In this episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Arihanta Institute professor  Christopher Jain Miller, PhD interviews Tine Vekemans, PhD from Ghent University to discuss her groundbreaking book, Digital & Diaspora: Intertwined Frontiers of Contemporary Jainism. Drawing from years of meticulous ethnographic research, Dr. Vekemans offers insights into how Jain communities in Belgium, the UK, and North America are navigating the intersections of diasporic life and digital innovation.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• The Creators of Digital Jain Spaces: Who is building these platforms and for what purposes?
• Motivations Behind Digital Engagement: The role of technology in preserving and transforming religious and cultural identities. Exploring the social, cultural, and religious factors driving the development of these digital environments.
• The Inseparability of Digital and Diaspora: Ethnographic insights from Jain communities in Belgium, the UK, and North America. Understand how virtual spaces and diasporic realities are shaping one another.
• Futures of Jainism in Digital Contexts: Potential trends and implications for Jain communities worldwide. A discussion of the book’s significance as the first major study to explore these themes within Jain Studies.

Dr. Vekemans is also one of the lead organizers of the Dialogues in European Jain Studies Speaker Series. Sign-up for the next session "Consciousness in Jainism" - Jan. 13, 2025. DEJS event RSVP is linked below.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS

• Dialogues in European Jain Studies | Arihanta Institute, Ghent University, University of Birmingham
• Jaina Studies at Ghent University

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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST

Professor Tine Vekemans holds the Ācārya Mahāprajña Chair for Jain Studies at Ghent University. Additionally, she is a postdoctoral research fellow funded by the University’s Special Research Fund (BOF). Her approach to Jain studies combines ethnography with textual study, but always starts from practices and experiences of Jains. Over the past decade, her research touched upon diverse aspects of modern Jainism, including Jain migration history, changing lay-mendicant relations, Jainism in the digital age, and processes of knowledge transfer in the Jain diaspora. Her recent book, Digital & Diaspora – Intertwined Frontiers of Jainism, won the 2023 Bhagwan Kunthunatha Annual Best Book Award.

ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST

Christopher Jain Miller is the co-founder, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute. He completed his PhD in the study of Religion at the University of California, Davis and is also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Zürich's Asien-Orient-Institut and Visiting Professor at Claremont School of Theology where he co-developed and co-runs a remotely available Masters Degree Program focusing on Engaged Jain Studies. His current research focuses on Engaged Jainism and Modern Yoga, and he is the author of a number of articles and book chapters concerned with Jainism and the practice of modern yoga. Christopher is the author of Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation (Routledge 2024), as well as co-editor of the volumes Engaged Jainism: Critical and Constructive Approaches to the Study of Jain Social Engagement (SUNY 2025) and Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age (Lexington 2020).