Sep 25, 2010
Social Consciousness and Jainism Seminar at University of Ottawa Canada on August 27th 2010
The first ever international seminar on Social Consciousness and Jainism was organized by ISJS in association with University of Ottawa. Prof Anne Vallely of the university and a front ranking active member of ISJS supported by ISJS alumni and UoO faculty Dr Stefan Quinn organized this seminar very successfully. Here is a brief report by Prof Anne Vallely
Friday’s conference “Social Consciousness and Jainism” at the University of Ottawa was a tremendous success. It began at 9am with my opening statement (in which I spoke about the activities and successes of the ISJS), and then proceeded with a series of academic papers. We had a coffee break where the audience (which included members of the local Jain community) had an opportunity to interact with the speakers. This was followed by several more papers and concluded with a presentation by Dr Jagmohan Humar on the Bhaktamar Stotra and the meaning of Aarti, and followed by a lovely Jain aarti dance performance. We adjourned for lunch at the local Govindas restaurant near campus and at 2pm resumed our academic programme which lasted until 4pm. At that point, we had a stimulating “round table” discussion between the speakers and the audience about the relevance of Jain values in the contemporary period. A number of us then went out to dinner to continue our conversation. Peter Flügel of SOAS has asked me to write up a synopsis for his journal, and there is also a possibility of publishing the papers.’