An accomplished expert on Hinduism and comparative religion will reveal new findings and theories Feb. 26 at a free public lecture to be presented at CU-Boulder by the religious studies department.
John Stratton Hawley, chair of the religion department at Columbia University's Barnard College and Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Religion, will discuss the meanings of summer vacation retreats and camp programs among various religious communities in America.Ìý
The talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Eaton Humanities Building, room 250, and a reception will follow.
In his talk, "God's Vacation: Remembrance and Retreat as Religion," Professor Hawley will share theoretical perspectives and cases based on his current field research, which includes Diaspora Hindus and Protestant Christians.Ìý
Hawley specializes in Hindu religion and nationalism, as well as the classic devotional literature of North India. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1977, and is proficient in Hindi, Sanskrit, French, German, Latin, Greek and Hebrew.
Among a number of research honors and awards, Hawley has won two Smithsonian grants for fieldwork in India and traveled to China as a member of a Ford Foundation Delegation of American Scholars. He also has authored books and articles on fundamentalism, gender and other topics in the Hindu religion.
The presentation is the 2002 Annual Robert C. Lester Lecture on the Study of Religion. Lester founded the religious studies department at CU. The lecture series was established in his honor by departmental faculty in 1999.
The series is funded by gifts from faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the program, and contributions are appreciated. To find out how to make a donation, contact CU religious studies department chair Fred Denny at (303) 492-6358.