The ISKCON Studies Institute is pleased to invite you to the third ISKCON Studies Conference
Transmitting the Truth: Education, Preaching, and Conversion in ISKCON

to be held at Villa Vrindavan, near Florence, Italy, from 16-19 July 2010.

The theme of this year’s conference – Education, Preaching, and Conversion – addresses concerns central to ISKCON’s history and mission. In what ways have Indic religious traditions, especially the Caitanya Vaisnava tradition, understood and articulated these concepts? How does ISKCON draw from or reinterpret these traditions? What are the theological underpinnings of present-day educational and preaching practices? The conference aims to provide an academic forum to discuss such questions, especially as they relate to ISKCON, but with attention to their broader context.

The Conference is a forum for presentations of research and open discussion among the participants.
Presentations include:

* Meditation as a Devotional Practice in Jiva Gosvami’s Philosophy of Education (Barbara Holdrege)
* Preaching in ISKCON: An Analysis (Ravindra Svarupa Dasa)
* Scholarship and Spiritual Life (Gopinathacarya Dasa)
* Conversion, Preaching, and Western Cultural Identity (Jan Olof Bengtsson)
* The Meaning and Form of Conversion in Gaudiya Vaisnava Tradition (Kumaripriya Dasi)
* Conversion, Experience, and Narrative: Examples from the Hare Krishnas (Hrvoje Cargonja)
* Inculturation: The Relationship between Spirituality and Culture applied to Education (Urmila Dasi)
* Preaching Conversion or Education? The Case of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati (Pranava Dasa)
* The Future of Education in ISKCON (Shaunaka Rishi Das)
* Panel Discussion: Joining Worlds of Knowledge: Secular and Vaisnava Academies

A number of these papers will appear in the third edition of the ISKCON Studies Journal.
Logistics:

Friday 16 July – Monday 19 July 2010
Villa Vrindavan, near Florence, Italy,

Cost: 135 Euros including all meals and accommodation for the five nights of 15-19 July.

For registrations and other enquiries, please contact Kumaripriya Dasi at kumaripriya.dasi@gmail.com

For more information, please go to iskconstudies.org