JONATHAN EDELMANN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF RELIGION

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1 JONATHAN EDELMANN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF RELIGION University of Florida Department of Religion 107 Anderson Hall Room 106 Gainesville FL (352) EDUCATION PH.D UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND THEOLOGY Dissertation When Two Worldviews Meet: A Dialogue Between the Bhāgavata Purāṇa & Contemporary Biology Supervisors Prof. John Hedley Brooke, Oxford University Prof. Francis Clooney, Harvard University M.ST UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD SCIENCE AND RELIGION Thesis The Value of Science: Perspectives of Philosophers of Science, Stephen Jay Gould and the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa s Sāṁkhya B.A UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA PHILOSOPHY Graduated with honors, top 2.5% of class POSITIONS! 2015-present, Assistant Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, University of Florida! 2012-present, Section Editor for Hindu Theology, International Journal of Hindu Studies! 2014-present, Consulting Editor, Journal of the American Philosophical Association! , Honors College Faculty Fellow, Mississippi State University! , American Academy of Religion, Luce Fellow in Comparative Theology and Theologies of Religious Pluralism! , Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy & Religion, MSU! , Post Doctoral Fellow, Harris Manchester College, Oxford University! , Religious Studies Teacher, St Catherine s School, Bramley, UK RECENT AWARDS! 2016, Humanities Scholarship Enhancement Fund Committee, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Florida! 2015, Thirteenth Dharma Academy of North America (DĀNAM) Symposium Book Award in Conjunction with Tākshaśīla Institute for Excellence in Indic Studies: The Gajinder and Jyoti Gandhi Book Award.! 2011, John Templeton Foundation Award for Theological Promise: Forschungszentrum Internationale und Interdisziplinäre Theologie Universität Heidelberg 1

2 PUBLICATIONS Current Projects Submitted and accepted o Introduction to Stotra. Editor of issue of the International Journal of Hindu Studies o Greater Vedānta. Editor of issue of the International Journal of Hindu Studies. o The Dilemma of American Hinduism: Problem and Solution, Prabuddha Bhārata Submitted and under review o Religions of South Asia: An Introduction, Hindu Dharma. Routledge Press. Book Chapter. o The Three or Four Yoga-s in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava theology. Article. o Introducing the Bhagavad Gītā: Text and Commentary, Teacher, and Student. Book Chapter. Oxford University Press. In Progress o Brill s Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Entries on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa and Śrīdhara Svāmin o Sources of Indian Tradition, Chapter on Moksha. Columbia University Press. Book (1) 2012, Hindu Theology and Biology: The Bhāgavata Purāṇa and Contemporary Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Theological Monographs Series). ISBN ! Winner of the 2011 John Templeton Foundation Award for Theological Promise from the University of Heidelberg! Winner of the 2015 Dharma Academy of North America Book Award! Nominated for 2016 Hindu-Christian Society Book Award! Reviewed by Edwin Bryant (Journal of the American Academy of Religion), David Gosling (Zygon), Thomas Ellis (Zygon), Varadaraja V. Raman (Zygon), Andrew McGarrity (Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies), Rahul Peter Das (Religious Studies Review) Journal Articles (10) 2015, The Cause of Devotion in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Theology: Devotion (bhakti) as the Result of Spontaneously (yadṛcchayā) Meeting a Devotee (sādhu-saṅga). Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 135, No. 1. pp (9) 2014 Tradition and Innovation. International Journal of Hindu Studies. Special Issue on Hindu Theology. Vol 18, Issue 45, pp.1-6. September. DOI /s (8) 2014, When Stones Float and Mud Speaks: Scriptural Authority and Personal Experience in Jīvagosvāmin s Sarvasaṃvādinī. Co-authored with Satya Narayana Dasa. Journal of Hindu Studies. 7 (1): doi: /jhs/hiu003 2

