ISSJS

The ISSJS is a program run by two separate but collaborating organizations; the International School for Jain Studies (ISJS) India and ISJS North America. ISJS North America is a sub committee of the Mahavir Vision Inc., a non-profit, (tax exempt,) 501 C (3) organization. ISJS North America works in collaboration with the Committee on the Academic Studies of Jainism in North America (ASJNA), the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA), the World Council of Jain Academies, U.K (WCJA), the Jain Academic Foundation of North America (JAFNA), University of Ottawa and the Pluralism Project at Harvard University.

The International Summer School for Jain Studies (ISSJS) provides an important link between the Jain community and the academic world by providing students and scholars the opportunity to study Jainism during an intensive summer program in North India. Despite its small numbers, the Jains have, and continues to have, a large impact on Indian religious and cultural life. Out of approximately 1000 colleges and universities in North America that offer courses at graduate and post- graduate levels in the academic study of South Asia, only 17 academics (in the estimate of Jain scholar Professor John Cort) are engaged in Jain studies. In light of this gap in the academic study of Jainism, the ISSJS aims to actively support scholarly inquiry by fostering an interest in Jainism in universities around the world.