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Academic Construction of Hinduism: Call for Papers  

That the Hindu American community has raised funds for this effort 
speaks perhaps to a dawning realization - that what might be 
termed "academic hinduphobia" is a layered artifact that requires an 
archaeological approach to reveal how knowledge about hinduism is 
created in western academia.  As a starting point, it must be 
recognized that in the postmodern era, the study of hinduism deploys 
a seemingly unrelated mass of elements, making it easy to get lost in 
the play of difference or be taken in by this apparent change in 
direction. It is important that these discontinous elements be 
grouped, made relevant, placed in relation to one another to form 
totalities. 

This scholarly call for papers is a useful first step in the effort.  
Please circulate it to all who may be interested.

Sanjay


The Infinity Foundation Call For Grant Proposals: Research and 
Education on Challenges Facing Hindus in America

Background:
The West's awareness and understanding of Hinduism is relatively 
recent, the tenor of which was set during the British Empire. In the 
United States, the conceptions and understanding of the religious 
tradition have been colored, often inaccurately, by a variety of 
factors that were actually peripheral to the tradition. Today, global 
and domestic reasons make it important for Americans to have an 
accurate understanding of Hinduism, a world religion centered in a 
nation that is increasingly having an impact and with which America 
must seriously engage.

Domestically, there are two million Americans of Indian ancestry, the 
vast majority of whom are Hindus. This number is forecast to increase 
significantly over the next several decades. The estimated number of 
non-Indian Americans who have adopted Hinduism as their religion is 
approximately one million. Additionally, nearly twenty million 
Americans have incorporated Hindu-influenced practices in their 
lifestyles, including yoga, meditation, vegetarianism, and other body-
mind-spirit practices. Most of these individuals are stakeholders in 
an authentic portrayal and understanding of Hinduism. The portrayal 
of Hinduism should no longer depict an alien society half a world 
away, but reflect the fact that the tradition is a part of our very 
own American multicultural tapestry.

Governmental policies in pluralistic America necessitate 
policymakers, law enforcement, and think tanks to have a proper 
understanding of its non-Christian religious traditions. Educators, 
the media and institutions of higher education also would be well 
served by access to textbooks and research that provide accurate and 
relevant information consistent with the manner in which Judeo-
Christian religions are treated and respected.

Most Americans are open-minded and are curious to learn about other 
religious and cultural traditions. However, the information 
accessible by them needs to be fair and unbiased and must include the 
indigenous and the practitioners' understanding to be complete and 
truly informative. Seeing this, many minority diaspora communities in 
the United States, assisted by various governmental agencies, have 
been proactive in helping to facilitate such an understanding of 
their respective cultural traditions rather than leaving this 
important task to outsiders. Foundations such as the Japan 
Foundation, China Institute, Korea Foundation, Tibet House, and 
several Jewish and Islamic foundations have each successfully 
operated for many years with the mission to participate proactively 
in the interpretation of their respect native cultures. The Indian 
Diaspora, however, has done very little in this regards and has no 
equivalent foundation. This has left the job of explaining Hinduism 
to a variety of external institutions and individuals, resulting in 
uneven and often misleading portrayals.

Various sources that one would expect to be staunch defenders of 
scholarly rigor and fairness towards an American minority have often 
failed in this task. These include many intellectuals and journalists 
who project India's complex domestic politics in their work. 
Frameworks developed for the study of Biblical religions are often 
uncritically applied. Some assume inter-religious relationships to be 
a zero-sum game and this political correctness leads to antagonism 
towards the majority to help the minority. They also ignore that the 
majority in India is a minority in USA. When challenged by legitimate 
criticism, their responses have often been to brand and defame their 
critics and thus poison the well of innovative alternatives. 

Leading institutions which are seen as authorities on Hinduism are 
largely silent on this matter. The American Academy of Religion and 
various South Asian Studies programs, departments and organizations 
across USA have not acknowledged the existence of Hinduphobia as an 
issue: these groups have no surveys of the American public's 
attitudes on Hinduism, no ombudsmen to resolve issues of prejudiced 
portrayals, no systematic reviews of school textbooks, no mechanisms 
to complain about media misrepresentations, etc.

Furthermore, the Hindu clergy and teachers have mostly abandoned this 
issue of public representation. Many of them have failed to 
differentiate between teaching their followers and public education, 
the latter of which must comply with established institutional 
standards. By retreating into the former exclusively, they have 
ignored the lack of quality and accurate information in the sphere of 
public education and have not prepared their followers to face 
mainstream non-Hindu society confidently. The situation has been 
exacerbated by the lack of institutional stability and continuity 
within most American Hindu groups. Thus, the American Hindu community 
is currently underserved by its own leadership in a manner that 
assumes greater significance after September 11, 2001.

Research Overall Goals:
To address this situation, the Hindu American community has come 
together and donated 100% of the funds to create a new position with 
the specific purpose of studying Hinduphobia as a sociological topic. 
Many community members have expressed the hope that this initiative 
may eventually evolve into a field similar to postcolonial studies, 
gender studies, whiteness studies, the study of Islamophobia / 
Christianophobia, etc., and make its way into human rights discourse 
and laws.

