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Dr Brian Black

Senior Teaching Associate

Degree: BA in Philosophy, University of California at San Diego; MA in Buddhist Studies, SOAS; PhD in the Study of Religions, SOAS

Associated research centres and groups: Centre for Gender and Women's Studies

Current Teaching

Undergraduate Courses

RSt 100 (Hinduism and Buddhism)

PPR.240 Traditions and Transformations: Asian Religions

PPR.350 Indian Philosophical and Religious Thought

MA Courses

PPR. 482 Contemporary Issues in South Asian Religions (2011-12)

PPR.479 Spirituality: Asian Perspectives (2012-13)

Research Interests

I received my MA in Buddhist Studies and my PhD in the Study of Religions from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. I am author of the book The Character of the Self in Ancient India: Priests, Kings, and Women in the Early Upanishads (http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61397) and co-editor of the book Gender and Narrative in the Mahabharata (with Simon Brodbeck; http://www.routledge.com/books/Gender-and-Narrative-in-the-Mahabharata-isbn9780415544719).

My primary areas of research are:

• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Indian Philosophy
• Dialogue in Indian religious and philosophical traditions
• Indian Ethics
• Multiculturalism, social justice, and secularism in South Asia
• Gender in Indian religion and philosophy

Current Projects

I am currently co-organizing an international conference: 'Asian Values and Social Justice' (26-28 September 2011). For more details, please see http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/event/3715/

Potential Doctoral Proposals

• Dialogue and debate in Indian philosophy
• Encounters between Hinduism and Buddhism
• Indian Ethics
• Application of traditional ideas to modern contexts: multiculturalism, social justice, secularism
• Yoga and meditation in contemporary Asia
• Gender and South Asian religions
• Religion and Narrative in South Asia
• Asian religions and environmental issues

Recent and Forthcoming Publications

Books

Dialogue and South Asian Religions, edited by Brian Black and Laurie Patton (Ashgate, forthcoming)

Asian Religious Values and Social Justice, edited by Brian Black and Hiroko Kawanami (Routledge, forthcoming)

The Character of the Self in Ancient India: Priests, Kings, and Women in the Early Upanishads (State University of New York Press, 2007)

Gender and Narrative in the Mahabharata, edited by Simon Brodbeck and Brian Black (Routledge, 2007)

Articles

'Rivals and Benefactors: Encounters between Buddhists and Brahmins in the Nikayas' (Religions of South Asia, Vol. 3.1: 25-43; June 2009)

'Ambattha and Svetaketu: Literary connections between the Upanishads and early Buddhist Narratives' (Journal of the American Academy of Religion; Vol. 79, No. 1: 136-161; March 2011)

'The Character of "Character" in Early South Asian Religious Traditions', co-written with Jonathan Geen (Journal of the American Academy of Religion; Vol. 79, No. 1: 6-32; March 2011)

'Rethinking the Upanishadic Vamsas: Teacher Lineages as a Literary Genre' (Religions of South Asia; in press)

Book Chapters

'The Rhetoric of Secrecy in the Upanishads' in Religion and Identity in South Asia and Beyond: Essays in Honor of Patrick Olivelle, edited by Steven Lindquist (pp. 101-125; Anthem Press; 2011)

'Ethics in Dialogue: Encountering the Other in Indian Philosophy', in Understanding Ethics, edited by Vibha Chaturvedi and Pragati Sahni (Macmillan India; forthcoming)

'Revisiting the Ugrasravas/Saunaka Frame Dialogue: Transitions and Transmissions in the Mahabharata', in Revisiting Transitions in Indian History, edited by Kumkum Roy and Ranabir Chakravarti (Oxford University Press India; forthcoming)

'Senses of Self and Not-self in the Upanishads and Nikayas', in The Self: Hindu and Buddhist Ideas in Dialogue, edited by Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad and Jonardan Ganeri (Ashgate; forthcoming)

Other Interests and Hobbies

Cooking, swimming, hiking

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