Photo by Diana Hirsch.
Location: Max-Weber-Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, Universität Erfurt
Date: July 19-21, 2024
Meeting-Link: https://uni-erfurt.webex.com/uni-erfurt/j.php?MTID=m6910ffa29cfc3d90a3aee5dad2b0d255
Meeting Number: 2733 230 6380
Meeting Password: mJGbtxdm624
Symposium Schedule
Saturday, July 20th 2024
09:45 Welcome Greetings: Antje Linkenbach (Max-Weber-Kolleg, University of Erfurt)
Section 1: Veda and Brahmanism
Chair: Gudrun Bühnemann (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
10:00 Michael Witzel (online: Zushi/Japan, Emeritus Harvard), Excluded from “Going to Heaven”: Candalas and Sudras acc. to the Vedic texts.
10:40 Stanislav Jager (University of Marburg), “Candalas” as described in the Premodern Classical Sanskrit Literature.
11:20-11:35 Coffee Break
Section 2: Textual Sources in Jainism and Buddhism
Chair: Jürgen Hanneder (University of Marburg)
11:35 Nalini Balbir (Emerita, University of Sorbonne), Early Jaina scriptures and 20th century Jain voices on outcastes
12:15 Haiyan Hu-von Hinüber (MWK/Erfurt, Shandong University), On the project “Comprehensive study of sources concerning outcastes in Pali and Chinese”
13:05-13:20 Transfer from the university campus to the city center
13:20-14:35 Lunch break for all participants: Ristorante Roma, Schlösserstr. 5, Anger
14:35-14:50 Transfer from the city center back to the university campus
Section 3: Early Buddhist Sources and Beyond
Chair: Jens-Uwe Hartmann (Emeritus, University of Munich)
14:50 Chandrabhan P. Yadav (National Law School of India University, Bangalore), Representation of Candalas in the Jatakas (nos. 152, 179, 309, 362, 377, 474, 497 and 498)
15:30 Nicholas Witkowski (online: University of San Diego), Lifestyles of Impurity: Untouchability, the Cultures of Death, and the Configuration of Communal Identity in Indian Buddhist Monasticisms
16:10-16:25 Coffee Break
Section 4: Untouchability and Ambedkar’s Navayana
Chair: Antje Linkenbach (Max-Weber-Kolleg, University of Erfurt)
16:25 Johannes Beltz (Rietberg Museum, Zürich), Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Buddhism
17:05 Harsha Gautam (University of Texas, DAAD-Fellow Heidelberg), Women, Yes! Bhikkhunis, No!: Navayana Nuns in Theravāda Thailand
Section 5: Concluding Remarks and Final Discussion
Chair: Ute Hüsken (University of Heidelberg)
17:45 Martin Fuchs (Max-Weber-Kolleg, University of Erfurt), Embedding Buddhism Sociologically: Ambedkar’s Analysis of Indian Society and His Project for India’s Ethical Reconstruction
* G. Bühnemann, A brief review of the book by A. Sherraden: Śambūka and the Rāmāyaṇa Tradition. A History of Motifs and Motives in South Asia (2023): This newly published book, being related to the topic of our symposium, details the developmental history of narratives that affirm, condemn, modify, or ignore the controversial execution of Sambuka, a minor Ramayana character of low social standing.
** Brief presentations of possibilities regarding the follow-up meetings/panels/symposiums, e.g.: U. Hüsken: Conference 2025 of the European Association of South Asian Studies (Heidelberg October 2025)
19:00-19:15 Transfer from the university campus to the hotel Alma
19:15 Dinner Buffet for all participants (Bartholomäus Room, Hotel Alma am Anger)
Sunday, July 21, 2024
06:30-10:30 Breakfast together (Continuation of the discussion)
11:00-12:30 Erfurt tour: with the historic tram (since 1894) at the speed of the eighties
(Pre-registration required !)
*** An alternative for sporty ones: a walk through the old town
12:45- Lunch together (Ristorante Rossini, Neuwerkstraße 50)
** Individual Departure
Download the original lecture poster here.
