Conference on the Study of Religions of
India
Conference on the Study of Religions of India
The Conference on the Study of Religions of India (CSRI) invites proposals for its upcoming Annual Meeting to be held at the University of California, Davis, June 25-28, 2026. The conference theme is “Decoration and Adornment.” We invite proposals representing a range of disciplinary and methodological approaches to decorative and elaborative practices—visual, verbal, lyrical, and other—representing diverse religious traditions and communities of India and its diasporas.
Possible topics include visual ornamentation of deities, worship spaces, and/or religious bodies; poetic adornment and/or rhetorical flourish in religious texts; sartorial creativity and excess; commentarial texts or practices; rhetorical extravagance or argumentative excess; modes of aesthetic perception; ritual accoutrement and accessory; argumentative excess; the stylistic flourish, etc. Papers engaging in comparative analysis of decorative or lyrical arts as well as robust theorizing of these categories are also invited. We welcome proposals for single papers or pre-formed panels of 3-4 presenters.
Conference organizers (Archana Venkatesan, Sufia Uddin, Reid Locklin, Robin Rinehart, Arun Brahmbhatt, and Brian Pennington) invite individual paper proposals not longer than 250 words, due March 1, 2026. Please send all questions to CSRI Executive Committee Chair Brian Pennington at bpennington4@elon.edu.
The Conference on the Study of Religions of India (CSRI) is a forum of exchange for scholars engaged in the academic study of the religious traditions of India in both native and diasporic contexts. It provides scholars a leisurely, collegial environment in which to present their work in person. Emphasis will be placed on informality among peers. Committed to critical and creative inquiry, the conference is not an advocacy forum for the religions of India and does not endorse or proscribe a particular point of view. Scholars with terminal degrees in Religious Studies or related academic disciplines (like Anthropology, Art, Ethnomusicology, History, Philosophy, Theology, and Gender/Women’s Studies) researching and/or teaching in the area of religions of India are eligible to present, attend, and participate in the conference. Graduate students in any of these disciplines are also warmly welcomed to present and participate in the conference.
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