Teaching and Learning Jainism in Contemporary Society on Apr 8 2024

Mehool Sanghrajka Managing Trustee Institute of Jainology
Mehool Sanghrajka is the Managing Trustee of the Institute of Jainology, leading the collaboration of all UK Jain organisations in government and inter-faith matters. He has represented the Jain faith at major national events and overseas Jain activities in Parliament. Mehool has a doctorate in Jainism and has published Jain books for the UK national curriculum. He oversees the acclaimed www.Jainpedia.org project and has lectured in Jainism at the University of London. In the 2018 New Year’s Honours List, Mehool was awarded an MBE by HM The Queen for services to the Jain Faith and to Education.
Samani Pratibha Pragya Visiting Research Fellow SOAS University
Samani Pratibha Pragya is a scholar of Jain Studies and her specialisms include Jain Yoga, Comparative Religion, Comparative Philosophy, Meditation & Spirituality, Nonviolence, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi Languages, and Jain Terapanth lineage, to which she belongs as a Samani (saint). She is a senior disciple of Acharya Mahashraman. Her current research centers on the history and methods of modern Jain meditation and yoga. She received her Ph.D. in “Prekṣā Meditation: History and Methods” from SOAS. At present, she is working as a Visiting Research Fellow at SOAS with Dr. Flügel on Terapanth data pertaining to the Jaina-Prosopography project. She had established JVB Jain World Peace Centre, London. At present, she is the spiritual head of it and is an authorized Prekṣā yoga and meditation teacher. She initiated a rural development project at Tamkore, Rajasthan, and established Mahapragya International School there. She worked for underprivileged girls’ education in Jhunjhunu district.
Bindi Shah Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology University of Southampton
Bindi Shah is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology at the University of Southampton, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2019, she was a finalist for the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Bindi's research focuses on migration, religion, nationhood, citizenship, belonging with respect to British Asians and Asian Americans, the Jain diaspora, and wider migration and refugee flows to the UK, as well as on the role of social capital to foster environmental and climate sustainability and justice amongst marginalised groups. She adopts Critical Race, Feminist and Postcolonial approaches, and has expertise in qualitative and digital methodologies.