March 2011 — Pankaj Jain, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies, is author of Sustenance and Sustainability: Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities, his first book, which will be published in May by Ashgate. The book explores Hindu rituals and traditions that revere the environment and the role religious communities play in environmentalism.
“In Indic religious traditions, a number of rituals and myths exist in which the environment is revered. Despite this, India’s natural resources are under heavy pressure with its growing economy and exploding population. Presenting the texts of Bishnois, their environmental history, and their contemporary activism; investigating the Swadhyaya movement from an ecological perspective; and exploring the Bhil communities and their Sacred Groves, this book applies a non-Western hermeneutical model to interpret the religious traditions of Indic communities.”
Jain’s research and teaching interests include Hinduism, Jainism, environmental ethics, Indian films, Sanskrit, and Hindi/Urdu languages and literatures. Interested in connecting ancient practices with contemporary issues, he is exploring the connections between religious traditions and sustainability in Hindu and Jain communities in the North Texas area. Jain additionally serves as a research affiliate with Harvard University’s Pluralism Project and as scholar-in-residence with GreenFaith. He is also a roving professor with the Center for the Study of Interdisciplinarity at UNT.
Jain has also published articles in journals such as Religious Studies Review, Worldviews, Religion Compass, Journal of Vaishnava Studies, Union Seminary Quarterly Review, and the Journal of Visual Anthropology, and he contributes to the Washington Post’s e-zine Patheos.com and forum On Faith:
Other Jain articles are on Patheos.com, a religion and spirituality website
Ten Key Hinduism Environmental Teachings