Dr. Gerald James Larson is RabindranathTagore Professor Emeritus of Indian Cultures and Civilization, Indiana University, Bloomington, and Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Larson is the author or editor of some twelve books and well over 100 scholarly articles on cross-cultural philosophy of religion, history of religions, classical Sanskrit and South Asian history and culture. His recent books include India's Agony Over Religion (SUNY Press, 1995, and Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1997), Changing Myths and Images (Indiana University Art Museum, 1997), and Religion and Personal Law in Seculall to Judgment (Indiana University Press,2002, and Social Science Press, New Delhi, 2002). His most recent publication is Volume XII of the Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, co-edited with the late Dr. Ram Shankar Bhattacharya, entitled Yoga: India's Philosophy of Meditation (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2008). Also, a collection of essays has been published in his honour, Theory and Practice of Yoga: Essays in Honour of Gerald James Larson, edited by Knut A. Jacobsen (Leiden: Brill, 2005; Indian paperback edition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2008). During his career at UC Santa Barbara, he received the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Academic Senate, UCSB (1989).

CURRICULUM VITAE

NAME: Gerald James Larson

CURRENT POSITION: Rabindranath Tagore Professor Emeritus, Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University, Bloomington

Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies, Department of
Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Research Professor (visiting professor on part-time recall),
Program in Religious Studies, University of California, Irvine (2011- )

FIELD: History of Religions; Comparative Religions; Comparative Philosophy; Religions and Philosophies of South and Southeast Asia; Pali and Sanskrit

GRADUATE EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

M.Div. 1963 Union Theological Seminary, New York City
Ph.D. 1967 Columbia University, New York City
(Field: History of Religions; Indian Religions; Comparative Philosophy)
(Languages: Vedic and Classical Sanskrit, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan)
(Dissertation: "Classical Samkhya: An Interpretation of its History and Meaning"; received "with distinction")

TEACHING AREAS

Primary: History of Religions, Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion, Religions and Philosophies of India, Hindu traditions, Buddhist traditions in South and Southeast Asia, Classical Sanskrit texts (literature and philosophy), Pali, and Vedic Sanskrit

Secondary: Asian Religions, Oriental Civilization (East Asia and South and Southeast Asia), Oriental Humanities (East Asia and South and Southeast Asia), Comparative Literature, Comparative Philosophy, South Asian Art and Iconography

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENT

Tutor, Old Testament, ancient Near Eastern Studies, Hebrew, Union Theological Seminary, New York City (1964-67)
Preceptor in Religion, Columbia University, New York (1965-66)
Preceptor in Oriental Humanities, Columbia University (1966-67)
Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (1967-68)
Post-Doctoral Research Scholar, College of Indology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India (1968-69)

Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (1969-70)
Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (1970-72)
Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (1972-1995)

Rabindranath Tagore Professor of Indian Cultures and Civilizations, and Director, India Studies Program, Indiana University, Bloomington (1995-2003)

Honorary Visiting Professor, Department of Philosophy, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India (1976-77)
Honorary Visiting Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Lancaster, Lancaster, England (spring 1983)
Interim (founding) Director, Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, University of California, Santa Barbara (1987-88)

Director, India Studies Program, Indiana University, Bloomington (1995-2003)

Rabindranath Tagore Professor Emeritus, Indiana University, Bloomington (2003-present)

Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies (1995-present)

Research Professor (visiting professor on part-time recall), Program in Religious Studies, University of California, Irvine (2011- )

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Chair, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (1971-76)

Chair, Program in Asian Studies, UC Santa Barbara (1972-73)

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, UC Santa Barbara (1979-1980)

Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, UC Santa Barbara, (1980-1982)

(Founding) Director, Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, UC Santa Barbara (1987-88) and Chair of Search Committee to appoint a permanent Director (1987-88)

Director of Academic Programs, Education Abroad Program, India Center, Delhi University
(l984-l99l)

Graduate Adviser (Director of Graduate Studies), Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara (1983-87)

Chair, Committee on Research and Scholarship, American Academy of Religion (1993-1999)

Member, Board of Directors, American Academy of Religion (1993-1999)

Director, India Studies Program Indiana University, Bloomington (1995-2003)

