Mikal Radford Joins International Publication of Jain Scholarship

Mikal Radford, Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Sheridan, is pleased to announce his acceptance of an invitation to join a group of international Jain scholars in the creation of an encyclopedia of Jainism by Brill Academic Publishing (Leiden, Boston and Tokyo). Continuing his academic focus of the past twenty years, Mikal has been asked to contribute his insights into the transnational development of Jain religious identity within Canada and the United States. Mikal notes: “It is quite an honour to be asked to participate in this publication project, a project that contributes to Brill’s commitment to publish the leading encyclopaedias on the World’s religions.”

Jain Cosmological Human. Image: Creative Commons

According to Knut Jacobson, editor-in-chief of the project, “the Jain values and ideals of asceticism and nonviolence have made significant contributions to Indian culture and society. The study of the history, literature and teaching the Jain traditions and their social and cultural contexts, as well as the contemporary ritual, devotional and ascetic practises is an important field of scholarship.  Brill’s Encyclopaedia of Jainism will make available critical research on all the main aspects of the Jain traditions in essays written by the world’s foremost scholars on Jainism.”

The two-volume publication, expected to be completed in 2016-17, will focus on such themes as the human condition, historical perspectives, regional culture (transnational religious identity), renunciation, lay society, ritual, devotion, visual and material culture, literature, and Jain philosophy and logic. Congratulations Mikal!