Friday 27th to Saturday 28th March, 2026
Call for Papers – Proposal submission deadline: October 07th 2025
Theme: Questioning Boundaries
As the Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions moves into its fifty-first rendition, and turns a new corner, we would like to take this opportunity to examine the state of the field of Indian Religions, to see where boundaries are, and where the field might go next.
Questioning a boundary makes one aware of what that boundary is, what purpose it serves, and what it seeks to keep in, and to keep out. Ancient texts, such as the Upaniṣads and the Tripiṭaka, have explored the lines between the perishable and imperishable, the material and immaterial, dhārmika and adhārmika, right and wrong, true and false. Limits are negotiated, policed, contested, and crossed, not only in philosophical, ritual and legal texts, but also in literature, art, performance and even architecture. Boundaries become fluid, and status-quos are challenged as ideas, methods and thoughts are applied and re-applied in new contexts.
The scholarly field of Indian Religions has examined the role of boundaries and limits. More recently, scholarship has focused on boundaries of the global north and south, the human and the ecological, and boundaries of religious traditions. We have also seen work that challenges disciplinary boundaries and methodological approaches, and also involves interlocutors, artists, filmmakers and the public.
Where can the field go next? How can and do scholars interact with the digital, the material, and the global? What new approaches may they use? What should the 2025 scholar of Indology and/or Indian Religions be aware of, and what other places can the modern scholar learn from? How can the field become more equitable and open to new approaches and methods? How can the study of Indian Religions maintain its relevancy in a time and place where the Humanities are increasingly under threat? And how can the study of Indian Religions help us deal with the problems of today such as isolation, extremism, post-truthism, intolerance and climate change?
We welcome papers on the theme of “Questioning Boundaries” from the humanities, social sciences and other disciplines, from a variety of methodological approaches (such as, but not limited to, textual, visual, sonic and ethnographic approaches), focusing on past as well as present contexts. Paper proposals might include but are not limited to the following topics:
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Shifting disciplinary boundaries
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New methodological approaches and opportunities
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Temporal limits (modernity, medieval, ancient)
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Geographic boundaries (north/south, diaspora and migration)
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Religious/secular lines
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Ritual frames
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Human/ecological interactions
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Linguistic divisions and overlaps
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Textual/material/oral spheres
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Boundary makers and boundary breakers
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Comparison and contrast
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Scholar/practitioner approaches
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Emic/etic approaches
Presenters are allocated forty minutes for their paper and twenty minutes for discussion. As the conference will be in person, a conference fee will apply.
We also welcome proposals from advanced doctoral candidates, who will be allocated twenty minutes for their paper and ten minutes for discussion. Doctoral students may be entitled to bursaries if their papers are accepted.
If you would like to give a presentation, please fill out this Google form (https://forms.gle/iH8UvUJdqeh1VhJfA) with a title, abstract (maximum 500 words), short bio and affiliation to the Spalding Symposium committee, by 7th October 2025.
Due to the typical volume of submissions, individual feedback on proposals cannot be provided. Successful proposals will be announced in November 2025.
For further enquiries please email the committee on the email address: spaldingsymposium1@gmail.com.