Associate Professor of Asian Studies Abhishek S. Amar recently organized an international conference on “Monastic institutions and Secularity from the Gupta period to the 15th century.” The gathering was part of the Vihara project based at Japan’s Mie University. It was hosted by the Bihar Museum, Patna, India.
Amar conceptualized the conference, which led to a memo of understanding between Hamilton, the Vihara project, and the Bihar Museum. The program featured presentations by leading scholars of Buddhism from the U.S., India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the U.K., and Japan, who “problematized the concept of secular and its applicability to the study of the early medieval Buddhist past and suggested other ways of thinking about the relationships between monastic and state institutions and laity,” he said.
Professor of History John Eldevik was also among the presenters.
