Eleanor Margaret Nesbitt | |
---|---|
Born | 1951 Bournemouth, UK |
Known for | Research in religious socialisation, Hinduism, Sikhism, Punjab Studies |
Title | Professor |
Spouse | Ram Krishan |
Parent(s) | Martha Eleanor Nesbitt, William Ralph Nesbitt |
Academic background | |
Education | Girton College, Cambridge |
Thesis | The religious lives of Sikh children in Coventry (1995) |
Doctoral advisor | Professor Robert Jackson |
Influences | <W.Hew McLeod, John Bowker, Robert Jackson> |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Religious Studies, |
Institutions | University of Warwick |
Eleanor Nesbitt (b.1951) is a British emeritus professor in Education studies at the University of Warwick,and a founding member of the UK's Punjab Research Group and the Journal of Sikh and Punjab Studies as well as coediting Brill's Encyclopedia of Sikhism. [1] [2] [3]
Eleanor Nesbitt was born in 1951 to Martha Eleanor Nesbitt and William Ralph Nesbitt. [4] [5] She attended Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth before studying classics and theology at Girton College,Cambridge. [4] [6] [7]
Nesbitt completed teacher training at Oxford before travelling to India. [4] There,she taught in Nainital from 1974 to 1977. [4] [6] After returning to England in 1977 she spent two years teaching in a comprehensive school in Coventry,and subsequently carried out research in Nottingham. [4] She became professor in education studies at the University of Warwick. [6] [ when? ]
Nesbitt published studies on Sikh children in Coventry in 1991,1997,1999,2000,2004,and 2009. [8] Her 1993 book titled Hindu children in Britain co-authored with Robert Jackson,is considered by several scholars in religious studies,including Dermot Killingley,as important in that field. [9] [10] [11] In 1998 she conducted a study on British,Asian,and Hindu identity. [12] In 2001 she published her research on what Hindus in the UK believed. [13] [14]
In her 2024 book titled Sikh:Two Centuries of Western Women’s Art &Writing,she lists western women who had encounters with Sikhs. [15] [16]
In 2003 Nesbitt delivered the Swarthmore Lecture,and in 2009 gave the George Richardson lecture. [6] [17]
Hindus are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent.
Sikhism, also known as Sikhi, is an Indian religion and philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religions and among the largest in the world with about 25–30 million adherents, known as Sikhs.
In Sikhism, a langar is the community kitchen of a gurdwara, which serves meals to all free of charge, regardless of religion, caste, gender, economic status, or ethnicity. People sit on the floor and eat together, and the kitchen is maintained and serviced by Sikh community volunteers who are doing seva. The meals served at a langar are always lacto-vegetarian.
The term Khalsa refers to both a community that follows Sikhism as its religion, as well as a special group of initiated Sikhs. The Khalsa tradition was initiated in 1699 by the Tenth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh. Its formation was a key event in the history of Sikhism. The founding of Khalsa is celebrated by Sikhs during the festival of Vaisakhi.
Varna, in the context of Hinduism, refers to a social class within a hierarchical traditional Hindu society. The ideology of varna is epitomized in texts like Manusmriti, which describes and ranks four varnas, and prescribes their occupations, requirements and duties, or Dharma.
Ron Geaves is a British scholar of religious studies who was professor of the comparative study of religion at Liverpool Hope University in England, retiring in December 2013. He was formerly Programme Leader and Chair in religious studies at the University of Chester in England (2001-2007) and Head of Department at the University of Chichester (1999-2001). He was chair of the Muslims in Britain Research Network (2007-2010) and instrumental in the creation of BRAIS, remaining on their advisory board.
Kaur, sometimes spelled as Kour, is a surname or a part of a personal name primarily used by the Sikh and some Hindu women of the Punjab region. It is also sometimes translated as 'lioness', not because this meaning is etymologically derived from the name, but as a parallel to the Sikh male name Singh, which means 'lion'.
