 - providing a training ground for the Indian Civil Service. In 1936, H. N. Spalding endowed the Spalding Chair of Eastern Religions and Ethics first occupied by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, later President of India, who held the post until 1952. Indian Independence in 1947 brought a chapter to a close at Oxford and the Indian Institute's resources were dispersed. Its teaching faculties moved to the new Oriental Institute, its art holdings went to form the Ashmolean Museum's new Department of Eastern Art and its great Sanskrit collections moved to the New Bodleian Library. With the Indian Institute closed and its teaching posts dispersed the sense of community amongst scholars and students of India was lost. The formation of the new Oxford Centre for Vaishnava and Hindu Studies will mark a return to the original focus of Indian studies at Oxford, namely the religion and culture of India, while at the same time inaugurating a new phase in the study of contemporary Vaishnavism and Hinduism. The Centre will benefit from the University's unparalleled resources and its rich academic tradition while at the same time introducing a new emphasis on the contemporary role of Vaishnavaism in a multi-cultural world. LECTURESHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS Continuity and excellence The OCVHS will contribute to the continuity of Vaishnava culture and scholarship by ensuring that Vaishnava studies thrive in Oxford. The Centre will continue to strive for the highest excellence in academic standards among its fellows and students. Academic support The Centre has attracted the enthusiastic support of the academic community internationally. This has enabled the Centre to appoint a prestigious Academic Advisory Board to direct its study programmes. The OCVHS works in close association with the faculties of Oxford University. Lectureships The Centre will develop lectureships in various disciplines, including the study of Indian languages, to continue the development of Vaishnava studies in Oxford. Visiting scholars The Centre will continue to invite scholars from all parts of the world, and especially from India, to spend time in research and writing, facilitating the association and interaction of scholars in various fields and disciplines. These scholars will help with teaching and tutoring at the Centre. Scholarships In September 1999, the Centre welcomed its first intake of students. As a further incentive for gifted students to study at Oxford, the Centre is planning to introduce a scholarship programme . Devotee students may apply for a place at the Centre's student accommodation, kindly arranged by the BBT, which can facilitate their specific dietary and spiritual needs. TEACHING,LECTURES AND CONFERENCES Lecture programme The Centre will convene lectures, courses, seminars and conferences in the fields of theology, philosophy, history, sociology, anthropology, politics, economics, language and the arts. Hindu studies programme The OCVHS will develop a Graduate Diploma in Hindu Studies that will draw on existing resources in Oxford University and introduce new perspectives and subjects to the field. Summer teacher-training The Centre will provide a summer course on Indian religions specifically designed for teachers in the field of religious education. Part-time courses Courses for the general public will be introduced covering a broad range of subjects addressing the needs and concerns of the community. Culture The Centre will promote Vaishnava and Hindu arts such as dance, drama, music, painting and sculpture. In co-operation with The Nehru Centre in London and the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London, it will support and organise performances and exhibitions. LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE The Centre's library and archives projects will complement Oxford's renowned collection at the Indian Institute Library, which houses the largest Sanskrit manuscript collection outside of India. The Centre also maintains its own reference library for the use of its scholars and students. Hinduism in Britain Archive The Centre will document the history and development of the Vaishnava and Hindu community in the UK. Areas such as economic, political, social and cultural development and integration will be studied as will the establishment of temples, sanghas and sampradayas. This archive, and a proposed visitors centre, will serve as a unique resource for scholars, researchers, the media, government agencies, schools and the Indian community in Britain. The Oral History Project The Centre has been awarded a grant from the Heritage Lottery Foundation to undertake this initial three year research project, which will provide a record of the impressions and experiences of Asians in Britain, especially the older generation. Its scope will include recording interviews and cataloguing and collecting existing media recordings, research and studies. The resulting archive will serve as a basis for analysis, historical documentary, community awareness and future research. Matsya Project The Vaishnava Literature Microfilm Project, known as the Matsya Project, was begun in 1980 to discover and preserve historic Indian manuscripts and rare books. The project was initially developed by the Institute of Vaishnava Studies, founded by devotees in the early 1980's, and