CLAREMONT UNIVERSITY TO PARTNER WITH GURU NANAK UNIVERSITY, AMRITSAR

LOS ANGELES, JUNE 08, 2013
RAMESH/GARY SINGH/COL RAJ SOHI

BRIANNE DONALDSON HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS THE FIRST PROFESSOR OF SIKH STUDIES AT CLAREMONT UNIVERSITY,CALIFORNIA.THIS UNIVERSITY IS CURRENTLY ENROLLING STUDENTS FOR ITS FALL SEMESTER. AT THE END OF STUDIES, THE STUDENTS WILL BE GIVEN CREDITS, CERTIFICATES AND DEGREES DEPENDING UPON RESPECTIVE COURSES.

RECENTLY, DR. BALWANT SINGH DHILLON AND DR.KASHMIR SINGH FROM GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY DELIVERED LECTURES ON SIKHISM AT CLAREMONT UNIVERSITY.A DECISION WAS THAT CLAREMONT AND GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITIES WILL WORK TOGETHER AS SISTER UNIVERSITIES. STUDENTS  FROM CLAREMONT UNIVERSITY WILL GO TO GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY EVERY YEAR.THEY WILL BE THE GUESTS OF GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY WHERE THEY WOULD ATTEND SIKH RELIGION CLASSES.THEY WILL ALSO TOUR PUNJAB WITH A VIEW TO LEARN PUNJABI CULTURE. ON BEHALF OF GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY, DR. DHILLON , DIRECTOR OF CENTER FOR STUDIES ON SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB AND DR.PHILLIP CLAYTON WILL COORDINATE THESE VISITS ON BEHALF OF CLAREMONT UNIVERSITY. FOR THIS PURPOSE, DR. CLAYTON WILL BE VISITING AMRITSAR LATER THIS YEAR.

 IN ADDITION TO ABOVE STUDIES, REGULAR SEMINARS ON SIKHISM WILL ALSO BE HELD AT CLAREMONT UNIVERSITY ON A REGULAR BASIS. VISITING SIKH SCHOLARS WOULD BE INVITED TO GIVE THESE LECTURES. IN ADDITION, SIKH ARTS AND ARTIFACTS EXHIBITION WILL BE DISPLAYED IN CLAREMONT UNIVERSITY. THIS EXHIBITION WILL NOT ONLY BE FOR STUDENTS OF SIKHISM BUT FOR EVERYONE VISITING THE UNIVERSITY.

A SIKH LIBRARY IS COMING UP AT CLAREMONT UNIVERSITY. PRESENTLY,BOOKS ARE BEING DONATED BY LOCAL AS WELL AS PEOPLE FROM PUNJAB. EVERYONE IS ENCOURAGED TO DONATE BOOKS FOR THIS NOBLE CAUSE

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Dr. Balwant Singh Dhillon; Director, Centre for Studies on Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He has been Professor and Head, Department of Guru Nanak Studies, Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Religious Studies and has also served on the Senate and Syndicate of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Graduate of History from Rajasthan Uni & Religious Studies from Pbi Uni, Doctoral Degree from GNDU ‘The Sikh Gurus and the Mughal State’. 34 years teaching and research experience. Specializes in the study and analysis of documents/manuscripts in Rajasthani, Hindi, Gurmukhi and Persian. Keen scholar of religion and literature. So far he has published/edited a dozen of books and contributed more than hundred papers published in research journals, books and encyclopedias. Earlier works ‘Parmukh Sikh te Sikh Panth’ an exhaustive account of the expansion of Sikh Panth during the early 17th century and ‘Early Sikh Scriptural Tradition: Myth and Reality’ responds to the issues of the textual studies of the Sikh scripture. Critical text of ‘Sri Gur Panth Parkash (by Rattan Singh Bhangoo)’. His latest work on the Eighteenth Century Persian Historiography on Banda Singh Bahadur brings into light a number of contemporary and eye witness accounts which have remained ignored by the scholars. Editor of two research journals- Journal of Sikh Studies, and Perspectives on Guru Granth Sahib both published by GNDU. He has organized a number of National and International seminars/conferences at GNDU,North America and Europe. His participation in seminars/conferences at National and International level has been very constant and fruitful. His contribution to the field of Sikh Studies, especially the study of Sikh scripture, history and religion, the Sikh institutions and their role in the formation of Sikh identity, analysis of contemporary sources of the Sikh tradition and several other debatable issues in Sikh history and religion is commendable. Presently he is working on two projects--Rajasthani Sources of the Sikh History and Persian Sources on the Sikh Gurus.

Dr Kashmir Singh has taught law in different Indian Universities for nearly four decades. He retired as a Professor from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He also served as the Dean and Head of the Department of Laws there. He is a life member of the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi and was also an executive member of the Institute. He has been a member of Lok Adalt for about a decade. His area of interest is Law relating to Sikhs. He has authored four books focusing on different Sikh Gurdwaras enactments. His articles on Sikh legal affairs has been appearing in Sikh journals like ‘Sikh Review’, Abstracts of Sikh Studies and others and in some books and newspapers. He has contributed in drafting of Pakistan Sikh Marriage Ordinance 2008, some amendments in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act 1925 and All India Sikh Gurdwaras Bill.