Indic Health Conference II.
Ayurvedic Identities Past and Present:
The Case of Modern and Global Ayurveda
2-3 July 2004

On Friday 2 and Saturday 3 July 2004 the Dharam Hinduja Institute of Indic
Research (DHIIR),
based at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, will host its 8th
International Conference.
The conference will discuss the Case of Modern and Global Ayurveda as part of a
larger project,
the Indic Health and Medicine Research Programme (IHMRP), which has been the
focus of DHIIR
research since October 2000.

This innovative programme has been developed to explore the nature, history and
practical
applicability of yoga- and Ayurveda-inspired approaches to health, medicine and
wellbeing in the
context of modern and developed societies. The IHMRP’s main object is to
contextualise and clarify
– and make explicit - the contributions that Indic traditions have made in the
fields of modern
health, medicine and wellbeing, and how these contributions have been altered,
enriched,
developed and (re)interpreted during such processes of propagation and
acculturation. The
programme’s practical aim is to gather, critically evaluate and eventually
disseminate knowledge
about how yogic and ayurvedic traditions have been, are being and can be adapted
to modern
needs and conditions, so as to be used efficiently and in discerning fashion for
fostering human
health and wellbeing.

The first part of the IHMRP (2000-2002) focussed on studies relating to the
emergence and
growth of Modern Yoga and research in this area is still ongoing. Part II
(2002-2004) is dedicated
to research on the history and development of Modern and Global Ayurveda.
‘Modern Ayurveda’ is
here understood to start with the processes of professionalisation and
institutionalisation brought
about in India by what has been called the 19th century revivalism of Ayurveda.
‘Global Ayurveda’,
on the other hand, refers to the more cosmopolitan and geographically widespread
processes of
popularisation and acculturation set in motion in the 1980s. Ayurvedic
approaches to health and
wellbeing are just starting to be recognised and, to a lesser extent, integrated
in the context of
modern medical sciences and healthcare outside of India. Assimilation at the
level of
complementary or integrative forms of medicine and self-care has however been
more
widespread, and this phenomenon deserves scholarly attention as symptomatic of
needs and
aspirations felt by a sizeable number of individuals in developed communities
worldwide.

An international network of scholars, practitioners and experts (most of whom
will have taken part
in a specialists’ workshop organized by the DHIIR in December 2003) will present
their research at
the 2004 Conference. Their presentations will cover a wide range of
methodological points of
view, discussing the case of Modern and Global Ayurveda from historical,
textual, philosophical,
anthroplogical, socio-political, economic, biomedical and pharmacological
perspectives.

For up to date information on the conference please see
http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/CARTS/dhiir/indic/conf04.html
For information on the IHMRP as well as the DHIIR’s work in general, please see
http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/CARTS/dhiir/
Enquiries can also be made by post or by email. The contact address is:
DHIIR
Faculty of Divinity
University of Cambridge
West Road
Cambridge CB3 9BS
Tel: 44 (0) 1223 763 013
Fax: 44 (0) 1223 763014
E-mail: dhiir@...


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