Ben Williams: Historicizing Contemplative Pedagogy

This talk by Ben Williams will take a cultural-historical look at Naropa University as a site for contemplative pedagogy, noting various streams of practice and defining creative tensions. This will be followed by a theoretical reflection on the possibilities and implications of contemplative practice within a curriculum that trains students to engage meditative traditions comprehensively. This entails reflecting on them as actionable sources of knowledge while also sustaining sensibilities and considerations deeply informed by the disciplines of religious studies and Indology.

About Ben
Ben Williams is an Assistant Professor of Hinduism and Yoga Studies at Naropa University. He is an intellectual historian focused on Indian religions and the history of Śaiva tantra. Ben completed his PhD in the Department of South Asian Studies at Harvard University. Ben serves on the steering committee of the Tantric Studies Unit of the American Academy of Religion and the academic advisory council of the Muktabodha Indological Research Institute. Ben’s doctoral thesis is on revelation and the figure of the tantric guru in the writings of Abhinavagupta and was supported by a Fulbright-Nehru research fellowship.

This event is free and open to the public.