Professor James Hegarty
Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions, Head of School
School of History, Archaeology and Religion
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I am fascinated by the history of religions in South Asia. I have written on Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh and Christian traditions in the region. In particular, I am interested in how religious texts, and especially religious stories, are used by South Asians to communicate and negotiate their understanding of themselves and the world around them. This includes not just what we ordinarily associate with religion, such as ideas of god or gods, or the nature of the good life, but also other forms of knowledge, such as the way in which the past is understood, or political life, or language itself.
More generally, I am interested in the role of story in the transmission and adaptation of knowledge in societies worldwide. The stories we tell and, in particular, the stories we choose to tell again and again over thousands of years, are a facinating resource for the exploration of what it means, and has meant, to be human.
I specialise in the historical contextualisation and close reading of Sanskrit texts circulating in early South Asia, such as the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa, but work also with medieval and modern vernacular South Asian materials in various media.
My major, funded, research projects have been 'The History of Genealogy, the Genealogy of History: family and the construction of the significant past in early South Asia' and 'The Story of Story in South Asia: character and genre across Hindu, Buddhist and Jain tradition'.
Publication
2022
- Hegarty, J. 2022. Public reason and morality in the Sanskrit Mahābhārata: Some moral tasting notes on the Udyogaparvan of the Mahābhārata. In: Balkaran, R. and Taylor, M. eds. Visions and Revisions of Ancient Indian Narrative: Studies in the Sanskrit Epics and Puranas. Australian National University Press
2020
- Hegarty, J. 2020. Lineages and emerging exemplars and movements in ancient India. In: Whitaker, J. ed. A Cultural History of Hinduism in Antiquity. Bloomsbury
- Hegarty, J. 2020. The predicament of the Sant-Sipahi (Saint-Soldier): theorising violence in the Sikh tradition. In: Power, M. and Paynter, H. eds. Violence and Peace in Sacred Texts. Palgrave Macmillan
2019
- Hegarty, J. and Brahmasetudas, S. 2019. The teacher in the text: exploring the intertextuality of the Vacanāmṛta. Journal of the BAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute 2(1), pp. 25-51.
- Hegarty, J. 2019. Models of royal piety in the Mahābhārata: the case of Vidura, Sanatsujāta and Vidurā. In: Black, B. and Chakravarthi, R. eds. In Dialogue with Classical Indian Traditions: Encounter, Transformation and Interpretation. London, England: Taylor and Francis, (10.4324/9781351011136-13)
2018
- Hegarty, J. M. 2018. Across the Indian Ocean: Reconsidering Christianity in South Asia to the Ninth Century. In: Lossl, J. and Baker-Brian, N. J. eds. A Companion to Religion in Late Antiquity. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World Chichester: Wiley, pp. 207-231., (10.1002/9781118968130.ch10)
- Hegarty, J. 2018. The Dhammapada, the Mahābhārata and the Mānava Dharmaśāstra: a study in early South Asian intertextuality. Presented at: 15th World Sanskrit Conference, 5-10 January 2012 Presented at Brodbeck, S., Bowles, A. and Hiltebeitel, A. eds.The Churning of the Epics and Puranas: Proceedings of the Epics and Puranas Section at the 15th World Sanskrit Conference. Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and D.K. Printworld pp. 209-239.