3 (7) 2013, Becoming Different: Why Education is Required for Responding to Globalism Dharmically. Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies. Vol 26, Article 5, pp (6) 2013, Hindu Theology as Churning the Latent. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Vol 81, No 2, pp doi: /jaarel/lfs132 (5) 2012, The Role of Hindu Theology in the Religion and Science Dialogue. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. Vol. 47, No. 3, pp , September. (4) 2010, Introduction: Vaishnavism and the Environment. Journal of Vaishnava Studies. Guest editors: Jonathan B. Edelmann and Abhisheka Ghosh. Vol 18, No 2, Summer. (3) 2009, Argument and Persuasion: A Brief Study of Kīrtana in the Bhāgavata Purāna. Journal of Vaishnava Studies. Vol 17, No 2, Spring, pp (2) 2007, Setting Criteria for an Ideal Reincarnation Research. Journal of Consciousness Studies. Co-authored with Professor of Psychiatry William Bernet, Vanderbilt University. Vol 14, No 12, pp (1) 2007, The Uniqueness of Biological Self-Organization: Challenging the Darwinian Paradigm. Biology and Philosophy. September, Vol 22, pp Co-authored with Professor of Genetics Michael Denton. Book Chapters (3) 2014, Agency in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Tradition. Co-authored with Satyanaraya Dasa. Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy. Edited by Edwin Bryant and Matthew Dasti. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp (2) 2013, Chapter Three: Dialogues on Natural Theology: The Bhāgavata Purāṇa s Cosmology as Religious Practice. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa: Sacred Text and Living Tradition. Edited by Ravi M Gupta and Kenneth R Valpey. New York, New York: Columbia University Press. pp (1) 2011, You Are Here: Purāṇic Cosmology as Cosmic Locator. Nature & Culture. Volume XIV, Part 1: History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, General Editor D P Chattopadhyaya, Volume Editor Roddam Narasimha, and Associate Editor Sangeetha Menon. New Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations. ISBN: Book Reviews (6) 2016, Jīva Gosvāmin Śrī Bhagavat Sandarbha: God His Qualities, Abode and Associates. Sanskrit Text with English Translation and Jīva Toṣaṇī Commentary. Translated and edited by Satyanarayana Dasa. Vrindavan, India: Jiva Institute of Vaishnava Studies. Journal of Dharma and Hindu Studies Volume 1 Number 1. (5) 2013, One Religion Too Many: The Religiously Comparative Reflections of a Comparatively Religious Hindu, by Arvind Sharma. Journal of Hindu Studies. Vol 6 Issue 1, pp (4) 2012, Hindu Perspectives on Evolution: Darwin, Dharma and Design, by C. Machenzie Brown. Bulletin of School of Oriental and African Studies. 76/1 (February). 3

4 (3) 2011, Hinduism Hermeneutics and Hindu Thought: Toward a Fusion of Horizons, edited by Rita Sherma and Arvind Sharma. Journal of Hindu Studies. Vol. 4. No. 2, pp (2) 2011, Krishna s Mandala: Bhagavata Religion and Beyond. By D. Dennis Hudson. The Journal of Asian Studies. Volume 70, Issue 01, pp (1) 2009, Irreducible Mind: Towards a Psychology for the 21 st, by Edward Kelly et. al. Network Review: Journal of the Scientific and Medical Network. No 99, Spring, pp PRESENTATIONS Interviews 2013, 20 June. Documentary Interview: The Mystery of Reincarnation. Flute Song Media. Invited University Lectures 2016, March 29, You must meet a devotee : Conversion in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism as accepting bhakti-yoga. Religious Conversions: A Worships. Hosted by the University of Florida s History and Religion Departments. Invited by Robert Kawashima. 2014, October 10, An Argument for Reconciliation: Consciousness in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Tradition and Contemporary Biological Theory. Jñāna-saṅgama, Edison, New Jersey. Invited by Sri Sugunendra Tirtha Swamiji, head of Puthige Monastery, Udupi, India, 29th Pontiff of the Monastery established by His Holiness Sri Madhva-acharya (13th century). 2013, Sept 12, Serving a Neighbor in Need: A Hindu Perspective. Whitehouse Presidential Interfaith Event. Invited by Assistant Dean Cade Smith, Mississippi State University. 2013, June 13, Hindu Theology and Contemporary Scientific Theory, Jagiellonian University Insitute for Scientific Study of Religion, Krakow, Poland. Invited by Dr Robertem Czyżykowskim. 2013, June 12, It s Nothing New: Jīva Gosvāmin s Argument for Transformation in the Tattva Sandarbha and Sarvasaṃvādinī, Seminar called Frontiers, twilight zones, shared spaces. Institute of Oriental Studies, Jagiellonian University, Department of Indology, Krakow, Poland. Invited by Prof Cezary Galewicz. 2013, February 4, The Bhāgavata Purāṇa s Theology of Self, lecture in the Jīva Institute for Vaishnava Studies, Vṛndāvana, India. Invited by Dr Satyanarayana Dāsa. 2012, November 9, By Grace Alone: Viśvanātha Cakravartin s definition of yadṛcchā, Center for the Study of World Religion, Comparative Theology Group, Harvard Divinity School. Invited by Axel Marc Takács. 2012, November 8, Churning the Ocean of Milk: Viśvanātha Cakravartin on Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.1, Center for the Study of World Religion, Harvard Divinity School. Invited by Prof Francis Clooney. 4

