UPCOMING EVENTS
There are no currently upcoming events, please check back soon!
Due to the pandemic I’m pivoting to the online forum and invitations are coming in. Many events had to be postponed until next year, so those will be rescheduled soon. If you know of any communities that would enjoy my talk on the book don’t hesitate to reach out to me at the following email: feedingathousandsouls@gmail.com.
PAST EVENTS
February 2021 — Feeding a Thousand Souls: Women, Ritual, and Ecology in India—An Exploration of the Kolam Talk. International Webinar on the “Essence of Religious Education to Conserve the Environment.” Seshadripuram Evening Degree College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
December 21, 2020 — Interview with the Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale University.
December 17, 2020 — Lunch Bunch: Feeding a Thousand Souls with Vijaya Nagarajan. Sponsored by the Epworth United Methodist Church in Berkeley, CA. This event is part of a speaking series. Held via zoom at 11:30am.
December 9, 2020 — Interviewed for the Women’s Lit Newsletter, Bay Area Book Festival.
December 3, 2020 — An Interdisciplinary Evening of History, Art, and Math with Ian Hodder, Miriam Dym, and Vijaya Nagarajan. Sponsored by LASER and the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences, Chemical Engineering, Continuing Studies, Office of the Dean, School of Medicine. They spoke on the different intersections of embedded mathematics.
November 22, 2020 — An Exploration of Kolam Painting with Dr. Vijaya Nagarajan. Hosted by SACHI, Society for Art & Cultural Heritage of India. 11:00am – noon. More information.
November 12, 2020 — Panel on Sacred Art as a Medium for Interreligious Dialogue with Dr. Tasim Kassam, Dr. Kathryn Barush, and Dr. Vijaya Nagarajan. They will be exploring dimensions of sacred art as an impetus for interreligious dialogue and engagement. 3:00pm-5:00pm. More information.
June 13, 2020 — Christine O’Brien interviews Vijaya Nagarajan. Bridging: A One-Day Hedgebrook Writing Retreat. Hedgebrook and Saint Mary’s College MFA in Creative Writing program. This is a one-day Zoom writing retreat for women-identified, non-binary, and genderqueer writers. More information
May 2, 2020 (Postponed—COVID-19) — W. S. Merwin panel with Maxine Hong Kingston, Terry Tempest Williams, Jane Hirshfield, and others. Bay Area Book Festival. My books will be sold here as well.
March 31, 2020 (Postponed—COVID-19) — Hinduism and Climate Lecture at Catholic Church for Archdiocese of Marin, Alameda and Oakland. St. Rita Lenten Lecture Series on the Pope’s Encyclical.
April 20, 2020 — Interviewed for the PBS documentary series “Power Trip: The Story of Energy,” Director Michael Webber, Prof. of Engineering, University of Texas, Austin. First aired April 20, 2020. This series explores the ways in which energy flows in and out of our use of water, food, and transportation; each of these uses of energy is foregrounded in each episode. It also examines the conceptions of cities, wealth, and war and how these relate to energy. Excerpts of my interview are featured in various segments: episode “Food” (1:50-1:56; 3:37-3:49; 49:30-51:16) and episode “Wealth” (3:14-3:24; 50:12-50:22; 51:35-52:04).
March 22, 2020 (Postponed—COVID-19) — Feeding a Thousand Souls Lecture at Emory University. Atlanta, GA.
March 14, 2020 (Postponed—COVID-19) — Author’s on the Move 2020 Honored Author. Sacramento Public Library Foundation 18th Annual Authors on the Move,Selected as one of 45 authors from Northern California. Sacramento, CA.
February 18, 2020 — Devi S. Laskar on The Atlas of Reds and Blues in conversation with Vijaya Nagarajan, Christine O’Brien, and Elizabeth Stark. Pegasus Books, Berkeley, CA
February 14-16, 2020 — American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. Panel. “Responding to Climate Change through Science, Religion, and Cultural Practices”. Seattle, WA.
February 9, 2020 — A Celebration of Women’s Voices with authors Cara Black, Anne Devereux-Mills, Vanessa Hua, and Vijaya Nagarajan fundraiser for Women’s Lit. Sausalito, CA.
February 8, 2020 — Honored author at the Annual Authors Dinner fundraiser for the Berkeley Public Library Foundation, Selected as one of 24 Authors of the SF Bay Area. More info: https://bplf.org/events/authors-dinner-2020/featured-authors/ Berkeley, CA.