- Hegarty, J. 2018. 史诗化叙事:南亚宗教文献中的天堂和地狱 Chinese translation of 'epics' of heaven and hell in Early South Asia. 民间文化论坛 - Folk Culture Forum(4), pp. 88-92. (10.16814/j.cnki.1008-7214.2018.04.012)
2017
- Hegarty, J. 2017. Hagiography, religious identity and historical imagination in Eighteenth Century Punjab: exploring Sikh narratives of the life of Guru Nānak. In: Gray, M. ed. Rewriting Holiness: Reconfiguring Vitae, Re-signifying Cults. King's College London Medieval Studies Boydell and Brewer
- Hegarty, J. M. and Brodbeck, S. 2017. An appreciation of, and tribute to, Will Johnson on the occasion of his retirement. Asian Literature and Translation 4(1), pp. 1-32. (10.18573/j.2017.10128)
- Hegarty, J. 2017. The sanskrit of Solomon Caesar Malan (1812-1894): An Anglican savant reads the Mahābhārata. In: Pfister, L. ed. Polyglot from the Far Side of the Moon: The Life and Works of Solomon Caesar Malan. Monumenta Serica
- Hegarty, J. 2017. The story of story in early South Asia: character and genre across Hindu, Buddhist and Jain narrative traditions. [Online]. Wordpress: Wordpress. Available at: https://storyofstoryinsouthasia.wordpress.com/
- Hegarty, J. 2017. Exploring the conversations of kings and sages in the sanskrit epics: the case of Jābāli and Rāma. In: Proceedings of the Epic Studies Panel of the 16th World Sanskrit Conference, Bangkok. Sanskrit Studies Centre, Silpakorn University, Bangkok
- Hegarty, J. 2017. Multiple religious belonging and embedded religion in early Indian sources. In: Babu, K. ed. Beyond Multiple Religious Belonging. Routledge
2014
- Hegarty, J. 2014. Borders and boundaries: proceedings of the first annual SHARE postgraduate symposium; an introduction. SHARE: Studies in History, Archaeology, Religion and Conservation 1(1), pp. 1-3. (10.18573/share.1)
- Hegarty, J. 2014. Going nowhere: power and polemic in Brahminical pilgrimage literature. In: Cuppers, C. and Deeg, M. eds. Searching for the Dharma, Finding Salvation - Buddhist Pilgrimage in Time and Space: proceedings of the workshop "Buddhist Pilgrimage in History and Present Times" at the Lumbini International Research Institute (LIRI), Lumbini, 11-13 January 2010., Vol. 5. LIRI seminar proceedings series Lumbini International Research Institute
2013
- Hegarty, J. 2013. The Plurality of the Sanskrit Mahabharata and of the Mahabharata Story. In: Contesting Symbols and Stereotypes. Aakar Books, pp. 146-189.
2012
- Hegarty, J. M. 2012. Religon, narrative and public imagination in South Asia: past and place in the Sanskrit Mahahbharata. London: Routledge.
- Brodbeck, S. P. and Hegarty, J. M. 2012. Genealogy and history in South Asia (Religions of South Asia, special issue): introduction. Religions of South Asia 5(1-2), pp. 5-28. (10.1558/rosa.v5i1/2.5)
- Hegarty, J. M. 2012. What need has he of the waters of Puskara? The narrative construction of tirtha in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. In: Brockington, J. ed. Battles, Bards and Brahmins. Motilal Barnarsidass, pp. 129-156.
2011
- Hegarty, J. M. 2011. Towards a socio-cognitive orientation to religious text: a case study in Indian epic literature. In: Jensen, J. S. and Geertz, A. W. eds. Religious Narrative, Cognition and Clture: Image and Word in the Mind of Narrative. Sheffield: Equinox, pp. 121-131.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2011. Religion, narrative and public imagination in South Asia: Past and place in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. Routledge Hindu Studies Series. London: Taylor and Francis.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2011. Etymology, genealogy and history in Early South Asia. Religions of South Asia 5(1/2), pp. 103-127.
- Hegarty, J. 2011. Kirthan and Katha in the asa amdesa (song and story in the land of hope and fear): Narratives of the life of Guru Nanak as canonical commentary in the Sikh panth. In: Deeg, M. and Freiberger, O. eds. Kanonisierung und Kanonbildung in der asiatischen Religionsgeschichte. Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, pp. 131-160.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2011. Hagiography and the religious imaginary in eighteenth-century Punjab. In: Murphy, A. ed. Time, History and the Religious Imaginary in South Asia. Routledge, pp. 133-150.
2010
- Hegarty, J. M. 2010. The pedagogic past: historical and geographical imagination in Eighteenth Century Panjab. In: Deeg, M. and Freiberger, O. eds. Geschicten und Geschichte: Historiographie und Hagiographie in der asiatischen Religionsgeschichte. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, pp. 517-548.