5 2012, October 28, Hindu Theology in the Science and Religion Dialogue, University of Heidelberg, John Templeton Foundation. Invited by Prof Michael Welker. 2012, September 17, Churning the Ocean of Milk: Method in North Indian Devotional Theology, University of Florida, Dept of Religion, Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions (Chitra). Invited by Vasudha Narayanan, Distinguished Professor of Religion. 2012, September 11, Devotional Yoga in a Hindu Mystical Context, University of the Redlands, Dept of Religion. Invited by Professor Fran Grace. 2012, July 23, Agency in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition. Bridgewater University, Dept of Philosophy. Invited by Assistant Professor Matthew Dasti. 2011, October 26, Hinduism and Science: New Perspectives on Consciousness. University of Virginia. Invited by John Nemec Associate Professor of Hinduism, and Peter Ochs Professor of Jewish Studies. 2011, October 6, Controversies over Hindu Theology why Hindu thought is theological and why it matters. University of Notre Dame. Invited by Bradley Malkovsky, Associate Professor of Comparative Theology. 2011, May 29, Developing the Field of Hindu Theology. American Academy of Religion, Luce Fellowship Conference, Chicago IL, Catholic Theological Union. 2011, May 23, Hindu Theology in Classical Texts and the Contemporary World, University of Heidelberg, Germany. Forschungszentrum Internationale und Interdisziplinäre Theologie. Presentation at John Templeton Foundation Award Symposium. 2011, March 8, Hinduism and Science: Their Unexpected Teleological Connections. University of Mississippi. Faculty Lecture Series. 2009, November 18, Presentation of Hinduism. International Educators and the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center. Colvard Union. Mississippi State University. Peer Reviewed Lectures 2016, Jan 15, Contributions of Hindu Ethics to Ecology. Religion, Science and the Future. University of Florida. 2015, Nov 21, Unfolding Experience: Texts in Psychological Contexts. Dharma Academy of North America (DANAM) Theme (I co-organized this with Gerald Larson): Methods in Indian Discourse: Comparative Perspectives on Reason, Theology and Tradition. 2015, Nov 20, One-life and Many-life Theisms: A Philosophical Discussion. Society for Hindu-Christian Studies and Dharma Academy of North America (DANAM). American Academy of Religion. 2014, October 25, Is Religious Experience a Hermeneutical Category? Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava 5

