ANDY ROTMAN
Associate Professor
Religion Department
Smith College
Pierce Hall no. 203
Northampton, MA 01063

email: arotman@email.smith.edu
work phone: (413) 585–3348
fax: (413) 585–7611

Research and Teaching Interests

Much of my research concerns the ways in which seeing and what is seen in South Asia function as part of social history, affective relations, and material culture. This interest is apparent in my research on Indian Buddhist narratives, Indian media and cinema, and the economies of the north Indian bazaar. My recent publications include the first part of a two-part translation of the Divyavadana (Divine Stories), one of the largest and most important collections of ancient Buddhist narratives. This volume inaugurates the Classics of Indian Buddhism series from Wisdom Publications. Also recently published is Thus Have I Seen: Visualizing Faith in Early Indian Buddhism, which considers the construction of faith as a visual practice in Buddhism, and how seeing and faith function as part of overlapping visual and moral systems. The courses I teach concern South Asian religion and culture more broadly. I like to teach materials that crisscross chronology and religion, and to do so from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Syllabi for my courses are available below.

Cirruculum Vitae

Syllabi

• Religious History of South Asia: Ancient to Medieval
• Religious History of South Asia: Medieval to Modern
• South Asian Masculinities
• South Asian Visual Culture
• The Meaning of Life
• Violence and Nonviolence in Religious Traditions of South Asia

Exhibitions

• Baba's Got a Brand New Bag, University of Chicago

Recent Publications

Forthcoming Publications

  "Marketing Morality:

  The Economy of Faith in Early Indian Buddhism"