2009
- Hegarty, J. M. 2009. Re-thinking the guru: Towards a typology of forms of religious domination in pre-Colonial Pañjāb. Religions of South Asia 3(2), pp. 183-202. (10.1558/rosa.v3i2.183)
- Hegarty, J. M. 2009. On platial imagination in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. International Journal of Hindu Studies 13(2), pp. 163-187. (10.1007/s11407-009-9074-3)
- Hegarty, J. M. 2009. Re-thinking the guru: towards a typology of forms of religious domination in pre-Colonial Punjab. Religions of South Asia 3(2), pp. 179-199.
2007
- Hegarty, J. M. 2007. Encompassing the sacrifice: On the narrative construction of the significant past in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. Acta Orientalia Vilnensia 8, pp. 77-118.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2007. Guru and Shabad: The Literary Construction of Religious Authority in Narratives of the Life of Guru Nanak. Discussion Paper. Cardiff University: Cardiff Humanities Research Institute. Available at: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/chri/researchpapers/humanities/papers1-10/Paper1.html
- Hegarty, J. M. 2007. Toward an old understanding of philology: exploring the literary construction of place as religious and social commentary in Asia. Acta Orientalia Vilnensia 8(1), article number: 3753.
- Hegarty, J. M. ed. 2007. The literary construction of place as a form of religious and social commentary: Special Issue of "Acta Orientalia Vilnensia" (2007) 8:1. Vilnius: Centre of Oriental Studies, Vilnius University.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2007. Religion, epic and cultural memory. The construction of the significant past in Sanskrit and Hindi Mahabharatas. Zeitschrift fur Religionswissenschaft 15(2), pp. 179-199. (10.1515/zfr.2007.15.2.179)
2006
- Hegarty, J. M. 2006. Extracting the Katha-amrta (Elixir of Story): Creation, Ritual, Sovereignty and Textual Structure in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. Journal of Vaishnava Studies 14(2), pp. 39-60.
2001
- Hegarty, J. M. 2001. An Apprenticeship in Attentiveness: Narrative Patterning in the Dyutaparvan and the Nalopakhyana of the Mahabharata. Rocznik Orientalistyczny 54(1), pp. 33-62.
Articles
- Hegarty, J. and Brahmasetudas, S. 2019. The teacher in the text: exploring the intertextuality of the Vacanāmṛta. Journal of the BAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute 2(1), pp. 25-51.
- Hegarty, J. 2018. 史诗化叙事:南亚宗教文献中的天堂和地狱 Chinese translation of 'epics' of heaven and hell in Early South Asia. 民间文化论坛 - Folk Culture Forum(4), pp. 88-92. (10.16814/j.cnki.1008-7214.2018.04.012)
- Hegarty, J. M. and Brodbeck, S. 2017. An appreciation of, and tribute to, Will Johnson on the occasion of his retirement. Asian Literature and Translation 4(1), pp. 1-32. (10.18573/j.2017.10128)
- Hegarty, J. 2014. Borders and boundaries: proceedings of the first annual SHARE postgraduate symposium; an introduction. SHARE: Studies in History, Archaeology, Religion and Conservation 1(1), pp. 1-3. (10.18573/share.1)
- Brodbeck, S. P. and Hegarty, J. M. 2012. Genealogy and history in South Asia (Religions of South Asia, special issue): introduction. Religions of South Asia 5(1-2), pp. 5-28. (10.1558/rosa.v5i1/2.5)
- Hegarty, J. M. 2011. Etymology, genealogy and history in Early South Asia. Religions of South Asia 5(1/2), pp. 103-127.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2009. Re-thinking the guru: Towards a typology of forms of religious domination in pre-Colonial Pañjāb. Religions of South Asia 3(2), pp. 183-202. (10.1558/rosa.v3i2.183)
- Hegarty, J. M. 2009. On platial imagination in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. International Journal of Hindu Studies 13(2), pp. 163-187. (10.1007/s11407-009-9074-3)
- Hegarty, J. M. 2009. Re-thinking the guru: towards a typology of forms of religious domination in pre-Colonial Punjab. Religions of South Asia 3(2), pp. 179-199.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2007. Encompassing the sacrifice: On the narrative construction of the significant past in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. Acta Orientalia Vilnensia 8, pp. 77-118.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2007. Toward an old understanding of philology: exploring the literary construction of place as religious and social commentary in Asia. Acta Orientalia Vilnensia 8(1), article number: 3753.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2007. Religion, epic and cultural memory. The construction of the significant past in Sanskrit and Hindi Mahabharatas. Zeitschrift fur Religionswissenschaft 15(2), pp. 179-199. (10.1515/zfr.2007.15.2.179)
- Hegarty, J. M. 2006. Extracting the Katha-amrta (Elixir of Story): Creation, Ritual, Sovereignty and Textual Structure in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. Journal of Vaishnava Studies 14(2), pp. 39-60.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2001. An Apprenticeship in Attentiveness: Narrative Patterning in the Dyutaparvan and the Nalopakhyana of the Mahabharata. Rocznik Orientalistyczny 54(1), pp. 33-62.