The broad objective of this project is to research the social, 
political, cultural and economic contexts which help shape the works 
of US academics who specialize in Hinduism, and others who write on 
the subject and distribute knowledge and information in contemporary 
US society. Its primary benefit would be to foster a broader and 
richer understanding among intellectuals, media, teachers, research 
scholars, community leaders, policymakers and the general public 
about the range of issues involved.

The successful candidate is expected to be an independent, creative 
thinker and to use the highest standards of rigor and professional 
integrity. He/she should objectively evaluate the premises stated in 
this CFP and may choose to disagree with many aspects of the 
background presented here. It is also expected that the researcher 
will use the same critical eye in examining the academic and popular 
discourse and also the system in which these discourses are 
generated. 

The candidate may be of any race, ethnicity, religion, nationality or 
gender, and must have a PhD in a directly relevant discipline. The 
successful candidate must be comfortable and capable to discuss in 
public and professional venues the topics discussed herein.  

The following is an illustrative list of topics of research and is 
not intended to be definitive:

1. Survey of how Hinduism has been researched and studied in the US 
in the last 40 years.
   a. This might involve examining at least four influential 
approaches used in the US:
      i. Premodern: Christian theology approach (Hindu-Christian 
Studies at AAR, for example, and various evangelical          
scholarship); 
     ii. Modern: Anthropology and colonial discourse (which focuses 
on caste, sati, dowry based research etc); 
    iii. Postmodern: Freudian and other trendy theories for 
deconstructions of Hindu texts, symbols and communities; new 
age          appropriation is the pop culture's equivalent of this 
discourse; 
     iv. Geopolitical: South Asianism (top-down) and Sub-Nationalism 
(bottom-up) lenses feeding the subcontinent's          geopolitics 
and the cleavages among its fragments.
   b. Identification of major sources of funding and sponsorship in 
the study of Hinduism, their goals and an analysis of key       
trends.
   c. Comparisons between the state of Hinduism and other minority 
American religions (most notably Islam, Judaism and       Buddhism) 
in terms of how they are represented in the academy, and in K-12 
schools and media.
   d. Compilation of a research archive of printed and electronic 
Hinduphobic materials.

2. Survey of views on biases, including views of Indians, non-Indian 
Hindus, and quasi-Hindus (these being Americans who engage in various 
Hindu practices without adopting the Hindu identity). This also 
includes data from other sources, including two other Infinity 
Foundation projects - (i) the Dotbusters research project and (ii) 
the survey of attitudes towards Indian culture in America. It would 
be desirable to develop a bibliography on various criticisms of 
Hinduphobia.

3. Learning from other minority communities.
   a. Survey of the intellectual discourses known as anti-Semitism, 
Christianophobia and Islamophobia, each of which is a       well-
defined term and part of the UN discourse on Human Rights. Analysis 
of whether Hinduphobia has received comparable       attention in UN 
and US federal bodies such as the US Commission on International 
Religious Freedom.
   b. Historical research into previous instances of atrocities such 
as those against Jews, Blacks, Roma, Native Americans,       Japanese 
Americans and Chinese Americans to identify possible linkages with 
prejudices resulting from asymmetric       intellectual and popular 
discourse.
   c. What lessons could be learned from this research? Explore 
conceptual exploration of early warning indicators of       potential 
hate crimes against a minority today and a system to monitor 
Hinduphobia today. (For instance, since it has       become 
respectable in certain academic, journalistic and literary circles to 
display Hinduphobic attitudes and       behaviors, and to attack 
those who point out such biases, is this a danger signal?)

4. Engagement with potential users of the research produced, 
including community, education, research, policymakers and       
media.

Terms:
The previous section is not intended as a definitive list of topics, 
nor is such an ambitious research project feasible by one scholar in 
a short time. The first set of reports should scope the broad field 
and establish a framework and terms of reference. The proposal should 
be realistic about the topics to be researched, methodologies to be 
used, and deliverables anticipated in the first 18 months.

The grant will be for up to $50,000/year for an initial period of 18 
months, payable in monthly installments. The grant will be subject to 
a written agreement signed by both parties. The grantee will not be 
an employee of the Foundation, and will be an independent scholar 
responsible for his/her health insurance and other benefits. There 
will be a quarterly report submitted by the grantee summarizing all 
the accomplishments and the plans for the following quarter. A team 
of advisors will be created to serve as a sounding board for the 
researcher and to evaluate the work.

Interested persons should apply via an email attachment, including 
curriculum vitae, personal statement of purpose, location 
preferences/restrictions, and a proposal of approximately 5 pages. 
All materials submitted by applicants will become property of The 
Infinity Foundation. The deadline to apply is March 15th 2005. The 
proposal should be sent to:

Ms. Anjani Gharpure, Vice President ? Legal and Administration
The Infinity Foundation
66 Witherspoon Street, Suite 400
Princeton, NJ 08542.
Email: anjani@xxxxxxxxxxx









azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam
 
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