Faculty and staff

OCHS students

Nadeem Ahmed, UK (2003)
Pembroke College

BA in Religious Studies and Urdu, School of African and Oriental Studies, London, 1993.

Presently reading for an MLitt in Philosophy, Oxford University.

Research interests include classical and contemporary philosophical accounts of meaning and identity; the development & impact of philosophical concepts of meaning in Islam and Advaita Vedanta; Hindu-Muslim relations.

Alexandra Buhler, UK (2005)

Christ Church

Alexandra is pursuing a BA in Theology, University of Oxford.

Deepa Chaturvedi, India (2007)

Lady Margaret Hall

BA in English Literature, History and Philosophy, MDS University of Ajmer, 1991.

MA in English Literature, MDS University of Ajmer, 1993

Currently pursuing an MSt in the Study of Religions, University of Oxford.

Miss Chaturvedi is Senior Lecturer, in the Department of English, Govt. College, Kota.

Jessamine Dana, USA (2006)
Wolfson College

BA, Simon's Rock College of Bard, 2001.

M Phil, in material anthropology and museum ethnography, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford, 2005.

Currently pursuing DPhil, University of Oxford, in social and cultural anthropology. Research area: ritual anthropology of the senses, religious politics, phenomenology, Buddhist and Hindu Studies.

Jonathan B. Edelmann, USA (2002)
Harris - Manchester College

BA Philosophy, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2002. Senior thesis: 'The metaphysical presupposition of neo-Darwinism and their relationship with a Vaishnava theology of nature.'

MSt Science and Religion, University of Oxford, 2003. Thesis: 'The Value of Science: The Perspectives of Contemporary Science, Stephen Jay Gould and Theistic Samkhya'.

Currently pursuing DPhil, University of Oxford. Research area: Vaishnavism and the design of living organisms. Vaishnava conceptions of the creation and natural history of the world, in relation to developments in modern biology.

Nikos Franci-Ioannou, UK (2007)

St Cross College

BA in Theology and Religious Studies, and in the History and Philosophy of Science, University of Leed, 2002.

Currently pursuing an M.St. in The Study of Religion, University of Oxford, focusing on Hinduism and Christanity.

Ayush Goyal, USA (2007)

Balliol College

BS Electrical Engineering, Boise State University, USA, 2005.

Currently pursuing a D.Phil. at the University of Oxford in AI (Artificial Intelligence) Modeling of Biological Systems. His research interests include Human versus Computer Cognition, Sanskrit Syntax in Modern Computation, Ethics of Computer Chip Implantation in Human Subjects, Social Repercussions of Genomic Engineering, and Distinguishing Humans from Computers in the Bionic Era.

Ayush is a recipient of the Clarendon Fund Scholarship from the University of Oxford.

Gopal Hari Gupta, USA (2005)
The Queen’s College

BS in Electrical Engineering, Boise State University, 2001. Recipient of the United States Achievement Academy National Engineering Collegiate Award.

MS in Artificial Intelligence, Boise State University, 2004. Thesis: “Principal Component Analysis and Bayesian Classifier Based Character Recognition,” published by the American Institute of Physics.

MSt in Science and Religion, University of Oxford, 2006. Thesis: “An Assessment of the Discussion of Self-Awareness in the Writings of Daniel Dennett in Light of the Bhagavad-Gita.”

Currently pursuing a D.Phil. in Science and Hinduism. Research interests include: conceptions of consciousness, nature and divine agency in classical and contemporary Hindu thought.

Gopal is a recipient of the Clarendon Fund Scholarship from the University of Oxford and the Cyril and Phillis Long Studentship from the Queen’s College.

Rembert Lutjeharms, Belgium (2003)
Blackfriars

Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees in Oriental Studies (Indology), University of Ghent, Belgium, 2003. Thesis: "Hamsaduta of Rupa Goswami. A Study in Translation".

Currently pursuing a DPhil in Theology, Oxford University.

Rembert's interest is in Sanskrit poetry and poetics, especially in relation to the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.

Judith Mueller , Germany (2007)
Mansfield College

Judith is in Oxford on a 'Junior Year Abroad' programme studying Economic Theory and Hinduism.

Currently pursuing a BA in International Relations, Economics, and German, George Washington University, USA.

James David Naylor, UK (2005)
St Peter's College

Currently pursuing a BA in Theology and Philosophy, University of Oxford.

John O'Connor, UK (2007)
Christ Church

Currently pursuing a BA in Theology, University of Oxford

Kiyokazu Okita, Japan (2003)
Pembroke College

B.A. in Religious Studies, International Christian University, Tokyo, 2001. Thesis:"The Necessity for and the Possobility of Interreligious Dialogue".

MSt., in the Study of Religion, Oxford University, 2004.

Presently reading for a DPhil, in Theology Oxford University.

Sadhu Paramtattvadas, UK (2006)
Mansfield College

M.A. in Sanskrit, from Karnataka State Open University (Mysore, India), 2004

Acharya (M.A.-equivalent) in Vedanta; Shastri (B.A.-equivalent) in Nyaya (Indian Logic); and Shastri (B.A.-equivalent) in Vyakarana (Sanskrit Grammar), all from Shri Yagnapurush Sanskrit Vidyalaya (Sarangpur, India), 1998-2003

Currently pursuing an M.St. in The Study of Religion, University of Oxford.

Ferdinando Sardella, Sweden (2007)

MA in Religious Studies with major in History of Religions from Gothenburg University, 2005.

Ferdinando is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Gothenburg University in Sweden. He has received a scholarship from The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education and will spend two terms in spring 2008 at the OCHS as a visiting scholar.

He is working on a project that explores the philosophy and history of modern devotional mysticism. The focus of the study is on Vaishnavism in Bengal during the vital beginnings of the 20th century. He has studied and carried out field work in India for a total period of eight months since 2004. He is currently affiliated to the Department of Sociology, Jadavpur University in Kolkata.

Jean-Marie Schmitt, France (2002)
St Cross College

Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from Bard College, USA, 2000.

Master of Arts in Indian Philosophy from Banaras Hindu University, India, 2002.

Currently pursuing a D.Phil at the University of Oxford. My research deals with the non-dual system of Vedanta as presented by its most celebrated exponent, the late 7th century AD philosopher, Shankara.

My thesis proposes to examine Shankara's soteriological tradition in the light of certain pedagogical and interpretive principles. It introduces the key teaching techniques, which allow Shankara to formulate a coherent and cohesive system of thought from the variegated materials of the Advaita Vedanta tradition. As a whole, my work attempts to show that the soteriological value of Shankara Vedanta lies in its being based on well-established principles of textual interpretation and, ultimately, on universal experience.