DHIIR Indic Health Conference II

[Guest guest]

Indic Health Conference II.

Ayurvedic Identities Past and Present:

The Case of Modern and Global Ayurveda

2-3 July 2004

 

On Friday 2 and Saturday 3 July 2004 the Dharam Hinduja Institute of Indic

Research (DHIIR),

based at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, will host its 8th

International Conference.

The conference will discuss the Case of Modern and Global Ayurveda as part of a

larger project,

the Indic Health and Medicine Research Programme (IHMRP), which has been the

focus of DHIIR

research since October 2000.

 

This innovative programme has been developed to explore the nature, history and

practical

applicability of yoga- and Ayurveda-inspired approaches to health, medicine and

wellbeing in the

context of modern and developed societies. The IHMRP’s main object is to

contextualise and clarify

– and make explicit - the contributions that Indic traditions have made in the

fields of modern

health, medicine and wellbeing, and how these contributions have been altered,

enriched,

developed and (re)interpreted during such processes of propagation and

acculturation. The

programme’s practical aim is to gather, critically evaluate and eventually

disseminate knowledge

about how yogic and ayurvedic traditions have been, are being and can be adapted

to modern

needs and conditions, so as to be used efficiently and in discerning fashion for

fostering human

health and wellbeing.

 

The first part of the IHMRP (2000-2002) focussed on studies relating to the

emergence and

growth of Modern Yoga and research in this area is still ongoing. Part II

(2002-2004) is dedicated

to research on the history and development of Modern and Global Ayurveda.

‘Modern Ayurveda’ is

here understood to start with the processes of professionalisation and

institutionalisation brought

about in India by what has been called the 19th century revivalism of Ayurveda.

‘Global Ayurveda’,

on the other hand, refers to the more cosmopolitan and geographically widespread

processes of

popularisation and acculturation set in motion in the 1980s. Ayurvedic

approaches to health and

wellbeing are just starting to be recognised and, to a lesser extent, integrated

in the context of

modern medical sciences and healthcare outside of India. Assimilation at the

level of

complementary or integrative forms of medicine and self-care has however been

more

widespread, and this phenomenon deserves scholarly attention as symptomatic of

needs and

aspirations felt by a sizeable number of individuals in developed communities

worldwide.

 

An international network of scholars, practitioners and experts (most of whom

will have taken part

in a specialists’ workshop organized by the DHIIR in December 2003) will present

their research at

the 2004 Conference. Their presentations will cover a wide range of

methodological points of

view, discussing the case of Modern and Global Ayurveda from historical,

textual, philosophical,

anthroplogical, socio-political, economic, biomedical and pharmacological

perspectives.

 

For up to date information on the conference please see

http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/CARTS/dhiir/indic/conf04.html

For information on the IHMRP as well as the DHIIR’s work in general, please see

http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/CARTS/dhiir/

Enquiries can also be made by post or by email. The contact address is:

DHIIR

Faculty of Divinity

University of Cambridge

West Road

Cambridge CB3 9BS

Tel: 44 (0) 1223 763 013

Fax: 44 (0) 1223 763014

E-mail: dhiir

 

 

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