Dr Meera Baindur
Associate Professor
Dr. Meera Baindur has over 20 years of teaching experience and over 15 years of research experience. She has been deeply involved in humanities and social science education in India and is passionate about the environmental issues and philosophy. Her teaching and research interests are interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary. She is interested in Indian philosophy and also environmental humanities covering themes such as the conceptualization of nature in Indian thought, ecological and environmental ethics, religion and environment, and sustainability issues. More broadly, her research currently is around lived concepts of Indian philosophy, including place, aesthetics, decoloniality, ecofeminism, and gender issues. She is also a published fiction author.
Qualification: PhD
CURRENT ACADEMIC ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES
Associate Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences
International Relations Co-ordinator, TAPMI, B’Lru
Additional responsibilities: Co-Coordinator MAHE Research Centre, DWEEPA
Date of Joining TAPMI: 6th December 2023
AREAS OF INTEREST, EXPERTISE AND RESEARCH
Area of Interest
Humanities and Social Sciences: Philosophy, Environmental Humanities, Anthropology, and Cultural Geography
Area of Expertise
Philosophy and Indian Knowledge Systems
Area of Research
Themes in Environmental Humanities: such as conceptualization of nature in Indian thought, ecological and environmental ethics, religion and environment, sustainability, Cultural geography and place studies, environmental ethics, and sustainability issues and eco-phenomenology, Philosophy: research on Indian Knowledge Systems Indian Philosophy, and decoloniality, textual and oral traditions, art and aesthetics, lived concepts of Indian philosophy, ecofeminism and gender issues. Applied areas of philosophy such as philosophy of education, philosophy of art and film, and philosophy of language
Professional Affiliations & Contributions
· Globethics.net pool of Expert: https://www.globethics.net/
· Member, Consortium of Environmental Philosophers: www.thinkingintheworld.com
· Highland Fellow: The Highland Institute, Kohima, Nagaland https://highlandinstitute.org/researchfellows/
· India Delegate, International Philosophy Olympiad: https://www.philosophy-olympiad.org/
Publications:
Scopus : 52363216300
Orcid id :0000 0002 1956 5242
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=T_qMNqgAAAAJ&hl=en
Conferences and Workshops
“Beings of the Earth: Nature as Experience in Indian Philosophy” Keynote address at the international conference titled “Morethan Human: Non-Western Philosophies and the Environment on 14th and 15th May 2024, in Antwerp, Belgium, organized by COMPOST collective (Currently NEE), Faculty of Philosophy, Antwerp University
“Alternative view of labour as sacred from the teachings of Sharana-s in Indian Philosophy: Dignity and social finance” presented at the New International Financial Economic Architecture (NIFEA) consultation on labour, 21-23 August 2023, Kuala Lumpur
“Directors as Stars and Star-makers: A Case Study of K. Balachander from Tamil Cinema” paper presented at the conference " Filmi Chakkar: Stardom" by IIMC, Dhenakanal, 14-16 January 2023
“Pedagogic anxieties around The New Education Policy” Conference presentation during two-day national webinar on National Education Policy (NEP), jointly organised by Shillong Commerce College and RV University on 8-9th November 2022
“Nature as matter of beings and the politics of matter in Indian traditions and thought” Keynote lecture (Online) at SIP-Conference: The Political Dimension of Nature: An Intercultural Critique, June 4-6, 2021 organised by Society for Intercultural Philosophy at Tuebingen University, Germany [online]
Speaker and panel member at Faith and Food dialogues, track 5 in conjunction with the UN Food Summit entitled Farm and Food Workers. May 27th, 2021. [online]
“Ecological Consciousness and Ethical Action: Perspectives from Indian Philosophy” Keynote address during Mélange 2020: National Seminar on Environment, Literature, Ecology, and Culture, Exploring Ecological and Cultural Consciousness: A Vision of Equitability, 27 February 2020 [ National]
“Relating to the Environment: Conceptual interventions in Anthropocene from Indian traditions of thought,” paper presentation at a meeting on Dialogue and Liberation, Nairobi, Kenya 22, 23, 24, November 2019. (International, in Kenya)
“Gender, Body and liberation in Hindu traditions,” Paper presented during (International Consultation on Interreligious Dialogue and Liberation Theology, Siam Reap, Cambodia August 21-31, 2018. (International, in Cambodia)
“Gendered Ethics of the Body: Voices and Silences in the Therigatha” presentation at international meeting of the APA Pacific Division in special session arranged by the APA Committee on the Status of Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies, Seattle, USA, April 12-16, 2017. (International, in USA)
“Understanding Body and sexuality in pre-modern Traditions: the Woman, Man, and Progeny" presentation during the national conference on 'Women in Indian Knowledge Tradition: Philosophy, Spirituality, Nature and Culture at Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, February 8-10, 2017. (National)
presentation during international conference: The Culture of Food: Literature & Society, held at MES College, Goa, February 25–27, 2016. [INTERNATIONAL]
“Accommodation, Location, and Context: Conceptualization of Place in Indian Traditions of Thought,” presentation during the Eleventh East-West Philosopher’s Conference (International) held at East West Philosophy Centre, Hawaii, USA from May 24–31, 2016. [INTERNATIONAL]
“Soil, Concrete, and Grass: Surface Ecologies of Urban Landscapes,” presentation during a national workshop on Bangalore’s ‘Great Transformation’ held at National Institute of Advanced Studies, from June 24–25, 2016.