funded by the Smithsonian Institution. The collection has now been brought to Oxford. Over a million frames have been recorded and catalogued. The centre hopes to expand on this project in the future. Publishing The Centre will publish a series of books on Vaishnava culture in Britain, India and elsewhere developed from its library and archive projects and other sources. Monographs The Centre will establish a monograph series based on conference and seminar papers and lectures. The Translation Project Scholars and students associated with the Centre will develop resources to translate and publish texts from various Indian languages, making them available to wider audiences. The Internet The OCVHS has established its presence on the world-wide-web and will continue to develop general information on the Centre, its scholars, students and programmes. Through this technology, the OCVHS continues to make resources more widely available to a global public. The Future Besides promoting research at the highest level on Vaishnava and Hindu history, society, languages and culture, the Centre is committed to making this knowledge available to the widest possible public through teaching and publication. To achieve this, the Centre will continue to explore different avenues of dissemination. The OCVHS will enter into collaboration with various institutions in order to broaden its scope and to encourage co-operation. As the Centre develops it will help to instil a sense of pride in the positive contribution the Indian community has to make. It will also enable the community to articulate its culture, principles and values in today's world. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: The Oxford Centre for Vaishnava and Hindu Studies 15 Magdalen Street Oxford OX1 3AE UK Telephone: +44 (0)1865 304300 Fax: +44 (0)1865 304301 E-mail: info (AT) ocvhs (DOT) com WEB: www.ocvhs.com Registered Charity Number: 1074458 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 11, 2001 Report Share Posted May 11, 2001 Dear Saunaka Prabhu PAMHO AGTSP! Thanks for the info. I see that you now have a very nice website! I was just preparing the monthly ISKCON UK Web news when I got your message, so have put links to OCVHS on the ISKCON UK website. You may wish to check over your personal details there at http://www.iskcon.org.uk/devotees/saunakarishi.html ....and let me have any revisions or a better photo. Here's a copy of the ISKCON UK Web news for April 2001: --------------------- Dear ISKCON UK Subscriber, Welcome to the first ISKCON UK Web News! There is quite a lot new and updated on the site this month. Thanks to all who supplied content and information. First of all, there are several new areas: Glastonbury and Plymouth have started their websites off with some basic details about what's going on in their towns at http://www.iskcon.org.uk/glastonbury and http://www.iskcon.org.uk/plymouth The Devotees section begins to reveal the dedicated people who take an active role serving Krishna in ISKCON UK. As with the whole of the site really, we hope to expand this as time goes on. http://www.iskcon.org.uk/devotees Offsite but now online - The Oxford Centre for Vaishnava and Hindu Studies (OCVHS) is breaking new ground in the academic world. See their beautiful and informative new website at http://www.ocvhs.com Updates: The Rathayatra site has a new webservant, Parama Karuna Prabhu, who has been revising it for several months now with a new image and detials of Rathayatra 2001. He is just putting the finishing touches to an online donation facilitiy that should be working within the next few days. I enclose a copy of Rathayatra's e-mail announcement at the end of this message. http://www.iskcon.org.uk/rathayatra There are also other smaller updates to the Bristol, Brighton, Leicester and Mrdanga sites. http://www.iskcon.org.uk/#new News: Kripamoya's latest congregational newsletter for May 2001 is now online at http://www.iskcon.org.uk/news/2001/may/index.html It includes stories about Lord Narasimha (whose appearance day was last week), persecution of devotees in Turkmenistan (Russia), a comment about the Foot & Mouth crisis, OCVHS, Brighton's new spiritual shop, Gatherings, Pilgramages, and more... much more... Phew, that's a lot, enough for now anyway. Don't expect so much every month! There's more site updates planned for the next few weeks, so do check back regularly. Thanks for your support, and please get in touch if you have any comments about the site or material which we could use. Your servant, Arjunanatha dasa Webservant, ISKCON UK www.iskcon.org.uk ............................ Dear Friend We are pleased to announce details for this years' London Rathayatra Festival. Sunday 24th June Time: 12 noon Place: Assemble at Marble Arch We do hope you can come along and share in the procession and festivities. Please visit our website at: http://www.iskcon.org.uk/rathayatra2001 ....where you will find details of the route, images, sound bytes, background information, and also facility for making an online donation, in case you would like to support this years Anadan Appeal. In the service of Sri Jagannatha, Lord of the universe. Yours sincerely Titiksu Das Rathayatra Coordinator rathayatra (AT) iskcon (DOT) org.uk .......................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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