The Bengal Renaissance, also known as the Bengali Renaissance, was a cultural, social, intellectual, and artistic movement that took place in the Bengal region of the British Raj, from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. Historians have traced the beginnings of the movement to the victory of the British East India Company at the 1757 Battle of Plassey, as well as the works of reformer Raja Rammohan Roy, considered the "Father of the Indian Renaissance," born in 1772. Nitish Sengupta stated that the movement "can be said to have … ended with Rabindranath Tagore," Asia's first Nobel laureate.
Mahar is one of the Indian caste found largely in the state of Maharashtra and neighbouring areas. Most of the Mahar community followed B. R. Ambedkar in converting to Buddhism in the middle of the 20th century. As of 2017 the Mahar caste was designated as a Scheduled Caste in 16 Indian states.
Sant Mat was a spiritual movement on the Indian subcontinent during the 13th–17th centuries CE. The name literally means "teachings of sants", i.e. mystic Hindu saints. Through association and seeking truth by following sants and their teachings, a movement was formed. Theologically, the teachings are distinguished by inward, loving devotion by the individual soul (atma) to the Divine Principal God (Parmatma). Socially, its egalitarianism distinguishes it from the caste system, and from Hindus and Muslims. Sant Mat is not to be confused with the 19th-century Radha Soami, also known as contemporary "Sant Mat movement".
Hinduism and Sikhism are Indian religions. Hinduism has pre-historic origins, while Sikhism was founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak. Both religions share many philosophical concepts such as karma, dharma, mukti, and maya although both religions have different interpretation of some of these concepts.
The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic instance of social classification based on castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially in the aftermath of the collapse of the Mughal Empire and the establishment of the British Raj. It is today the basis of affirmative action programmes in India as enforced through its constitution. The caste system consists of two different concepts, varna and jati, which may be regarded as different levels of analysis of this system.
The Bhatra Sikhs are a group within the Sikhs who originated from the bards of the time of Guru Nanak.
Bandi Chhor Divas, also known as Bandi Chhor Dihara, is a Sikh celebration commemorating the day when the sixth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Hargobind, and 52 Hindu kings were released from Gwalior Fort, who had been imprisoned by Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Emperor Jahangir had held 52 Kings at the Gwalior Fort for several months. Gurdwara Data Bandi Chhor Sahib is located at the place of the Guru's internment in the Fort. The day falls in autumn and often overlaps with Hindu Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated across Punjab and the rest of India. Historically, from the time of the third Sikh Guru Amar Das, Sikhs and Hindus of the time used the occasion of Diwali, Vaisakhi and other such festivals to congregate at the seat of the Gurus. In 2003, Sikh religious leaders and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee led by Prof. Kirpal Singh Badungar formally adopted this day into the Nanakshahi calendar.
Sikhism prohibits idolatry, in accordance with mainstream Khalsa norms and the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, a position that has been accepted as orthodox.
The Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 was a piece of legislation in British India which legally defined Sikh identity and brought Sikh gurdwaras under the control of an elected body of orthodox Sikhs.
The Punjabi calendar is a luni-solar calendar used by the Punjabi people in Punjab, Hindkowan People in Hazara and around the world, but varies by religions. Muslims in these regions used it for agricultural purpose as it correspond well with the climate and seasons of the area while hindus and sikhs also used for religious purposes.
Robert Mason David "Bob" Jackson is a British educator and educational researcher working in the fields of religious and intercultural education in the UK and internationally, and in educational policy at the European level. He has authored several influential books on an inclusive form of religious education in which young people learn together about religious and world view diversity, and has contributed to policy development on the religious dimension of intercultural education for the Council of Europe. He has written and presented educational broadcasts for BBC Education, and has edited both professional and academic journals. His work has been influential in a variety of countries beyond Europe. Away from academic work, he is a jazz musician and poet.
Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, also known as Nikky Singh, is an Indian-born American scholar in Sikhism, and professor and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, USA.
William Owen Cole, was a British scholar in religious studies, including Sikhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, and Buddhism.