Book sections
- Hegarty, J. 2022. Public reason and morality in the Sanskrit Mahābhārata: Some moral tasting notes on the Udyogaparvan of the Mahābhārata. In: Balkaran, R. and Taylor, M. eds. Visions and Revisions of Ancient Indian Narrative: Studies in the Sanskrit Epics and Puranas. Australian National University Press
- Hegarty, J. 2020. Lineages and emerging exemplars and movements in ancient India. In: Whitaker, J. ed. A Cultural History of Hinduism in Antiquity. Bloomsbury
- Hegarty, J. 2020. The predicament of the Sant-Sipahi (Saint-Soldier): theorising violence in the Sikh tradition. In: Power, M. and Paynter, H. eds. Violence and Peace in Sacred Texts. Palgrave Macmillan
- Hegarty, J. 2019. Models of royal piety in the Mahābhārata: the case of Vidura, Sanatsujāta and Vidurā. In: Black, B. and Chakravarthi, R. eds. In Dialogue with Classical Indian Traditions: Encounter, Transformation and Interpretation. London, England: Taylor and Francis, (10.4324/9781351011136-13)
- Hegarty, J. M. 2018. Across the Indian Ocean: Reconsidering Christianity in South Asia to the Ninth Century. In: Lossl, J. and Baker-Brian, N. J. eds. A Companion to Religion in Late Antiquity. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World Chichester: Wiley, pp. 207-231., (10.1002/9781118968130.ch10)
- Hegarty, J. 2017. Hagiography, religious identity and historical imagination in Eighteenth Century Punjab: exploring Sikh narratives of the life of Guru Nānak. In: Gray, M. ed. Rewriting Holiness: Reconfiguring Vitae, Re-signifying Cults. King's College London Medieval Studies Boydell and Brewer
- Hegarty, J. 2017. The sanskrit of Solomon Caesar Malan (1812-1894): An Anglican savant reads the Mahābhārata. In: Pfister, L. ed. Polyglot from the Far Side of the Moon: The Life and Works of Solomon Caesar Malan. Monumenta Serica
- Hegarty, J. 2017. Exploring the conversations of kings and sages in the sanskrit epics: the case of Jābāli and Rāma. In: Proceedings of the Epic Studies Panel of the 16th World Sanskrit Conference, Bangkok. Sanskrit Studies Centre, Silpakorn University, Bangkok
- Hegarty, J. 2017. Multiple religious belonging and embedded religion in early Indian sources. In: Babu, K. ed. Beyond Multiple Religious Belonging. Routledge
- Hegarty, J. 2014. Going nowhere: power and polemic in Brahminical pilgrimage literature. In: Cuppers, C. and Deeg, M. eds. Searching for the Dharma, Finding Salvation - Buddhist Pilgrimage in Time and Space: proceedings of the workshop "Buddhist Pilgrimage in History and Present Times" at the Lumbini International Research Institute (LIRI), Lumbini, 11-13 January 2010., Vol. 5. LIRI seminar proceedings series Lumbini International Research Institute
- Hegarty, J. 2013. The Plurality of the Sanskrit Mahabharata and of the Mahabharata Story. In: Contesting Symbols and Stereotypes. Aakar Books, pp. 146-189.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2012. What need has he of the waters of Puskara? The narrative construction of tirtha in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. In: Brockington, J. ed. Battles, Bards and Brahmins. Motilal Barnarsidass, pp. 129-156.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2011. Towards a socio-cognitive orientation to religious text: a case study in Indian epic literature. In: Jensen, J. S. and Geertz, A. W. eds. Religious Narrative, Cognition and Clture: Image and Word in the Mind of Narrative. Sheffield: Equinox, pp. 121-131.
