The ISKCON Studies Institute is pleased to invite you to the third ISKCON Studies Conference

Transmitting the Truth: Education, Preaching, and Conversion in ISKCON

to be held at Villa Vrindavan, near Florence, Italy, from 16-19 July 2010.

The theme of this year’s conference – Education, Preaching, and Conversion – addresses concerns central to ISKCON’s history and mission. In what ways have Indic religious traditions, especially the Caitanya Vaisnava tradition, understood and articulated these concepts? How does ISKCON draw from or reinterpret these traditions? What are the theological underpinnings of present-day educational and preaching practices? The conference aims to provide an academic forum to discuss such questions, especially as they relate to ISKCON, but with attention to their broader context.

The Conference is a forum for presentations of research and open discussion among the participants.

Presentations include:

• Meditation as a Devotional Practice in Jiva Gosvami’s Philosophy of Education (Barbara Holdrege)
• Preaching in ISKCON: An Analysis (Ravindra Svarupa Dasa)
• Educational perspectives from the Mahabharata (Dr Nick Sutton)
• Faith (sraddha) within Caitanya Vaisnavism and Indian Theology (Gopinathacarya Dasa)
• Conversion, Preaching, and Western Cultural Identity (Jan Olof Bengtsson)
• The Meaning and Form of Conversion in Gaudiya Vaisnava Tradition (Kumaripriya Dasi)
• Conversion, Experience, and Narrative: Examples from the Hare Krishnas (Hrvoje Cargonja)
• Inculturation: The Relationship between Spirituality and Culture applied to Education (Urmila Dasi)
• Preaching Conversion or Education? The Case of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati (Pranava Dasa)
• The Future of Education in ISKCON (Shaunaka Rishi Das)
• Panel Discussion: Joining Worlds of Knowledge: Secular and Vaisnava Academies
• Interfaith Dialogue in Higher Education (Krsnadas Kaviraj Dasa)

A number of these papers will appear in the third edition of the ISKCON Studies Journal.

Logistics:

Friday 16 July – Monday 19 July 2010
Villa Vrindavan, near Florence, Italy,

Cost: 135 Euros including all meals and accommodation for the five nights of 15-19 July.

For registrations and other enquiries, please contact Kumaripriya Dasi at kumaripriya.dasi@gmail.com

For more information, please go to http://iskconstudies.org/

16–19 July, 2010
Villa Vrindavana, Italy

Theme – Education, Preaching, and Conversion

Following the success of its 2nd conference on the theme of “Guru: Person, Position, Possibilities,” the ISKCON Studies Institute invites proposals for presentations at its 3rd conference at Villa Vrindavana, near Florence, Italy.

The theme of this year’s conference – Education, Preaching, and Conversion – addresses concerns central to ISKCON’s history and mission. In what ways have Indic religious traditions, especially the Caitanya Vaisnava tradition, understood and articulated these concepts? How does ISKCON draw from or reinterpret these traditions?

What are the theological underpinnings of present-day educational and preaching practices? The conference offers an academic forum to discuss such questions, especially as they relate to ISKCON, but with attention to their broader context.
Possible topics for discussion include:

• Philosophies of education as articulated or suggested in the
  scriptural corpus
• Historical developments in education, preaching, or conversion
• Articulations of formal and informal education
• Theological understandings of conversion
• Varieties of spiritual transformation
• Nature and dimensions of the conversion experience
• The terminology of education, preaching, and conversion

Each presentation will be about 45 minutes long, followed by discussion.
If you are interested in presenting, please send a 300-word abstract, presentation title, and contact information by September 30 to iskcon.studies@pamho.net.

ISKCON Studies Journal

After a lot of hard work, the first issue of the ISKCON Studies Journal is now available.

The ISJ is one of the main activities of the ISKCON Studies Institute. The idea is that issues will link in to our conferences. Hence, volume two should feature articles from the Guru conference in July.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This issue is full of excellent articles by some of the best scholars in the field of ISKCON Studies.

Accessibility is a key concern so all articles are available on the web. However you can also buy hard copies or pdf of the Journal by clicking here.

Many thanks to all who have made this issue possible – the editors, the authors, and the ISKCON Studies Editorial Board.

This includes presentations by such luminaries as Jayadvaita Swami, Ravindra Svarupa Dasa, Massimo Introvigne, Krsna-ksetra Dasa, Radhika Ramana Dasa, Sesa Dasa, Braja Bihari Dasa, Rembert Lutjeharms, Federico Squarcini, Kumaripriya Dasi, and the venerable Pranava Dasa