Join the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL) and Gender, Sexuality, & Attraction Initiatives (GSAI) for a Women's History Month talk on the many lives of India's Women Poet-Saints.
Drawing on her forthcoming co-authored sourcebook, Women in Hindu Traditions, Professor Bachrach’s talk examines writings attributed to medieval and early modern South Asian women who used lyrical poetry to express passionate devotion to local Hindu deities while critiquing the gendered social norms of their times. Focusing on figures such as the 9th-century Tamil poet Andal, the talk explores how these women—often revered as religious exemplars or “saints”—have also been interpreted as radical social commentators, prompting ongoing contestations over their life stories and reinterpretations of their most celebrated poems.
Lunch will be provided.
Kosher and Halal meals available on request; email ORSL@oberlin.edu to reserve a meal.
Open to all members of the Oberlin campus community
