October 9, 2020 Master Class with Prof. John Stratton Hawley

John Stratton Hawley is the Claire Tow Professor of Religion. His research is focused on the religious life of north India and on the literature that it has spawned over the course of the last 500 years. He is the author or editor of some twenty-five books. Most concern Hinduism and the religions of India, but others are broadly comparative. Recent publications include “A Storm of Songs: India and Idea of the Bhakti Movement” and, with Kenneth E. Bryant, “Sur’s Ocean: Poems from the Early Tradition” (both Harvard University Press, 2015). Each won an award from the Association for Asian Studies. A poem-by-poem commentary on verse, with extensive introduction, is found in ”Into Sur’s Ocean: Poetry, Context, and Commentary” (Harvard Oriental Series, 2016). Recently, with the publication of a revised and expanded version of “Sūrdās: Poet, Singer, Saint” (Primus Books, 2018), Hawley has been following Surdas and his poetry into the realm of manuscript illustration. As for the present day, “Krishna's Playground: Vrindavan in the 21st Century” appeared from Oxford University Press in January 2020.