6 Theologians on Scriptural Interpretation. The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy (SAGP). Sponsored by Fordham University. 2014, November 21, Critique and Conservation in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Theology. American Academy of Religion, Dharma Academy of North America (DĀNAM). 2014, 23 November. The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Tradition s Post-liberation Theology of the Spiritual Body (siddha-deha). American Academy of Religion, Comparative Theology Group. 2012, 16 November, Becoming Different: Reflections on Malhotra s Being Different. American Academy of Religion, Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. 2012, 19 November, Historiography in a South Asian Context, American Academy of Religion. Religion in South Asia and Science, Technology, and Religion Unit. 2011, 20 November, American Academy of Religion, Defining and Doing Theology: Jīva Gosvāmin and Viśvanātha Cakravartin s Justification of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa as Vedāntic Commentary. Hinduism Group Panel. 2011, 20 November, Dharma Association of North America (DĀNAM), By the Grace of God: Viśvanātha Cakravartin s Argument that Bhakti-Yoga is Unobtainable by Personal Effort. DĀNAM Panel: Bhakti as Yoga. 2011, 24 March, Mississippi Philosophical Association, Thoreau s Yoga of Freedom. Mississippi State University, Theme: Libertarianism. 2011, 5 March, Mid South Philosophy Conference, An Alternative to Dualism Indian conceptions of consciousness. University of Memphis. 2009, October 22, Mark Twain s Hinduism: How the Story of Religion is part of the Story of Identity-Making. Arts & Sciences Showcase. Mississippi State University. 2009, November 6, A Tale of Two Swamis: Mapping the Modes of Interaction of Between Darwin and Swami Vivekānanda and Bhaktivedānta Prabhupāda. American Academy of Religion, at DĀNAM. Montréal, Canada. 2007, February 17, The Four Aims of Life (puruṣārtha) and the Ecological Crisis. Graduate Studies Seminar, Oxford University 2006, January 20, What is this thing called knowledge? The Bhāgavata Purāṇa and the study of religion. Reading Spirituality, Religious Studies Conference, Lancaster University. 2005, January, Means of Knowing: Indian Traditions and Cognitive Science. Seminar Series at the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies. 2004, October 20, The Struggle for Existence In 19 th Century Biology and the Bhagavata- Purana. British Association for the Study of Religion, Oxford. 6

7 2004, April 16, What s Wrong with Neurobiology Today? The Critique of Alan Wallace. Religion & Science Graduate Student Seminar, Oxford University. 2004, Cultural Myths, Biological Forms and Subjective Qualities: A Response to Brian Goodwin. Occasional Seminar, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies. COURSES TAUGHT (1) Religion and Evolution (2) What s Wrong With You? World Philosophies on Self and Its Problems. (3) Cursus Honorum The Quest I (Honors) (4) Introduction to Religion (Honors and non-honors) (5) Sanskrit (beginning and intermediate) (6) World Religion I (Honors and non- Honors) (7) Indian Yoga Traditions (8) Science and Religion (9) Hindu Mythology (10) Hinduism and Buddhism (11) Religions of India (12) Interpreting Asian Religions (Graduate Seminar) PROFESSIONAL SERVICE 2013-present, Section Editor, International Journal of Hindu Studies 2013-present, Editorial Consultant, Journal of the American Philosophical Association 2006-Present, invited reviewer for the following journals and book publishers:! Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science! Cambridge University Press! Journal of Vaishnava Studies! Biology & Philosophy! Journal of Consciousness Studies! International Journal of Hindu Studies! Journal of Hindu Studies! Acumen Press! MIT Press! Routledge Press! Religion! Rhetoric Society Quarterly! Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 2010, Spring, Guest Editor for Journal of Vaishnava Studies and author of the Introduction. Volume theme: Vaishnavism and Nature. 2005, Co-organizer for Seminar Series at the Oxford University, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies: Means of Knowing in Indian Traditions and Cognitive Science LANGUAGES Competence in Sanskrit Reading and Translation Beginner in Hindī and German 7

8 REFERENCES Prof. John Brooke, Oxford University Ph: +44 (0) Prof. Edwin Bryant, Rutgers University Ph: (848) Prof. Francis Clooney, Harvard University Ph: (617) Prof. Sushil Mittal, James Madison University Ph: (540) Prof. Graham Schweig, Christopher Newport University Ph: (757)