“From Stamp Paper to Brass Bells: Procedures of Petition and Justice in Goludev’s Territory,” presentation during international conference on Non-State Legal Practices in India, Manipal University December 5-7, 2015. [INTERNATIONAL]
Locally Living in a Global World, Virtually,” presentation during the International Summer School on Scientific Objects and Digital Cosmopolitanism held at MCPH from July 20 to 24, 2015. [INTERNATIONAL]
“Women’s Status through the Ages- Tradition and Modern Ethos” Plenary Lecture delivered during Women as Change makers for a Vibrant Society, national conference organised by department of Social Work, Mangalore University, April 28–29, 2015.
“Gendered Ethics: Voices and Silences in Buddhist Texts,” presentation during International Seminar on Contemporary Buddhism: Debates and Applications, organised by Buddhist Studies New Initiatives, Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai, March 19– 21, 2015. [INTERNATIONAL]
“Displacement of Domesticity: Elsewheres of Seeking Transcendence,” Presentation during the international workshop “A Journey to Elsewhere,” organised by Dr. Lori G. Beaman and Dr. Sonia Sikka under the Religion and Diversity Project, University of Ottawa, March 4- 5, 2015. [INTERNATIONAL]
Public Lecture on “Nature in Indian Thought: Sacred Narratives and Place” as a part of the International Lectures Series titled: Critical Thinkers in Religion, Law and Social Theory at the University of Ottawa, Canada, March 3, 2015. [INTERNATIONAL]
“Geography and Place in Jaina Dharma: A Discussion on Jambūdvīpasaṃgrahaṇi,” presentation during the National Workshop on Jaina Dharma in, Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities, Manipal University, February 2–3, 2015.
“Devtha-s, dharthi, and the devbhumi: Practices of Ecological Selves in the Himalayas” presentation during international conference, Towards Ecocultural Ethics: Recent Trends and Future Directions organised by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Goa, October 9–11, 2014. [INTERNATIONAL]
“The Juridical gods of the Himalayan region: A Case Study of Golu devatha” and “Sacred Nature and Divinities: Nature and Religion in contemporary times” lecture presentations during International Summer School on “Transformations of Religion and Culture in India: Views from the Periphery” held in Groningen Netherlands, August 17-24, 2014. [INTERNATIONAL]
“The Curious Case of Conservation: Biology, Management or a Practical Science?” during the national workshop on Science and Religion, , Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities, Manipal University Karnataka, November 9 –10, 2013.
“Mathematics in Ancient India” Presentation for National Workshop on Mathematics and Culture, Ninasam, Heggodu, March, 2013.
Discussant in International meeting on Collaborative Anthropology, supported by Princeton University, USA, co-organized by Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities (MCPH) at Manipal, October 28-31, 2012. [INTERNATIONAL]
“Nature, Body and Woman: An Indian Perspective on Value Dualisms,” during the International Workshop on Sciences and Narratives of Nature: East and West,(co-organized by Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities and Situating Science Strategic Knowledge Cluster of Canada) December 12-14, 2011. [INTERNATIONAL]
“Earthed-experiences of Nature: Place and Nature in Indian Vedic and Purānic thought,” paper presentation for Thinking through Nature: Philosophy for an Endangered World, international conference organised by the International Association of Environmental Philosophers (IAEP) Eugene, Oregon, June 19-22, 2008. [INTERNATIONAL]