JONATHAN B. EDELMANN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF RELIGION Mississippi State University Department of Philosophy and Religion Etheredge Hall 449 Hardy Road Mississippi State MS 39762 PHONE (662) 325-2382 FAX (662) 325-3340 je374@msstate.edu EDUCATION Ph.D. 2008 University of Oxford Religious Studies and Theology Dissertation Supervisors When Two Worldviews Meet: A Dialogue Between the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa & Contemporary Biology Prof. John Hedley Brooke, Oxford University Prof. Francis Clooney, Harvard University M.St. 2003 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. 2002 University of California Santa Barbara Philosophy with Honors RECENT AWARDS 2011, Award for Theological Promise: Forschungszentrum Internationale und Interdisziplinäre Theologie Universität Heidelberg and the John Templeton Foundation $20,000. 2010-2011, American Academy of Religion and Henry Luce Foundation Summer Fellowship: Comparative Theology and Theologies of Religious Pluralism $1000 2011, Researcher of the Month (November), Mississippi State University. 2010 and 2011, State Pride Award: Mississippi State University $2500 2007, Asvatha Scholarship, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies 500 2007, Oxford University, Theology Faculty, Research Grant 500 2006, Junior Common Room Grant, Harris Manchester College 500 1
POSITIONS 2012-present, Section Editor for Hindu Theology, International Journal for Hindu Studies 2009-present, Assistant Professor of Religion, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Mississippi State University 2008-2009, Post Doctoral Fellow, Harris Manchester College, Oxford University 2007-2008, Religious Studies Teacher, St Catherine s School, Bramley, UK PUBLICATIONS ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION The Role of Hindu Theology in the Religion and Science Dialogue. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. 47 (3), September. Hindu Theology as Churning the Latent. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Agency, Freewill and Selfhood in the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava Tradition. Co-authored with Dr Satyanaraya Dasa. Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy. Edited by Edwin Bryant and Matthew Dasti. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. BOOK 2012, Hindu Theology and Biology: The Bhāgavata Purāṇa and Contemporary Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Theological Monographs Series). ISBN 978 0-19 964154 3. Winner of the 2011 John Templeton Foundation Award for Theological Promise from the University of Heidelberg. Book symposium topic, Zygon: Journal of Science and Religion (September 2012) PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES 2010, Introduction: Vaishnavism and the Environment. Journal of Vaishnava Studies. Guest editors: Jonathan B. Edelmann and Abhisheka Ghosh. Vol 18, No 2, Summer. 2009, Argument and Persuasion: A Brief Study of Kīrtana in the Bhāgavata Purāna. Journal of Vaishnava Studies. Vol 17, No 2, Spring, pp. 37-56. 2007, Setting Criteria for an Ideal Reincarnation Research. Journal of Consciousness of Studies. Co-authored with Professor of Psychiatry William Bernet, Vanderbilt University. Journal of Consciousness Studies. Vol 14, No 12, pp92-101. 2
PUBLICATIONS, continued 2007, The Uniqueness of Biological Self-Organization: Challenging the Darwinian Paradigm. Biology and Philosophy. September, Vol 22, pp579-601. Co-authored with Professor of Genetics Michael Denton. 2006, Modernity s Warfare in Life and Religion: A Meeting with Charles Darwin and the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Journal of Vaishnava Studies, Spring 2005, pp. 113-26. PEER REVIEWED BOOK CHAPTERS 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 Prof D P Chattopadhyaya, Editor Roddam Narasimha and Associate Editor Sangeetha Menon. New Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations. ISBN: 81-87568-49-4. BOOK REVIEWS 2012, Hindu Perspectives on Evolution: Darwin, Dharma and Design, by C. Machenzie Brown. Bulletin of School of Oriental and African Studies. 76/1 (February) 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. 207-209. 2011, Krishna s Mandala: Bhagavata Religion and Beyond. By D. Dennis Hudson. The Journal of Asian Studies. Volume 70, Issue 01, pp. 277-278. 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. 49-50. Weblink POPULAR MEDIA 2010, A problem with education in America. Op-Ed. Starkville Daily News. March 10. 2004, Some Problems in the Hinduism and Science Dialogue, The Global Spiral: A Publication of the Metanexus Institute. Weblink CONFERENCE & SYMPOSIUM PRESENTATIONS INVITED LECTURES 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. 3
2011, October 6, Controversies over Hindu Theology why Hindu thought is theological and why it matter. 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. LECTURES & CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 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 (Purusarthas) and the Ecological Crisis. Graduate Studies Seminar, Oxford University 4
2006, January 20, What is this thing called knowledge? The Bhagavata-Purana 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, September 14, Intercontinental Soul Searching: Looking for Life East and West. Life and Its Origin, an interdisciplinary conference, Rome, Italy. 2004, October 20, The Struggle for Existence In 19 th Century Biology and the Bhagavata- Purana. British Association for the Study of Religion, Oxford. 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 Indian Yoga Traditions Mississippi State University Graduate Course on Science and Religion Mississippi State University Hindu Mythology: Of Gods, Sages & Cowherd Maidens Mississippi State University Hinduism & Buddhism Mississippi State University Introduction to Religion (Honors College) Mississippi State University World Religions I: Religions of the East (Honors College) Mississippi State University Religion and Politics Tutorial, Oxford University Science, Religion & Hinduism University of Wales-Lampeter, Bhaktivedanta College PROFESSIONAL SERVICE 2006-Present, invited reviewer for the following journals: Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science Biology & Philosophy Cambridge University Press The Journal of Consciousness Studies Journal of Vaishnava Studies Journal of Hindu Studies 2010, Spring, Guest Editor for Journal of Vaishnava Studies and author of the Introduction. Volume theme: Vaishnavism and Nature. 5
2009-Present, Faculty Advisor for the Mississippi State University Philosophy and Religion Club. 2008-2010, Faculty Council, Bhaktivedanta College, accredited with the University of Wales, Lampeter, UK 2007, Graduate Teacher Training for Tutorials (CETL), Oxford University 2005, Co-organizer for Seminar Series at the Oxford University, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies: Means of Knowing in Indian Traditions and Cognitive Science 2004, Curriculum Development for the Science and Religion in Schools Project, funded by the Templeton Foundation. LANGUAGES Competence in Sanskrit Reading and Translation (esp. Purāṇic) Beginner in Hindī and German Reading knowledge in Spanish REFERENCES Prof. John Bickle, Mississippi State University Ph: (662) 325-2382 Prof. John Brooke, Oxford University Ph: +44 (0)1865 271009 Prof. Francis Clooney, Harvard University Ph: (617) 495-5761 Email: jb1681@msstate.edu Email: john.brooke@hmc.ox.ac.uk Email: fclooney@hds.harvard.edu Prof. Graham Schweig, Christopher Newport University Ph: (757) 594-8827 Email: gschweig@cnu.edu Jonathan Edelmann, April 2012 6