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The Jain tradition is famous for its commitments to non-violence, non-possession, religious tolerance, and charity. The Jain Studies program at LMU seeks to promote these values for the benefit of LMU's students and the world at large.
Dr. Christopher Chapple has been a pioneer of Jain Studies at LMU since his arrival to the university in 1985 through his teaching, his numerous books and articles about the Jain tradition, and his extensive work with the Jain community both in the United States and in India. In 2019, Dr. Christopher Miller became the Bhagwan Mallinath Assistant Professor of Jain Studies, thereby augmenting the university's course offerings and research in Jain Studies.
The study of Jainism has much to offer LMU's undergraduate community in order to fulfill the university's Jesuit mission at large, which seeks to foster:
- the encouragement of learning
- the education of the whole person and
- the service of faith and the promotion of justice
In the News
- LA Times (May 2021) - "Little known outside India, Jainism spreads at colleges amid calls to 'decolonize' studies"
Initiatives
Dr. Christopher Miller has been nominated and appointed to chair the new and upcoming "Thanksgiving Meals and Fasting Committee" for the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA). At the request of the Jain community, each year on Thanksgiving he will oversee the organization of an online global fast with 1, 000 participants that stands witness to the unnecessary violence and settler colonial mentality involved in the raising and mass slaughter of nearly 50 million turkeys in America for Thanksgiving, as well as the violence of the factory farming system more broadly. The committee will also organize the distribution of 100, 000 animal-free Thanksgiving meals to those in need on the holiday.
More details regarding event registration will be added to this website as the holiday approaches.
Dr. Christopher Chapple established a youtube channel to host open-access, online Jain Studies videos. He has contributed Jain meditations as well as past academic and cultural events held in conjunction with Jain scholars and the Jain community. The channel is located HERE.
In 2020, Dr. Christopher Miller produced the first comprehensive, open-access, and online introduction to Jain Studies lecture series that is available 24/7, worldwide on this channel. Click HERE to view the 14-part lecture series on youtube.
On Jan. 26, 2021, the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts at Loyola Marymount University hosted a virtual event celebrating a gift from the Jain Community establishing the Bhagwan Mallinath Professorship of Jain Studies and the installation of Christopher Miller, Ph.D. as the Bhagwan Mallinath Professor of Jain Studies.
About Christopher Miller
As the Bhagwan Mallinath Assistant Professor of Jainism, as well as Yoga Studies, his research considers Jain Veganism and how Jain Food Ethics can be applied to help alleviate some of humanity's most pressing ecological concerns. He is the author of a number of articles and book chapters concerned with Jainism and ecology, the history and practice of modern yoga, yoga and politics, and yoga philosophy. He is also a co-editor of the volume Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age (2019).