IFF held the second event in our series of International Conferences on Women and Religion co-hosted with the University of Birmingham’s Edward Cadbury Centre on August 14, 2024. This time the session was delivered in collaboration with Padma Kanya Multiple Campus of Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, in hybrid mode, with over 100 participants joining us online from across the world, and around 50 people present in person in the college.
Shraddha Singh welcomed the conference’s conveners Dr Juhi Gupta and Prof. Andrew Davies, who introduced the rationale behind the conference series, highlighting our focus on the key question of how faith and feminism can align, and the work of IFF and the Cadbury Centre.
Our first speaker, Dr. Bhagyashree Bavare, who leads the Centre for Buddhist Studies at J.K. Somaiya Institute of Dharma Studies, Somaiya Vidyadhar University, Mumbai, talked about the significance of bhikkhunis (nuns) in the Buddhist tradition. She explained how Buddhist women use metaphor and poetry to express their experiences, emotions, and perspectives. Dr. Bavare was followed by Prof. M.D. Thomas, the Founding Director of the Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies in New Delhi. His presentation on ‘Women and Interfaith Religion’ emphasized the importance of involving all genders in interfaith initiatives. He pointed out that women are often overlooked in religious affairs and suggested that harmony in religion can only be achieved through harmony between genders.
After the break, Yantisha Yadav introduced the third speaker, Ruthie Kesri, a Research Associate at the Edward Cadbury Centre. Ms Kesri’s presentation focused on how different religious traditions respond to women political leaders. She gave the examples of Kamala Harris and Nimrata (Nikki) Haley, reflecting on how their identities, especially their religious identities, have influenced their political involvement and shaped how the public in the USA has reacted to them.
Finally we heard from the keynote speaker, Prof. Rekha Pande, Professor Emerita at the Henry Martin Institute in Hyderabad. Her presentation, called ‘Sacred Fluidity: Navigating Gender and Religion with a Focus on Hinduism,’ talked about how gender, culture, and religion are all connected, especially in Hinduism. She highlighted the important combinations of female deities and the key historical figures like Akka Mahadevi, Mira Bai, and Sant Janabai. Iqra Fatima facilitated questions from the audience after each speaker.
The conference ended with a Vote of Thanks from Prof. Jayalaxmi Pradhan, the campus chief of Padma Kanya Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu. Prof. Padhan highlighted some key insights from the presentations before thanking the organisers, collaborative institutes and speakers for delivering another successful conference.
Videos of the presentations will be available on IFF’s YouTube site shortly and publicized here.