Naama
Shalom
Associate Professor
- D.Phil, University of Oxford
-
M.A., The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, Israel -
B.A., The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, Israel
Areas of Interest
Naama is a scholar of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Studies. She gained her D.Phil. at the University of Oxford, Balliol College. Her research centers on Indian thought from the Classical Period to interpretations of the modern era. Her dissertation is titled Ends of the Mahabharata a. During her Master’s, Naama wrote a dissertation titled The Therapeutic Power of Speech in the Mahabharata’s ‘Stories of Curse.’
Naama has taught at O.P. Jindal Global University (OPJGU), Open University of Israel, Shalem College, and the Hebrew University. At OPJGU, she was part of the team that established the new Comparative Religion Major. When Naama first joined Jindal University in 2014, she was recruited as part of the founding academic team to construct the new School of Liberal Arts and Humanities (JSLH). Her responsibilities included faculty recruitment; curriculum development; standardization of the programme vis-a-vis India’s higher education authority; active participation in JSLH outreach and admission projects; developing a library of Indological materials; facilitating prospective academic collaborations with various international universities; and teaching and mentoring students.
From 2018 to 2019, Naama initiated and created an annual academic English summer immersion study program for first-year Shalem College Students (33-42 students) in Jindal University, New Delhi. The month-long program included content courses about Indian history, politics, philosophy, legal thought, society and culture; workshops focusing on Indian Art, Music, Cinema and Theatre; and educational field trips to culturally and historically important sites in and around Delhi and Agra.
Publications
Re-ending the Mahaabhaarata; The Rejection of Dharma in the Sanskrit Epic, SUNY Series in Hindu Studies, New York: State University of New York Press, 2017. (248 pages)
“On Curse and the Power of Knowledge; an Upanishadic Reading of a Mahabharata Tale”, co-authored with Yohanan Grinshpon, Numen, Brill [undergoing revision]
“The Liberal-Minded God of Death and the Soul; a Note on Rammohan Roy’s Katthopanissad,” being written for submission to the Journal of Indian Philosophy (co- authored with Yohanan Grinshpon)
“The Assttaavakra Tale (of the Mahaabhaarata) and the Upanishadic Formulation of Birth as Curse (ssapa),” being written for submission to the Journal Numen
“The Absence of Death in the Kattha Upanissad,” being written for submission to the Journal of Indian Philosophy
“The Yoga of Dying: Observations on Bhakti and Surrender in an Editio Princeps of the Svargaarohanna-prabandha,” being written for submission to the Journal Numen
“On Revenge and Just Power; A Note on Dharma, Justice and Curse in Three Tales of the Mahaabhaarata,” being written for submission to the Journal of the American Oriental Society
Discussant in the panel “The Language of the Gods in the Mouths of Men: the Various Aspects of Sanskrit in Indian Literature,” Asian Studies Conference, Tel-Aviv University. June 2012.
“Re-ending the Mahabharata Notes on Meaningful Absence and Careful Omissions in the History of Sanskrit Literature,” Indology Faculty Forum, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. March 2012.
“Ends of the Mahabharata: Literary Retellings of the Great Sanskrit Epic,” Indology Faculty Forum, University of Haifa. January 2012.
“Re-ending the Mahabharata: A Note on Meaningful Absence in the History of Sanskrit Literature,” Indology Graduate Seminar, University of Oxford. November 2011.
“When Does One Depart from the World? — The Voyage of the Mahabharata hero, Yudhisthira, in the Netherworld,” Paper presented in the conference ‘Katabasis in Ancient Cultures,’ Humanities Faculty, the Hebrew University. June 2008.
Awards & Recognitions
2011-2012, Boden Fund Scholarship (full scholarship for the duration of fourth year of doctoral studies), Oriental Institute, University of Oxford
2008-2011, Clarendon Fund Scholarship, University of Oxford, and Balliol College Devorguilla Scholarship (full scholarship for the entire duration of D.Phil Studies)
2009, Sub-Faculty of South and Inner Asian Studies Research Fund, University of Oxford (towards research in India)
2009, Max Muller Fund, the Oriental Institute, University of Oxford (towards research in India)
2007, Sternberg Prize for Interfaith Understanding for outstanding M.A. students in the study of religion, the Hebrew University
2006, Dean’s Prize for outstanding M.A. students in the Faculty of Humanities, the Hebrew University
2005, Rector’s Prize for excellence in M.A. studies, the Hebrew University
2005, Sternberg Prize for Interfaith Understanding for outstanding M.A. students in the study of religion, the Hebrew University