- Hegarty, J. 2011. Kirthan and Katha in the asa amdesa (song and story in the land of hope and fear): Narratives of the life of Guru Nanak as canonical commentary in the Sikh panth. In: Deeg, M. and Freiberger, O. eds. Kanonisierung und Kanonbildung in der asiatischen Religionsgeschichte. Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, pp. 131-160.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2011. Hagiography and the religious imaginary in eighteenth-century Punjab. In: Murphy, A. ed. Time, History and the Religious Imaginary in South Asia. Routledge, pp. 133-150.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2010. The pedagogic past: historical and geographical imagination in Eighteenth Century Panjab. In: Deeg, M. and Freiberger, O. eds. Geschicten und Geschichte: Historiographie und Hagiographie in der asiatischen Religionsgeschichte. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, pp. 517-548.
Books
- Hegarty, J. M. 2012. Religon, narrative and public imagination in South Asia: past and place in the Sanskrit Mahahbharata. London: Routledge.
- Hegarty, J. M. 2011. Religion, narrative and public imagination in South Asia: Past and place in the Sanskrit Mahabharata. Routledge Hindu Studies Series. London: Taylor and Francis.
- Hegarty, J. M. ed. 2007. The literary construction of place as a form of religious and social commentary: Special Issue of "Acta Orientalia Vilnensia" (2007) 8:1. Vilnius: Centre of Oriental Studies, Vilnius University.
Conferences
- Hegarty, J. 2018. The Dhammapada, the Mahābhārata and the Mānava Dharmaśāstra: a study in early South Asian intertextuality. Presented at: 15th World Sanskrit Conference, 5-10 January 2012 Presented at Brodbeck, S., Bowles, A. and Hiltebeitel, A. eds.The Churning of the Epics and Puranas: Proceedings of the Epics and Puranas Section at the 15th World Sanskrit Conference. Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and D.K. Printworld pp. 209-239.
Monographs
- Hegarty, J. M. 2007. Guru and Shabad: The Literary Construction of Religious Authority in Narratives of the Life of Guru Nanak. Discussion Paper. Cardiff University: Cardiff Humanities Research Institute. Available at: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/chri/researchpapers/humanities/papers1-10/Paper1.html
Websites
- Hegarty, J. 2017. The story of story in early South Asia: character and genre across Hindu, Buddhist and Jain narrative traditions. [Online]. Wordpress: Wordpress. Available at: https://storyofstoryinsouthasia.wordpress.com/
Research
History of Genealogy, Genealogy of History: Family and the Narrative Construction of the Significant Past in Early South Asia
This project investigates the role of genealogical narrative in early South Asia; the grounding hypothesis is that it was through the representation of familial descent, problematic or otherwise, that a post-Vedic religious 'history' and 'imaginary' was configured in first-millennium South Asia.
This project aims to enhance our knowledge of the role of genealogy in the formation of consensus understandings of the past in historic south Asia.
AHRC
£180, 000
3 years
Text Critical, Cultural Historical
Public Lectures, Workshops
The Story of Story in South Asia: Character and Genre across Hindu, Buddhist and Jain Narrative Traditions
Stories are important. It is through story that we communicate who we are, who we are not, what we hope to be and what we fear we may become. Recent developments in the cognitive sciences have shown that, in fundamental ways, human beings need stories in order to organize their memories, to learn, and to relate to one another successfully. Early South Asia, perhaps more than any other place on earth, has lived in and through its stories. South Asia has a vast repository of story traditions, which have been used to express insights into what it is to be human, into how the world works, its past, and what its future might be. These stories are integral to three of the world's most significant religious traditions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. However, research into these traditions has tended to remain separate and there has been little attempt either to move from one 'ism' to another or to integrate new perspectives on narrative and its role in human societies. This project sets out to do just that. It is our intention to explore the role of narrative across these three traditions in the context of recent perspectives drawn from cognitive and linguistic theory. Such a vast task must be broken down, and so the project focuses on literary characters that are shared by all three traditions. By focusing on these characters(such as Janaka, Sita, Vidura, and Nimi) and exploring the way they are used in different narrative traditions and ideological contexts, we will begin to trace the contours of a shared world of story-telling and story-hearing activities. This shared context, we will argue, was integral to the ways in which religious and political ideologies, identities and histories were transmitted and adapted in early South Asia. We will also suggest that the exploration of the role of story in early South Asian society, in the light of approaches to the study of narrative as integral to human cognitive and social development, opens up new vistas for research into the role of narrative both within and across pre-modern societies more generally. It can also help us to understand that no ideologies, identities, or histories, are fixed. This is an understanding that is of considerable importance if we are, as a society, to encourage inclusive and fluid models of identity and religious 'heritage'.
