23 November 2018

 

9:00
Welcome Address and Acknowledgements


Panel 1: Entangled History  and Comparative Approaches

9:15
The Grammar of Occultism: Studying Modern South Asia in the Context of an Entangled History of  Esotericism
Mriganka Mukhapadhyay (University of Amsterdam)

10:00
Awakening India’s Shakti: Tantra and (Anti-)Modern Hindu Identity
Julian Strube (University of Heidelberg)

10:45
Coffee Break

11:15
Occult Currents and Mediums between the United States and South Asia
Philip Deslippe (University of California, Santa Barbara)

12:00
Going Against the Grain: Comparing Practices of Reversal in South Asian and Western Esotericism
Gordan Djurdjevic (Simon Fraser University)

12:45
Lunch Break


Panel 2: The Theosophical Society  and Occultism in India

14:45
Universal Brotherhood in India: Globalizing  the Theosophical Society
Tim Rudbøg (University of Copenhagen)

15:30
Blavatsky, Reincarnation, and India
Julie Chajes (Tel Aviv University)

16:15
Short Break

16:30
Discussion of Future Projects, Collaborations etc.

19:00
Joint Dinner


24 November 2018


Panel 3: Yoga

9:00
The Vedāntic Rājayoga of Śrī Sabhāpati Swāmī:  Its History and Practice
Keith Cantu (University of California, Santa Barbara)


9:45
Yoga and the Quest for Occult Knowledge within Annie Besant’s Theosophy
Karl Baier (University of Vienna)

10:30
Coffee Break

11:00
The Occult Side of Sri Aurobindo: Esoteric and Tantric Strands in the Teachings of a Twentieth- Century Yogin
Peter Heehs (Independent Scholar, Puducherry)

11:45
Lunchbreak


Panel 4: Postcolonial and  Contemporary Developments

13:15
Desmond Dunne's "Insight School of Yoga": Between Occultism and Secularism
Magdalena Kraler (University of Vienna)

14:00
Dealing with Visible and Invisible Fruits: Astrology, Karman and Karmic Healing in North India
Caterina Guenzi (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Social (EHESS), Paris)

14:45
Closing Remarks by the Organizers, Farewell