November 22-26, 2019 — The Intersectional Hindu Studies: Feminist and Critical Race Approach to Research and Teaching Seminar, American Academy of Religion, San Diego, CA (peer reviewed). Hinduism and Climate: Economics of Energy, Equity and Ethics, Hinduism Unit and Religion and Economy Unit, American Academy of Religion, San Diego, CA (peer reviewed)
October 18-22, 2019 — The Kolam, Bhudevi, and Climate: Intersubjective Reception and Presence in Hindu Mythology, Ritual and Everyday Life. On the Panel: Abundant Events, Present Pasts and Future Imaginings: Robert Orsi’s Metric of Presence in Hindu Contexts, South Asia Conference, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. (peer-reviewed)
October 17, 2019 — Interview with Terry Tempest Williams for Women’s Lit, part of the Bay Area Literary Festival.
September 27, 2019 — Talk on Hope with Rebecca Solnit and other speakers at a fundraiser event for the Sunrise Movement at the Patagonia store, North Point street, San Francisco, CA.
September 26, 2019 — Book Reading and Signing. Pegasus Bookstore. Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA
September 16, 2019 — On Stage Interview and Dialogue with Amitav Ghosh. First Congregational Church, Berkeley, CA. Benefit for KPFA.
September 12, 2019 — On Stage Interview and Dialogue with Dr. Vandana Shiva. University of San Francisco, San Francisco. Sponsored with the Honors College, University of San Francisco.
June 10th, 2019 — Talk on Vijaya’s publication, Feeding a Thousand Souls: Women, Ritual and Ecology in India—an Exploration of the Kolam, India Community Center, Cupertino, CA
May 19th, 2019 — Graduation Ceremony Keynote Speaker, International Tamil Academy, San Jose, CA
May 15th, 2019 — Power Trip Book Tour: Join for a global tour of energy: the builder of human civilization and also its greatest threat. Energy is humanity’s most important resource. It has allowed us to secure life-sustaining resources, build reliable infrastructure, connect continents, and democratize wealth. But our insatiable hunger for more and cheaper energy has also pushed us to the edge of a global crisis, beset by innumerable environmental disasters, trenchant geopolitical struggles, and an alarmingly warming planet. For better and worse, no other physical resource has had such a wide-ranging impact on our ecosystems, economy, public health, and personal liberties. Vijaya will talk on the panel about witnessing her village in India electrify and how that changed personal relationships with nature and interpersonal relationships among communities. Paramount Theater, Austin, TX. https://tickets.austintheatre.org/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=4744
May 4th & 5th, 2019 — “Goddesses, Grandmothers and the Everyday Divine.” Bay Area Book Festival. Berkeley, CA. https://www.baybookfest.org/speaker/vijaya-nagarajan/
May 1st, 2019 — Roundtable discussion on Faith and Social Justice, Environmental and Economic Justice. Lane Center. McLaren 251, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA. https://www.usfca.edu/lane-center
April 27th, 2019 — “Feeding a Thousand Souls.” Museum Boardroom, San Diego Museum of Art. Balboa Park, San Diego, CA.
April 13th, 2019 — Our Common Home Summit: Spiritual Ecology in Education and Action Panel on Eco-Theology, Bishop O’Dowd High School, 9500 Stearns Drive, Oakland, CA, 94605. https://blackmountaincircle.org/events/se-summit/
March 27 to 30, 2019 — Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference. Portland, OR.
March 6th, 2019 — Introduction for “Tipped Workers and Sexual Harassment: Keynote by Saru Jayaraman.” Global Women’s Rights Forum. 2130 Fulton Street, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
March 6th, 2019 — “Feeding A Thousand Souls”: Guided Walk and Interviews with Kōlam Artists. Led by Prof. Vijaya Nagarajan, Associate Professor, Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton St, San Francisco. View event photos.
March 4th, 2019 — A Lecture, Reading and Book Launch, University of San Francisco, Lo Schiavo Science Center, Getty Study (map)
March 1st, 2019 — Toward a Better Future: Transforming the Climate Crisis
Navigating Climate Change: An Interfaith Conversation panelist
Rothko Chapel Symposium, Houston, TX.
February 11th, 2019 — Conversation, reading, and signing with Vandana Shiva. First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley map
February 10, 2019 — Small group discussion with Vandana Shiva. Sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Natural and Cultural Resources. Berkeley, CA.
January 12th, 2019 —Book Reading and Signing at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera map
November 28th, 2018 — Feeding a Thousand Souls Book Event.Vijaya Nagarajan shares a reading from her book, followed by discussion and signing, University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley map
November 14th, 2018 — Feeding a Thousand Souls Book Launch. Vijaya Nagarajan launches her book with a reading, discussion and signing, at Mrs. Dalloway’s, 2904 College Ave, Berkeley map
November 11, 2018 — Book launch: Feeding a Thousand Souls: Women, Ritual and Ecology in India– an Exploration of the Kolam. Sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Natural and Cultural Resources. Berkeley, CA.
October 18, 2018 —My Paintings are My Feelings: A Voice from India. Conversation with Shalinee Kumari and Malini Bakshi about Mithila paintings in India. Palo Alto Arts Center, 1313 Newell Rd, Palo Alto, CA.