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Dr.
Roxanne Poormon Gupta |
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address |
Please email me at: roxanneg@alb.edu
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degrees |
Ph.D. Humanities Doctoral Program, Syracuse University,
1993 M. Phil.:
Humanities Doctoral Program, Syracuse University 1991 M.A.: Religious Studies, Syracuse University, 1984 B.A.: South Asia & Comparative Religion, Syracuse
University, 1974 |
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current and recent employment |
Asst. Prof Religious Studies, Albright College, Reading,
Pennsylvania Program Director, New York State Independent College
Consortium For Study in India, Hobart and William Smith College, Geneva, N.Y. (1998-1999)
(1994-95) Visiting Assistant Professor Religious Studies, College of
Wooster, Wooster, Ohio (1997-98) Instructor, Dept. of Anthropology and Sociology, Monroe
Community College (1993-96) Part-time Instructor, Dept. of Anthropology, Syracuse
University (1991-1993) Outreach Coordinator, South Asia Center, Syracuse
University (1985-1992) |
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publications |
A Yoga
of Indian Classical Dance: The Yogini’s Mirror Inner
Traditions International, Rochester, Vermont (3/ 2000). "Kuchipudi Then, Kuchipudi Now: A Rejoinder," in "Gati Bhedam," Sruti
(India’s Premier Journal of Classical Music and Dance), Issue 156, pp. 35-37. Madras,
India (10/1997). “Aghora,” “Aghori,” “Aughar,” and “Agehananda Bharati,”
entries in The Encyclopedia of
Hinduism, forthcoming, University
of South Carolina Press. “Kina Ram: Aghori
Saint of Benares,” in Lorenzen,
Editor, Bhakti Religion in North India:
Community Identity and Political Action,
Religion Series ( Albany: SUNY Press, 1994). “Apa Pant, Man of
the World,” in Intertwine, Syracuse
University (Spring 1987). "Things that Go Boom in the Night," in The Women's Encampment for a Future of
Peace and Justice: Images and Writings
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987). |
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selected seminar & conference papers |
“Embracing ‘Orientalism’: Indian Classical Dance in the
Postmodern Age” Conference on Religion in South India, Ottawa, Canada (6/2000) Sri Sarveshwari Samooh:
Sakti in the Service of the Middle Class,” National Conference of the American Academy of Religion, New Orleans (11/1996) “Aughars, Aghoris,
Tantrics and Sannyasis: The Politics of Heterodoxy among the Kina Rami,” National Conference of the American Academy
of Religion, (November 1994) “Aughars and Kings
in the Age of Cultural Contact,” Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Wisconsin
(11/1991). “Bhagwan Ram:
Politics and Religion in a Sant Sampradaya of North India,” Conference on The Secular Becomes the Sacred, Colgate University,
Hamilton, New York (4/1991). “Are the Aghoris
Tantric?” Second Conference of the Society for Tantric Studies, |
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recent presentations |
A Four Part Lecture Series on Art and Spirituality (based
on the South Asian Collection), Memorial Art Gallery of the University of
Rochester, Rochester, N.Y.
(10-11/1996). "Stalking the Wild Aghori: Images, Reflections and Insights on a Radical Saivite Sect of
North India," Cornell University
South Asian Seminar Series (10/1995). "Tantric Themes in Art and Dance: An Indian Classical Dancer Responds to the
South Asian Collection,"
Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, N.Y. (3/1994). |
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professional memberships |
American Academy of Religion Society for Tantric Studies American Association of University Professors |
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languages fellowships & awards |
Hindi (spoken and written), Telugu (spoken) Visiting Fellow (1996-97) Cornell University South Asia
Program National Hindi Fellowship (9/1992-5/1993) Syracuse University Graduate Fellowship (6-8/1991) American Institute of Indian Studies Junior Fellowship
(7/1989-9/1990) University of Wisconsin Junior Year in India Program (1972) NDFL (Telugu) Language Scholarship, University of Chicago
(6-8/1972) |
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video projects |
(A series of videos on religion in South Asia filmed on
site for classroom use:) “Adyar: The World Headquarters of the Theosophical
Society” (1 hr.) “Aghoris I have
Known” (60 min.) video segments filmed in North India (1989-1995) “A Visit to the
Kuchipudi Arts Academy, Madras” (20 min.) “Bauls of Bengal,”
(30 min.) filmed in Banaras (11/1991). “Goddess Worship
in North and South India,” (20 min.) video segments filmed in North India (1989-1991). “Kathmandu! A
Video Tour” (2 hrs.) “Patua Scroll
Painters of Bengal” (20 min.) “Prana Pratistha
at Devipuram,” (2 hours) ceremonies at a Sri Vidya Temple, filmed in
Devipuram, Andhra Pradesh, (7/1990). “Shakti Peethas:
Hot Spots of the Goddess” (90 min.,
narrated by Roxanne Gupta, filmed in Andhra, Assam, Bengal, and Orissa
(7/1989–8/1990). “Surya Namaskar” (90 min., ) narrated by Roxanne Gupta, filmed in Maharasthra (8/1989). |
Ph.D. Humanities Doctoral Program, Syracuse University (1993)
Dissertation: The Politics of Heterodoxy and the Kina Rami Aghoris
of Banaras.
The only in-depth study of one of India’s most enigmatic and heterodox
ascetic orders, the Aghoris of North India. Long associated with the ancient
Kapalikas described in Sanskrit literature, this order of holy men engage in extreme ascetic practices associated with death and pollution. Based on field
research conducted in Banaras, Dr. Gupta’s study places this sect in classical
and historical context, concentrating on the Kina Rami Aghoris and their
modern day reformation under the charismatic Guru, the late Avadhut
Bhagwan Ram. Her study is both theoretical and highly narrative as she
describes her experiences in tracking the elusive aghoris in modern day India.
Dissertation Advisors: Dr. Agehananda Bharati, Dr. Susan S. Wadley, Dr.
Charles Long, Dr. Gananath Obeyesekere
Dr. Gupta's personal involvement with Indian Culture from an early
age has greatly influenced her subject position as an anthropologist.
Likewise her scholarship has influenced her practice of Indian spiritual
disciplines. To read more about her attempts to bridge the gap between
the scholarly and popular approaches to Indian culture, click on the
following title to read the entire text of a recent essay she wrote
reflecting on this process.
"Embracing Orientalism: Indian Classical Dance in the Postmodern Age"
by Roxanne Poormon Gupta
Paper delivered at Conference on Religion in South India: Changing
Ritual and Performance Traditions of South India, June 10, 2000,
University of Ottawa, Canada