HONORS, AWARDS, EXTRAMURAL FUNDRAISING, GRANTS

Rockefeller Dissertation Fellowship (1966-67)
Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Study in Asia, Society for Religion in Higher Education (1968-69)
Senior Fellow, East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii (1971)
Senior Fellow, American Institute of Indian Studies, for research in India (1976-77)
Senior Fellow, Indo-U.S. Subcommission on Education and Culture, for research in India (1976-77)
Foreign Research Fellow, Centre for Science Development, Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) University of Durban-Westville, University of Cape Town and UNISA (University of South Africa, Pretoria), South Africa (l994)

Vice President, American Oriental Society, Western Division (1973-74)
Vice President, Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy (1976-77)
President, Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy (1982-85)

Distinguished Teaching Award, UCSB Alumni Association and Academic Senate (at-large award for 1989)

Principal Investigator (with Pratapaditya Pal and Rebecca Gowen), $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for an art exhibition, catalog and symposium program entitled "In Her Image: The Great Goddess in Indian Asia and the Madonna in Christian Culture" (1979-80)

Principal Investigator (Organizer/Director), First International Research Conference for Asian and Comparative Philosophy, Honolulu, Hawaii, August 1984 with grants from NEH, The Rowny Foundation, the University of Hawaii Foundation, the East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii and the Institute for Philosophy and Religion, Boston, and UC Santa Barbara, $25,000

Principal Investigator, $35,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a project entitled "Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone: The Prospects for Graduate Education in Religious Studies in the Secular University," 1985-86, UCSB

Principal Investigator and Project Director, Title VI-A International Studies Grant, approximately $300,000 ($100,000 per year for 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000), Office of Education, Washington, D.C.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

President, United Ministries in Higher Education, Southern California Region Commission (1985, 1986)
Member, Presbytery of New York City (1963-66)
Member, Presbytery of Knoxvile (1967-1969
Chair, Committee on Ministry, Presbytery of Santa Barbara (1987-1990)
Commissioner, 205th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (1993)
Moderator-elect, Presbytery of Santa Barbara (1993-94), Moderator, Presbytery of Santa Barbara (1994-95)
Member, Presbytery of Ohio Valley (1995-2003)
Member, Presbytery of Santa Barbara (1970-1995, 2003-2008)
Member, Presbytery of Los Ranchos (2008 – present)

PRINCIPAL PUBLICATIONS: Books

1969 Classical Samkhya: An Interpretation of its History and Meaning. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. 312 pp.

1974 Myth in Indo-European Antiquity. Editor. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 197 pp.

1979 Classical Samkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning. Delhi: Banarsidass, and Santa Barbara: Ross-Erikson. Revised, second edition.

1980 In Her Image: The Great Goddess in Indian Asia and the Madonna in Christian Culture . Art Exhibition Catalog. Principal Editor, with Pratapaditya Pal and Rebecca Gowen. Regents of the University of California and the National Endowment for the Arts. 127 pp.

1987 Samkhya: A Dualist Tradition in Indian Philosophy. Edited with Ram Shankar Bhattacharya. Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume IV. Princeton University Press. 674 pp.

1988 Interpreting Across Boundaries: New Essays in Comparative Philosophy. Edited with Eliot Deutsch. Princeton University Press. 316 pp.

1995 India's Agony Over Religion. State University of New York Press. 393 pp.

1997 Changing Myths and Images: Twentieth Century Popular Art in India. Edited with Pratapaditya Pal. Indiana University Art Museum and the Indiana University India Studies Program. 64 pp.

1997 India's Agony Over Religion. Oxford University Press, Delhi. Indian edition of 1995 SUNY book. 393 pp.

2001 Classical Samkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning. New hard cover and paperback reprint of Second Revised Edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2001 Reprint. 315 pp.

2001 Religion and Personal Law in Secular India: A Call to Judgment. Editor. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2001; and Social Science Press, Delhi. 362 pp.

2008 Yoga: India's Philosophy of Meditation, Edited by Gerald J. Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya, Volume XII, Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, General Editor: Karl H. Potter. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2008. 782pp.

2018 Classical Yoga Philosophy and the Legacy of Samkhya, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1028  pp. Please visit Amazon for purchase information (click here) Book now out; available thru MLBD or Amazon (US or India); see pdf of Preface, item 173 of CV.

PUBLICATIONS (Articles and Reviews)

IN PRESS