Leading Religious Studies Scholar to Speak at UW Monday

Nov. 29, 2006 -- Noted intellectual Wendy Doniger will discuss "Creation Myths in Hinduism" Monday, Dec. 4, at 5 p.m. in the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture auditorium.

For more than 30 years, Doniger has been described as “one of the most eclectic scholars in the humanities.” She has studied topics as varied as death, dreams, evil, horses, sex, and women, and her work has been termed "at once exactingly learned, strikingly original, exuberantly humane, and refreshingly witty."

Her main teaching and research interests are Hinduism and mythology, but she also draws material from Greek myths, the Hebrew Bible, medieval romance, Shakespeare, and Hollywood. She has taught at the University of Chicago since 1978, where she is currently director of the Martin Marty Center, the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions, and a member of the Committee on Social Thought. Doniger has doctoral degrees from both Harvard and Oxford universities.

Monday’s talk is sponsored by the University Honors Program, the College of Arts and Sciences, the International Studies and Religious Studies programs, Wyoming Honors Organization and the UW departments of English, History and Anthropology.

For more information, call the University Honors Program at (307) 766-4110 or e-mail jkoiter@uwyo.edu.

Posted on Wednesday, November 29, 2006