Camden Conference, in partnership with the Camden Public Library, presents Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, Crawford Professor & Chair of Religious Studies at Colby College, for a talk on the role of Indian art, literature, and film as a glue for global connections on Saturday, September 23 at 4:30 PM.

It is  going to be a hybrid event, taking place in the library’s Picker Room and on Zoom. To attend virutally, register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CWLGttJvScimEEsA74CSCw

Our world is dangerously divided and polarized. Economic disparities, political divisions, environmental devastation, religious wars, fear of immigrants… are only getting worse. Can aesthetics – opposite of anesthesia —serve as an antidote for our modern crises? By heightening our sensibilities, visual and literary creations connect us with our very own self, with fellow humans, and with nature around us. Together we will sample Sikh and Sufi poetry, contemporary art works, and Bollywood film clips.

Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh was born in India and went to Stuart Hall, a girls’ preparatory school in the USA. She received her B.A. in philosophy and religion from Wellesley College, her M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and her Ph.D. from Temple University.

She is the chair of the department and Crawford Family Professor of Religion at Colby College. Her interests focus on poetics and feminist issues. Professor Singh has published extensively in the field of Sikhism, including The Feminine Principle in the Sikh Vision of the Transcendent (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), The Name of My Beloved: Verses of the Sikh Gurus (HarperCollins and Penguin), and Metaphysics and Physics of the Guru Granth Sahib (Sterling). Her book on Sikhism was translated into Japanese. She has lectured widely in North America, England, France, India, and Singapore, and her views have been aired on television and radio in America, Canada, Bangladesh, Australia, Ireland, and India.

This event is presented in anticipation of the 37th Annual Camden Conference, “INDIA: Rising Ambitions, Challenges at Home” taking place live from the Camden Opera House from February 16-18, 2024.