US scholars in city for Punjab programme
Roopinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 13

Two important American scholars, Prof Mark Juergensmeyer and Prof John Stratton Hawley, were in Chandigarh recently to participate in what has now become the most significant Punjab studies programme offered by an American university.

Based in the University of California, Santa Barbra, and directed by Prof Gurinder Singh Mann, the Summer Programme on Punjab Studies (SPPS) has Chandigarh as its venue. A six-week summer programme, it has been running for seven years and entails 50 hours of study of the Punjabi language and 90 hours of Punjab history and culture.

Many of the participants are themselves teachers who wish to learn more about the region. This year’s group included three faculty members with interest in economics, politics and religion, nine postgraduate-level students and two undergraduate students.

Prof Juergensmeyer is Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at the University of California. He is also Director of Global and International Studies in the university. He described the establishment of the Sikh and Punjab Studies Department at his university as the high mark of his academic career.

Winner of the Grawemeyer award for 2003, Prof Juergensmeyer has been familiar with Punjab since 1966 when he first visited Chandigarh and taught economics in order to barter for living quarters on the Panjab University campus. He has done seminal work on the Adi Dharmis and the Radha Soamis, and is familiar with Punjab and the Punjabi milieu. He has been studying the role of religion as a vehicle for social and political transformation for most of his adult life.

His most famous book is the recent “Terror in the Mind of God”, of which a revised edition has just been published. The book has sold over 60,000 copies and has been on the bestseller list of The New York Times for many weeks.

“I see Sikh studies as a significant component of religious studies, but not only that. Sikhism is a part of the global diaspora now. I appreciate Prof Mann’s hard work in making this programme so successful.”

As for the attacks on the Sikhs in the West, he blames stupidity. “Stupidity on the part of those who can’t distinguish between various religions as well as stupidity of people who blame religion for terrorism.”

Prof Hawley is Ann Whitney Olin Professor and Chair, Professor of Religion, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York. He is currently in India on a sabbatical to work on his forthcoming book “A History of Bhakti as History”.

“I love Chandigarh,” says Prof Hawley, “it is possible to do things here that are not possible elsewhere.” Talking about the Punjab Studies Programme, with which he has been associated since its inception, he says: “I am thrilled with the way it has developed. What I particularly like is that it is not a one-stop deal. Students can come back to it more than once.” Indeed, many already have. Caroline Sawyer, Assistant Professor of Humanities and Languages, SUNY College at Old Westbury, New York, was in the programme for the second time.

As many as 90 students and scholars have participated in the programme that draws on top local scholars for instruction and interaction. Indeed, it is inspiring similar programmes. John W. Williams, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Principia College, St Louis, USA, plans to use his experience in this programme as a model to establish a 10-week programme for his US students in Chandigarh. His college already has a similar programme in China.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030814/cth1.htm