E D U C AT I O N 12
JAINA Academic Liaison Committee – 2021 Update By Dr. Sulekh Jain
With the strong support of many philanthropists, dedicated volunteers and well-wishers, the year 2021 has truly been a banner year in the progress of Jain Academic Education. Now Jain studies are offered at nearly 45 + academic institutions! Below is a very brief summary of what has been achieved in 2021.
New Programs Established in 2021 a)
Four new permanent (endowed) Professorship at: • University of Illinois at Champaign, Urbana, IL • University of Colorado at Denver, CO • University of Connecticut at Storrs, CT • University of South Florida at Tampa, FL
b) Three new permanent (endowed) Post-Doctoral Fellowships at: • Rutgers University, NJ • University of Pittsburgh, PA • Emory University, Atlanta, GA c) One 3-year Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Arizona State Universality, Phoenix, AZ d) Two Endowed Jain Study Programs at: • University of Florida at Gainesville, FL • Cerritos Community College in LA e) Two Adjunct Professor programs at: • University of Dayton, Dayton, OH • Florida Atlantic University, FL f) Seven positions at different levels have been advertised so far and more to come soon. UCLA, Calpoly Pomona, Cal State Univ at Northridge, Rice Univ, Rutgers Univ, Univ of South Florida, Arizona State University g) Three Positions to be announced soon at: University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin, and University of Colorado at Denver
Prakrit Fellowships Awarded To educate and train scholars to become fluent in Prakrit (language of Jain agmas), three fellowships ( at a cost of $12000 each) were awarded to 3 PhD scholars to study Prakrit full time for 9 month in India. This makes a total of six scholars to so far.
Initiatives in Jain Studies in Europe and other Countries a) U.K. - Jain donors have been financially supporting two PhD students at SOAS (London University) and also pledged full funding for next 3 years to the annual conference on Jainism at SOAS. b) Germany - Dr. Claire Maes (a Jain Scholar at University of Texas Austin, at Austin TX) accepted a senior level academic position at Tubingen University in Germany to start activities and programs in Jainism there.
