EIGHTEENTH   INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF VEDANTA

University of Massachusetts  Dartmouth, MA

 July 16-19, 2009

Office: Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth

285 – Old Westport Road, Dartmouth, MA 02747 Phones: (Tel) 508-910-6630,  508-999-8588 (Fax) 508-999-8451

 E-Mail:  mjennings@umassd.edu, bsingh@umassd.edu

                                                                            CALL FOR PAPERS                                                       pdf version

            Announcement:  International Congress of Vedanta, founded in 1986 in the Department of Philosophy at Miami  University, Oxford, Ohio, will now be located in the Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.  Prof. S. S. Rama Rao Pappu,  Founder-Director of the Vedanta Congress will continue to be the Program Planner for the future conferences but the organizational details of the conference will be handled in the Center for Indic Studies of Univ. of Massachusetts Dartmouth.     

 For over two decades, International Congress of Vedanta is the focal point for meeting of  scholars specializing in all aspects of Indian philosophy and religion. In the past, the Congress has also celebrated the birth centennial of S. Radhakrishnan (1988), the 1200 anniversary of Sri Sankaracharya (1990), the centennial of Swami Vivekananda’s sojourn to America and his participation in the World Parliament of Religions (1992), birth centennial of J. Krishnamurti (1995), and the 700 anniversary of sanjeewan samadhi of Sri Jnaneswara (1996).   International  Vedanta Conferences were also held  in Madras, Rishikesh,  Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in  India,  and in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, in order to facilitate better interaction between scholars in India and the West.  

            Call for Papers and Panels: The Congress is planning to include in its program plenary presentations, panel sessions, symposium discussions and individual papers.  The themes on  which  the Congress invites papers include but not limited to :  (I) Vedic Studies:  Vedic Theogony, Vedic Rituals, Vedic Recitation, Vedic Science, Vedic Social Order, Interpretation of Vedas (Mimamsa, Aurobindo, Dayananda Saraswati, etc);  (b)  Vedantic Studies:   Vedanta and other Indian Philosophical and religious traditions, Vedanta metaphysics, religion and ethics, Vedanta in literature, Vedanta in modern science (Vedanta and Physics, Life Sciences, Cognitive Science) modern Vedantic thinkers, Vedanta and the Western world.   (c) Philosophical Studies:  Logic, epistemology, metaphysics and  ethics of Darasnas,  (d) Veda and Vedanta  in Sanskrit medium, a forum for pundit-scholars to present papers in Sanskrit , following the path of the great Vedic and darsana traditions. 

            Location:   The 18^th Vedanta Congress will be held at the University of Masschusetts at Dartmouth, MA.  Dartmouth can be reached by air and ground transport. The nearest airport to Dartmouth is Providence, Rhode Island (35 miles), but for some, especially international delegates the preferred airport may be Boston (65 miles) which is well connected domestically and internationally. 

Please send abstracts of your papers on line to Professor  Pappu pappuss@muohio.edu  with a copy endorsed to Prof. Singh bsingh@umassd.edu  before May 1, 2009.   After May 1, papers will be accepted on a  “space available” basis only.  

Inquiries concerning transportation, accommodation, registration fee, etc. may be made to the Dr. Bal Ram Singh bsingh@umassd.edu, or Maureen Jennings  <mjennings@umass.edu> Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.  Tel: 508-999-8588/508-910-6630.