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The Dean, George Lang and Prof. Anne Vallely of the Dept. of Religion at the University of Ottawa in Canada announced to send a class of 18 undergraduate and PhD students to the next International Summer School for Jain Academic Studies(ISSJS) in India. This Class will be coming to India to Study Jainism. Fourteen undergraduate Students and four PhD students have chosen Jainism as the subject of their study and research. For this the students will earn 3 or 6 credits from University of Ottawa.
Prof. Anne Vallely herself is a graduate of 2006 ISSJS and is also an author of several books in Jainism. For several years she has been teaching Jainism at the University of Ottawa and will again spend full two months in India (June and July, 2007) not only to supervise the University of Ottawa Class but will to offer several lectures on Jainism to the next International Jain Summer School.
Commenting on this very positive development, Prof... Cromwell Crawford of University of Hawaii and the Academic Director of ISSJS said” Congratulation Prof. Vallely and please convey to Dean Lang and Dean Mareschal my appreciation for the confidence she and other administrators have demonstrated in the India International Summer School for Jain Studies, by accepting the proposal you have submitted. Without your enthusiastic support, this development would not have been possible. Cultivate your model in other locales. We together are trying to light as many fires as we can, and soon, the darkness that has hung over Jain studies in the West, will be a thing of the past.
This joint venture will significantly contribute to the educational experience of students who follow in the wake of some 20 previous participants who have described the Summer School as a life-changing experience. To repeat, our purpose is not religious, but since Jainism is so integral to Indian civilization, it serves as an admirable vehicle, for the study of this ancient civilization, which is poised to shape world affairs in the remainder of this century.
Students will not only be given knowledge of all aspects of Indian art, architecture, philosophy, Religion, music, theatre, dance, anthropology, but also the experience of cultural immersion, through home visitations, participation in festivals, rituals, field trips to historic sites, which will impart an internal grasp of India. None of this can be achieved through the university classroom alone. But you Anne, have thrown open the doors of the classrooms of Ottawa university and, with the support of your wise administrators, you have set your students on journeys of a lifetime. Thanks to all of you. Perhaps one warm day Dr. Sulekh Jain and I can visit the first class, and make these negotiations official. Wishing you and your young charges ever success.