Seminar on Youth Experiences with Hinduphobia

Appeal Letter from Seminar Coordinators

Dear Friends,

You are cordially invited to participate in the Seminar titled "Youth Experiences with Hinduphobia and its Remediation" to be held in  Dallas, TX, from Friday, October 12th until Sunday, 14th, 2007. A call for participation is attached with this communique.

The purpose of the seminar is to record experiences with Hinduphobia with a special focus on how the Hindu youth perceive it. This is one of the follow-up activities to the recent publication of an unprecedented book on Hinduphobia, viz. ‘Invading the Sacred’ authored by  Krishnan Ramaswamy, Antonio de Nicolas and Aditi Banerjee (ref. – http://invadingthesacred.com ). The challenge now is to validate, with factual data, the connectivity between hinduphobia in the academia and its actual impact on the socio-economic well-being of the Hindus. We will specially focus on impact of Hinduphobia on cultural self-esteem of Hindu youth in their most formative years.

You may kindly consider helping a Hindu youth compile his/her experience with Hinduphobia, and bring in to the conference for presentation. There are multiple cash awards sponsored by the Infinity Foundation for a well written Hinduphobic accounts. Hinduphobic accounts are most welcome from participants other than youth, though only the latter are eligible for the cash awards.

Even though the current exercise is U.S. centric, it is equally  relevant to almost every country where Hindus live. Therefore, those located outside of the U.S. will add equal value to the seminar proceedings by having a Hindu youth submit his/her own account of  Hinduphobia. We will ensure that all submissions are given due consideration.

If we can answer any of your questions, feel free to call Mr. Bhagwan Reddy, Session Coordinator, at +1 214-906-3958, or reply to this e-mail.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely yours,

Rajiv Malhotra
Infinity Foundation
NJ, USA

and

Shruti
Shruti Foundation
New Delhi, India

Session Co-chairs

and

Bhagwan Reddy
Sanatana Dharma Foundation
Dallas, TX, USA

Session Coordinator

E-Mail: [email protected]

Call for Papers and Participation In a Seminar and a Workshop on "Youth Experiences with Hinduphobia And Its Remediation"

[pagebreak title=’How to participate’]

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Papers can be sent to:
Bhagwan Reddy
Session Coordinator
E-mail: [email protected]
[ hinduphobia DASH seminar AT heconf DOT com ]
Tel: +1 214-906-3958
Deadline for submission: October 7th, 2007

Recently a new compilation on Hindubhobia in U.S. academia was released, edited by Drs. Krishnan Ramaswamy and Antonia de Nicolas, and Aditi Banerjee, Esq. (online reference: http://www.invadingthesacred.com). The comprehensive volume documents biases against Hinduism in U.S. Academia that have been institutionalized and made respectable by years of endorsements and participation by mainstream scholars. The authors have diligently established that the biases in the academia, often lead to prejudice against Hinduism and Hindus among the general population, which ultimately results in oppression and violence.

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of the session is to share evidence of Hinduphobia primarily among the youth using their experiences as empirical data.

Themes for Submission

There will be three kinds of themes available to a given participant, as follows:

(a) Write a personal account of having faced Hinduphobia in school, social circle, media, casual conversation, or anywhere else, either directly or a friend/relative who is too afraid to speak up on their own; this includes negative stereotypes, biases, etc. explain what happened and what harm it did, and why it’s unfair,

(b) write a review of the book, Invading the Sacred, by focusing on any one of its sections and summarizing it in their own words in under 10 pages, giving reviewer’s comments as well, and

(c) Critique some third party Hinduphobia literature. An illustrative list of Hinduphobic literature is given later in this document.

Hinduphobia Remediation Workshop

The presentations will be followed by an invitation-only Hinduphobia Remediation Workshop. The purpose of the workshop will be to take qualified participants into the causes of Hinduphobia, its consequences and some tools that can be deployed to remediate Hinduphobia at various levels. Selection of workshop participants will be based on the strength of their seminar presentation, and their commitment to address the issue of Hinduphobia.

Cash Award

There is a cash award, in the amount of $100 each, for a selected number of submissions based on a qualifying criteria.

Hinduphobic Literature

The following list though not exhaustive, includes examples of recent Hinduphobic literature:

Ramakrishna – a bit of booby:
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/ramakrishna.asp
[Example of claim: "Ramakrishna was a homoerotic pedophile." "His
chief disciple, Vivekananda, visited brothels in India."]

Vivekananda – the handsome duckling:
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/vivekananda.asp

Aurobindo – Mother Dearest:
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/aurobindo.asp

J. Krishnamurti – The Krinsh:
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/krishnamurti.asp

Dalai Lama – "Hello Dalai":
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/dalai.asp

Swami Satchitananda – Sex, Bliss and Rock ‘n’ Roll:
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/satchidananda.asp

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi – The Sixth Beatle:
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/maharishi.asp

Satya Sai Baba — Scorpion Man:
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/saibaba.asp

Swami Rama: http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/rama.asp

Yogi Bhajan – Cockroach Yoga:
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/bhajan.asp

Muktananda: http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/muktananda.asp

Yogi Amrit Desai – Up the Asana:
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/desai.asp

Parmananda Yogananda – To a Nunnery:
http://www.strippingthegurus.com/stgsamplechapters/yogananda.asp

Time lines and Contacts:

Submission deadline:                    October 7th, 2007
Date of conference:                     October 12th – 14th, 2007

Session Chair:  Session Co-chair:

Mr. Rajiv Malhotra,
Infinity Foundation
NJ, USA Ms. Shruti
Shruti Foundation
Delhi, India

Session Coordinator:

Mr. Bhagwan Reddy
E-mail: [email protected]   [ hinduphobia DASH seminar AT
heconf DOT com ]
Tel: +1 214-906-3958 (U.S. Central Time Zone)

Deliverables

The following are expected from seminar participants:

a. an abstract or synopsis of your paper (with a title)
b. a brief bio-sketch with a front-facing digital picture
c. full paper (any length)
d. PowerPoint presentation (optional) (needed if presenting in person at the conference)

Future Prospect

Depending on a qualifying criterion, the papers received for this seminar can potentially be utilized in a follow-up volume to "Invading the Sacred"

Sponsors

The seminar is being sponsored by Sanatana Dharma Foundation, Dallas, TX (ref. – http://sanatanadharmafoundation.com ), in cooperation with the New Jersey based Infinity Foundation (ref. – http://infinityfoundation.com).