Epic Work: Readings of the Mahāvaṃsa, a talk by Kristin Scheible

Please join us for an invited talk by Prof. Kristin Scheible, generously co-sponsored by the Departments of Asian Studies, History and Philosophy; the South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Religious Studies Programs; and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly. The event is open to all interested, and special accommodations can be made for access upon request.

Kristin Scheible is a scholar of South Asian Religions. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University, M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School, and B.A. from Colby College. Her research interests include Theravāda Buddhist history, the genre of historical narrative literature (vaṃsa) in the Pāli language, rhetorical strategies employed in Pāli and Sanskrit texts, and the affective domain provoked by religious texts. Her first book, Reading the Mahāvaṃsa: The Literary Aims of a Theravāda Buddhist History (Columbia University Press, 2016), explores the work-like dimension of the fifth century Sri Lankan Mahāvaṃsa, and destabilizes the dominant reading of this text as a political charter. In 2014, after ten years at Bard College, she enthusiastically returned home to Portland to join the Reed faculty and raise her three kids under Douglas firs. She is a member of the Hum 110 faculty, and teaches courses in Buddhism, Hinduism, emotion and the arousal of faith, gender and South Asian religious nationalisms.

Due to COVID-era regulations, all attendees are required to register for this event through this CampusGroups portal. Upon registration you should receive an automated email with the Zoom link. If for any reason you do not receive this email, please contact Bruno at bms297@cornell.edu.

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