“Emerging Scholars in Jain Studies” – October 17th, 2025

We are happy to invite you to the next lecture in our “Emerging Scholars in Jain Studies” virtual series co-organized by the Departments of Religious Studies at UC Davis and UC Riverside. The lecture will be delivered by Dr. Corbett Costello (Hamilton College) on Friday, October 17th, 2025, 9:00-10:20am PT. You will find more information about the lecture and the speaker below.

Register for the event here: https://ucr.zoom.us/meeting/register/qUAbII6ZST6R1kRQOuXa9w

Please note that you will need to sign into your Zoom account before entering the Zoom room.

This talk traces the historical development of the Kalpa Sūtra within Mūrtipūjaka Jain scholastic and spiritual life. Whereas most studies of the Kalpa Sūtra begin with its later religious and artistic history—by which time it had already been fixed at the apex of the Mūrtipūjaka canon—this talk charts its long and layered history of compilation. It therefore investigates the extensive pre-history of the text, which on close examination reveals multiple strata of historical development. Focusing on the Mūrtipūjaka milieu, the talk accordingly reconstructs the Kalpa Sūtra’s production and reception over time and analyzes the impact it had on the community’s social, scholastic, and religious life. In doing so, it documents the religious professionals who were instrumental in shaping the text as well as the pedagogical practices—such as commentarial exposition, ritual recitation, and didactic instruction—which helped to embed the Kalpa Sūtra within the broader performative and curricular context of Paryuṣaṇā.

Corbett Costello is a Visiting Professor in the Asian Studies Program at Hamilton College where he teaches courses on South Asian languages, literature, religion, and ecology. He holds a B.A. in Art History from the University of Texas at Arlington, an M.A. in South Asian Studies from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in South Asian Languages and Literature from the University of Washington. His current research focuses on the intersections of Jain literary history, language practice, and manuscript culture, with special interest in the patronage, production, and performance of texts.