History and Legacy of the CRSI/CSRI

For fifty years, the Conference on the Study of Religions of India (CSRI) has played an important role in the development of scholarship on the religious practices, texts, and communities of the Indian subcontinent. In the years since its establishment, many important edited books and special journal issues have emerged out of CSRI meetings. Countless other stand-alone articles and book chapters were first presented as papers at CSRI annual and bi-annual meetings.

Originally named the Conference on Religion in South India (CRSI), the scholarly organization was founded during a meeting held at the University of Rochester in 1970. Its early organizers, who included Harry Buck, Fred Clothey, Guy Welbon, and John Carman, sought to develop annual opportunities for scholars of specifically South Indian traditions to present and discuss their ongoing research. The first coordinator of CRSI was Harry Buck, who served 1971-1984.

From its inception, CRSI was intended to provide an informal venue, usually on college and university campuses, for scholars to present their work-in-progress with intellectual generosity as a governing principle. Over the years the conference met annually and was viewed as a kind of continuing “start-up” for the development of new scholarship in the growing field of the study of religion in the distinctive areas of South India. It would later be expanded to include linkages to north India and the Indian diasporas around the world.

Typically one or two scholars took charge of developing a theme for the meeting for each year, circulating it among any colleagues whose research could contribute to and benefit from presentation and discussion. CRSI meetings maintained a consistent focus on the academic study of religion within the broad dimensions of the humanities and liberal arts.

The CRSI remained an independent organization, financially supported largely by the participating members, with host institutions often donating facilities and providing other on-site support. In any given year, around twenty colleagues—senior scholars and new colleagues completing dissertations—had opportunities for extended conversations. The chief value of the CRSI for its participants was the small-scale collegiality that was less available at larger conferences such as the American Academy of Religion, the Association for Asian Studies, and the South Asia Conference hosted by the University of Wisconsin.

Paul Courtright served as chairman of CRSI from 1985 to 2001. During this period, Emory University provided some administrative support to the organization. In 2004, Selva J. Raj of Albion College became chairman of the conference, when it was renamed the Conference on the Study of Religions of India (CSRI) and its scope was broadened beyond South India to include other regions of South Asia and transnational and diasporic communities of Indian origin. For the years 2005-2007 Albion College served as the host institution, providing administrative and technical support for the conference and its website. With Selva Raj’s unexpected death in 2008, a CSRI Executive Committee (Corinne Dempsey, William Harman, Tracy Pintchman, and Brian Pennington) was formed to assume responsibility for long-term planning and organization. From 2008-2014, Loyola University Chicago provided administrative and technical support for CSRI. From 2008-2016 Corinne Dempsey chaired the Executive Committee, whose members during that time also included William Harman and Karen Pechilis. From 2014, Elon University and Butler University have respectively managed the finances and website for the organization. In 2016 Brian Pennington assumed the chair of the committee, which currently includes Chad Bauman, Reid Locklin, and Archana Venkatesan.

List of CRSI/CSRI Meeting Themes, Sites, and Organizers

(We have done our best to compile information about all past meetings, but the list below is still incomplete. It will be updated as we are able. If you have information about any meeting not included below, please send it to the Chair of the Executive Committee.)

1970	Organizational Meeting, University of Rochester
1971	"Religious Festivals in South India"
	Haverford College, Haverford, PA
	Guy R. Welbon
1972	"“Sri Vaisnava Traditions and Contemporary Expressions”
	Pine Manor Junior College, Chestnut Hill, MA
	John Carman
1973	"Saivism in South India”
	University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
	Guy R. Welbon
1974	"The Devi in South Indian Religion”
	University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
	Guy R. Welbon
1975	“Questions of Identity in the Encounter of Religious Communities in South India”
	Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
	Dennis Hudson
1976	“The Sacred Center as a Socio-Religious Category in South Indian Religion”
	University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
	Bruce Long
1977	“Colloquium on Bhakti”
	University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
	Guy R. Welbon
1978	“Sexuality and Religion”
	Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA
	Suzanne Hanchett
1979	“Plant Symbolism in the Religions of India”
	Martha’s Vineyard, MA
	James Norton
1980	“Purity and Auspiciousness”
	George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
	Frederique Marglin and John Carman/td>
1981	“Image Worship: The Problem of Spirit in Matter”
	Krisheim Study Center, Philadelphia, PA
	Joanne Punzo Waghorne
1982	“The Human and the Divine”
	Gilmary Diocesan Center, near Pittsburgh, PA
	Norman Cutler and Vasudha Narayanan
1983	“Spiritual Unity and Social Equality”
	Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA
	Lisa Vail
1984	“Heroic Figures”
	Center of Renewal, Stella Niagara, NY
	Trish Mumme
1985	“Criminal Gods and Demon Devotees”
	George Washington University, Washington, DC
	Alf Hiltebeitel
1986	“Women’s Lives and the Life of Women”
	Craigville Retreat Center, Craigville (Cape Cod), MA
	Mary McGee
1987	Theme and organizer unknown
	Montreal, Quebec
1988	Theme unknown
	National Humanities Center, Research Triangle, NC
	Paul Courtright
1990	Theme and organizer unknown
	Northampton, MA
1991	Theme unknown
	Williams College
	David Haberman
1993	“Lives, Texts and Genders in Tamil Literature and Culture”
	University of Texas, Austin
	Organizer unknown/td>
1994	Theme possibly “Food and Religion”
	Site and organizer unknown
1995	Theme unknown
	University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN
	David Haberman
1996	“Non-Hindu Traditions of South India”
	Granby, Colorado
	Organizer unknown
1998	“Nocturnal Realities in South Indian Religions”
	University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
	Vasudha Narayanan
2005	“Modern Constructions of the Miraculous and the Mysterious”
	Albion College, Albion, MI
	Selva Raj
2006	“Material Religion in South Asian Traditions”
	Loyola University, Chicago, IL
	Tracy Pintchman
2007	“Religion and the Body in Indian Religions”
	Albion College, Albion, MI
	Selva Raj
2008	“Confounding and Contesting Religious and Cultural Boundaries”
	Maryville College, Maryville, TN
	Brian K. Pennington
2009	“Ritual Innovation in South Asian Religions”
	Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI
	Carol Anderson
2010	"Arguments, Oppositions, and Conflicts"
	University of St. Michael’s College, in the University of Toronto
	Reid Locklin
2011	“Altered and Alternative States”
	Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
	Chris Chapple
2013	"Not Quite Divine: Co-stars and Supporting Casts in South Asian Religions"
	Drew University, Madison, NJ
	Karen Pechilis
2014	Butler University, Indianapolis, IN
	Maryville College, Maryville, TN
	Chad Bauman
2016	“Dignity, Destruction, Wealth, and Waste: Social and Environmental (In)Justice in South Asian Religion”
	Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI
	Carol Anderson
2018	“Dissimulation, Deception, Illusion, and Subterfuge in South Asian Religions”
	University of California, Davis
	Archana Venkatesan
2020	“Containment, Collection, and Arrangement in South Asian Religions” (Postponed due to COVID-19)
	University of Madras, Chennai
	James Ponniah
2022	“Prayer, Penitence, and Practice”
	Colby College, Waterville, ME
	Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh