SOAS University of London

Members

Chair

Dr Peter Flügel

Professor J Clifford Wright
Honorary President, Centre of Jaina Studies
Staff Silhouette

Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit, University of London; Vedic religion, Classical Sanskrit literature, Middle Indian languages and cultures.

Dr Peter Flügel
Chair, Centre for Jaina Studies
Peter Flügel

Jaina Studies; South Asian History & Culture; Anthropology & Sociology of Religion

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4776
  • Email: pf8@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 341
  • Academic Support Hours: Friday 3:00-4:00 pm
Dr Crispin Branfoot
Member, Centre of Jaina Studies
Crispin Branfoot
Architecture, sculpture and painting in South Asia, especially in southern India; pilgrimage and sacred geography; material religion; colonialism and material culture.
Professor Rachel Dwyer
Member, Centre of Jaina Studies
Rachel Dwyer

Hindi Cinema; Indian popular culture; Indian film; Hinduism; new middle classes; Mumbai/Bombay

  • Tel: 020 7898 4294
  • Email: rd3@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 457
  • Academic Support Hours: 2019/20: on leave in Term 2
Professor Werner Menski
Member, Centre of Jaina Studies
Werner Menski
Classical and modern Hindu law; Muslim Law; Laws of South Asia; Family law; Comparative law; South Asians in the UK; Immigration law; Ethnic minorities
Professor Francesca Orsini
Member, Centre of Jaina Studies
Francesca Orsini
Hindi Literature; North Indian literary cultures; Hindi; Urdu.
  • Tel: + 44(0)20 7898 4242
  • Email: fo@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 419
  • Academic Support Hours: Tuesdays 3-5pm. Email for an appointment
Professor Ulrich Pagel
Member, Centre of Jaina Studies
Ulrich Pagel

History of Buddhism in Tibet, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Kanjur Studies, Vinaya, Religions of Central Asia, Tibetan, Sanskrit. 

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4782
  • Email: up1@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: Room 343
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays 3:00-5:00 p.m
Dr Peter D. Sharrock
Member, Centre of Jaina Studies
Peter Sharrock
He is now focusing on the evidence in Indochina for the influence of tantric or esoteric Buddhism, developed in the great monasteries of the Ganges valley and diffused and developed in different ways through much of Asia.
  • Tel: 020 7898 4462
  • Email: ps56@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: B406
  • Academic Support Hours: Wednesdays 3pm-4pm
Dr Renate Söhnen-Thieme
Member, Centre of Jaina Studies
Renate Sohnen Thieme
Sanskrit language and literature; classical Indian religions; folklore and music of Baltistan

Associate Members

Dr Shalini Sinha
Associate Member, Centre of Jaina Studies
Shalini Sinha

Shalini Sinha specializes in Indian philosophies and religions, with a particular interest in Hindu, Jaina and Buddhist theories of self, Jaina mysticism, and Vaiśeṣika ethics and metaphysics.