This project aims to explore the role of narrative and, in particular, shared characters, in the relationship between Hindu, Buddhist and Jain tradition.
AHRC
£370, 000
3 years
Text Critical, Cultural Historical
Public Lectures, Workshops, Conference attendance.
Teaching
Areas of Teaching
- South Asian Religious History
- South Asian Philosophy
- The Sanskrit Language
- Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism
- Orientalism and the Making of World Religions in Modern South Asia
- The Origins and Legacies of Religion in the Modern World
- Themes and Issues in the Study of Religion
Biography
I was educated at Enfield Grammar School and the University of Manchester. I obtained my Ph.D. in Sanskrit Literature having undertaken my B.A. in Comparative Religion and my M.A. in Religions and Theology (with Social Anthropology) at the same institution. The British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Research Council supported my graduate studies. I am the author of Religion, Narrative and Public Imagination in South Asia for Routledge (2012), as well as edited volumes on the Literary Construction of Place in Asia (for Orientalia Vilnensia) and on Genealogy and History in Pre-modern South Asia, with Simon Brodbeck (for Religions of South Asia). I am also the editor, with William Johnson and Laxshmi Greaves, of the new Oxford Handbook of Hindu Literature (forthcoming). In addition to this, I have written numerous scholarly articles on Sanskrit, Pali and vernacular sources, which span ancient, medieval and modern South Asia, as well as Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh tradition. I have also published on Christianity in early South Asia and nineteenth century missionary history.
Honours and awards
Large Grants (as Principal Investigator)
- 2013-16: AHRC Research Grant: The Story of Story in South Asia: Character, Genre and Role Across Hindu, Buddhist and Jain Narrative Traditions. K£370 over three years.
- 2008-11: AHRC Early Career Research Grant: The History of Genealogy, The Genealogy of History: Family and the Narrative Construction of the Significant Past in Early South Asia. K£200 over three years.
Small Grants, Fellowships etc.
- 2016: Co-convenor, with Simon Brodbeck, of 41st Spalding Symposium. Funded by the Spalding Foundation.
- 2012: Visiting Fellowship: Lumbini International Research Institute, Nepal..
- 2007: International Research Collaboration Award from Cardiff University in order to take up Visiting Professorship Invitation from University of British Columbia, Canada.
- 2002: Visiting doctoral student at the University of Pune and Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, India.
Honours and Distinctions
- 2000: University of Manchester Brandon Memorial Prize for excellence in first year doctoral research.
- 1996: University of Manchester award for highest overall graduating mark in department for BA.
Professional memberships
I am a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Academic positions
August 2014 to July 2017:
Reader in Indian Religions, Cardiff University, School of History, Archaeology and Religion (SHARE)
August 2009 to July 2014:
Senior Lecturer in Indian Religions, Cardiff University, School of History, Archaeology and Religion (SHARE)
July 2003 to July 2009:
Lecturer in Indian Religions, Cardiff University, School of Religious and Theological Studies (RELIG)
Supervisions
I am available to supervise dissertations on all aspects of the history of Sanskrit religious literature, as well as projects that explore South Asian narrative traditions. I am particularly interested in projects that work across South Asian religions and those which take up issues of the use of traditional narrative in politics, cultural memory and the negotiation of group identitites (from the earliest times to the present).