American Academy of Religion (AAR)
In a world where religion plays so central a role in social, political, and
economic events, as well as in the lives of communities and individuals, there
is a critical need for ongoing reflection upon and understanding of religious
traditions, issues, questions,and values. The American Academy of Religion's
mission is to promote such reflection through excellence in scholarship and
teaching in the field of religion. As a learned society and professional association
of teachers and research scholars, the American Academy of Religion has over
8,000 members who teach in some 1,500 colleges, universities, seminaries, and
schools in North America and abroad. The Academy is dedicated to furthering
knowledge of religion and religious institutions in all their forms and manifestations.
This is accomplished through Academy-wide and regional conferences and meetings,
publications, programs, and membership services. Within a context of free inquiry
and critical examination, the Academy welcomes all disciplined reflection on
religion--both from within and outside of communities of belief and practice--and
seeks to enhance its broad public understanding.
American Institute of Indian Studies
American knowledge of India is shaped by the American Institute of Indian Studies,
a consortium of universities and colleges in the United States at which scholars
actively engage in teaching and research about India. For more than thirty years,
the Institute has provided fellowship support for senior American scholars and
Ph.D. candidates. It has offered on-site training in Indian languages through
the superb facilities of its Language Centers. And it has extended knowledge
of Indian culture through its two research centers. More than 3,500 scholars
have received AIIS support. Their work has spanned fields ranging from anthropology
to zoology. The results of their work has resulted in literally hundreds of
books and thousands of articles, the basis of America's knowledge about India.
American Oriental Society
The American Oriental Society is the oldest learned society in the United States
devoted to a particular field of scholarship. The Society was founded in 1842,
preceded only by such distinguished organizations of general scope as the American
Philosophical Society (1743), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1780),
and the American Antiquarian Society (1812). From the beginning its aims have
been humanistic. The encouragement of basic research in the languages and literatures
of Asia has always been central in its tradition. This tradition has come to
include such subjects as philology, literary criticism, textual criticism, paleography,
epigraphy, linguistics, biography, archaeology, and the history of the intellectual
and imaginative aspects of Oriental civilizations, especially of philosophy,
religion, folklore and art. The scope of the Society's purpose is not limited
by temporal boundaries: All sincere students of man and his works in Asia, at
whatever period of history are welcomed to membership.
Asiatica Association
The aims and purposes carried on by our organization include, but are not limited
to, the publication of works related to the fields of Asian Studies; the coordination
of the work of professionals, NGOs, and laymen; the stimulation of an international
debate on Human Rights issues related to our topics.
Association of Asian Studies (AAS)
The Association for Asian Studies (AAS), the largest society of its kind in
the world, is a scholarly, non-political, non-profit professional association
open to all persons interested in Asia. It seeks through publications, meetings,
and seminars to facilitate contact and an exchange of information among scholars
to increase their understanding of East, South, and Southeast Asia. It counts
among its members scholars, business people, diplomats, journalists, and interested
lay persons.
British Association for
South Asian Studies (BASAS)
Welcome to the World Wide Web homepage of the British Association for South
Asian Studies (BASAS), the largest UK organization for those interested in studying
the art, culture, economies, history, religion, sociology and/or politics of
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.
Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded by the eminent
Sanskrit scholar Henry Thomas Colebrooke, on 15 March 1823. In August of the
following year, the Society received its first Royal Charter for "the investigation
of subjects connected with, and for the encouragement of, science, literature
and the arts in relation to Asia". The powers derived from that Charter were
brought up to date by a supplemental Royal Charter in 1987. The Society is affiliated
to half a score of similarly titled Societies in the East, some of which regard
themselves as Branches of the RAS and one or two of which are even older than
it is.
Società Indologica "Luigi Pio Tessitori"
The Società Indologica was established in Udine in 1993.
World
Association of Vedic Studies
A major conference, '"International Conference on Indus Sarasvati Age and Ancient
India," was held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, from October 4-6, 1996 with over
300 participants from all over the world - U.S.A., India, Nepal, Caribbean,
Belgium, U. K., Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Mauritius, Mexico, Austria, and
Surinam, etc. It was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago,
Hon'ble Basdeo Panday, and participants included leading archaeologists, historians,
philosophers, political-scientists, linguists, religionists, Sanskritists, Vedic-scholars,
scientists, engineers and persons of medicine. The participants, being greatly
impressed by the quality of presentations and organization, in the concluding
session, decided to form an academic organization to hold similar conferences
and to build other academic activities for Vedic studies.