Dear Devotees,
This is your invitation to join us all at this year's ISKCON Studies Conference - Transmitting the Truth: Education, Preaching, and Conversion in ISKCON - to be held at Villa Vrindavan, Italy on 16-19 July 2010.
These conferences are a good mixture of thoughtful discussion and good sanga and of course good prasadam:)
It costs 135 Euros including all accommodation, prasadam, and conference costs. There will also be a day trip to Florence on Sunday 18 July for which there will be a very small extra cost.
I do hope you can attend this year. I've included more details at the end of this text.
If you would like to attend or if you would just like some more info, then please don't hesitate to contact me. More information will also be posted at
http://www.iskconstudies.orgSincerely,
Lal Krishna Dasa
Transmitting the Truth: Education, Preaching, and Conversion in ISKCONThe 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)
Educational perspectives from the Mahabharata (Dr Nick Sutton)
Faith 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)
Interfaith Dialogue in Higher Education (Krsnadas Kaviraj Dasa)
Panel Discussion: Joining Worlds of Knowledge: Secular and Vaisnava AcademiesA 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.