Benjamin J. Fleming
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Benjamin Fleming 1B-820 East 10th St. City College, Department of Art History Brooklyn, NY Compton-Goethals Room 244 USA, 11230 160 Convent Avenue [email protected] New York, New York 10031 [email protected] Benjamin J. Fleming Present position Adjunct Faculty, Department of Art History, CUNY: City College, NYC EDUCATION Ph.D. (South Asian Religions), McMaster University, Department of Religious Studies, 2007 Advisor: Phyllis Granoff (Yale University) M.A. (Religious Studies), University of Regina, Department of Religion, 2000 B.A. with Honours (Religious Studies), University of Regina, 1998 B.F.A. (Visual Art), University of Regina, 1990 Languages • Ancient: Sanskrit, Pali • Modern: French; knowledge of Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi TEACHING Lecturer, CUNY, New York City (2017-present) City College –Art 31553 – Asian Art Since 1850 Hunter College–Rels 320 – Hinduism –Rels 251 – Asian Religions Visiting Scholar, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Religious Studies (2009 to 2017) Rels 555 (graduate seminar) - History of Print in South Asia c. 1600 – present (fall 2017), guest lecturer on manuscript culture in South Asia: Intertwined Worlds exhibition. Rels 035 – Making Meaning in Local, Global, and Historical Perspectives (2015-16), co- taught with Annette Yoshiko Reed Rels 002 – Introduction to Religion (fall 2012), guest lecturer on “Religions of India.” Rels 001 – Religions of Asia (spring 2010, 2011) Rels 006 – Religion and Violence (summer 2010) Rels 163/SAS 140 – Introduction to Hinduism (fall 2009, 2010) Lecturer, Penn State University, Abington (2016-17) Rlst 107 – Introduction to Islam Rels 103 – Introduction to Hinduism Asia 100 – Themes in Asian Tradition Hist 176 – Survey of Indian History Adjunct Instructor, Saint Joseph’s University (2012-15) Rel 261-D02 – Hinduism Adjunct Instructor, Temple University (2012) Rels 5101 - Foundations in Hinduism (graduate seminar) Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Religious Studies, (2007-2009) Rels 999 – Graduate Directed Reading Course: Survey of Recent Scholarship on Hindu Literature Rels 163/SAS 140 - Introduction to Hinduism Rels 161 - Demons in Indian Religion Rels 001 - Religions of Asia Adjunct Instructor, McMaster University, Department of Religious Studies (2005-07) Indian Storytelling East Asian Religions Introduction to Sanskrit Grammar Teaching Assistant, McMaster University, Department of Religious Studies (2000-06) East Asian Buddhism; World Religions; Death and Dying: The Western Experience; The Indian Religious Tradition; Moral Issues; Death and Dying: Comparative Views. Teaching Assistant, University of Regina, Department of Religious Studies (1999-2000) Modern Hinduism; Introduction to World Religions; Sacred Texts in Comparative Perspective; Introduction to World Religions. RESEARCH, CURATION, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Research project with Dr. Elizabeth A. Cecil (Florida University): “Religion on the Road: Portable Śaiva Shrines in Kashmir.” (Ongoing). • A research project to be undertaken in Kashmir to understand and document extant examples of portable liṅga shrines produced in the Gupta era and forward. • This project is particularly concerned with the trade and pilgrimage networks of the mercantile classes in this region and how they connected to broader economic and religious patterns in the rest of the subcontinent and Central Asia, but is the iconographic, theological, and liturgical contexts • Includes visits to sites, temples, and ateliers in the Himalayas along with an investigation of local museums and archaeological institutions with pertinent materials both material and textual. • Project will result in a book, special journal issue, and a digital preservation component for endangered materials, available through Open Access resources. Principal Investigator, Amir Ahmad Minai Archive of Karachi, Pakistan (EAP 1210) • A digitization and preservation project under consideration by the British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme (Summer 2019). • Working with a team of local and international scholars, will digitize and create metadata for a collection of poems and correspondences of the Urdu poet laureate Amir Minai. Curator, “Intertwined Worlds: Jain, Buddhist, and Hindu Manuscripts and Objects from South and Southeast Asia,” Goldstein Family Gallery at Penn Libraries (on display from August 23- December 22, 2017) • Conceptualized an exhibit of materials highlighting interconnections of South Asian religions as well as raising funds for the exhibit and the related colloquium • Chose and arranged manuscripts, sculptures, and paintings from the collections of the Penn Libraries and from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology for the exhibit, writing descriptions both for objects and for the exhibit as a whole • Organized a related three-day Colloquium featuring international scholars of Asian and Western religions, manuscripts, and material culture Indic specialist for the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (2016 to 2017) • Arranging workshops, gallery and library visits with scholars and students related to the Penn collections and exhibits. I regularly give talks and lead demonstrations related to the Penn 2 holdings of manuscripts related to Asia for the institute, which is a subsidiary of the Kislak Center of the University of Pennsylvania and brings manuscript culture together with technology, giving open access to cultural heritage locally and around the world. • Networking to arrange internal sources of funding for such workshops, presentations, and symposium for the library from academic departments (such as from the South Asia, Religious Studies, and the Center for Ancient Studies) • Working on the Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts Project. This database enables scholars to trace the provenance of manuscripts from origin until today. I created an inventory of nearly 9,000 manuscripts held at a library in Bangladesh for inclusion in the database. • Serving on the Advisory Council, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies which oversees and advises on activities at the Penn Libraries related to manuscript holdings, acquisitions, etc. Indic Manuscript Specialist, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania (2011-16). The library hosts the largest Indic manuscript collection in North America and contains works written on paper and palm-leaf dating from the 13th to early 20th centuries in more than twenty different languages from across South and Southeast Asia. • I wrote the subject content for a major NEH grant in the digital humanities titled: “Providing Global Access to Penn’s Indic Manuscripts, circa 1527-1930.” I was also the manuscript cataloger for the grant. I created approximately 2700 unique MARC and Voyager catalog records for inclusion in the Library of Congress database, WorldCat, and Franklin (Penn catalog) using Connexion as computer program. Principle Investigator, Rāmamālā Library Manuscript Project (EAP 683), a digitization and preservation project funded by the British Library Endangered Archives Programme with support from the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (2014-15). • The project focused on creating an inventory and database for 9,000 Sanskrit and Bangla manuscripts held at the Rāmamālā Library in Comilla, Bangladesh. • I trained and managed a staff of about 6 local scholars and students on handling, preserving, and creating a digital inventory for pre-modern manuscripts held at the library. I organized workshops engaging a broad range of scholars and students from Bangladesh for training and teaching in manuscript digitization and preservation. • The team digitized about 1% of these manuscripts, a selection of damaged and significant works. This digital sample is now hosted by Penn through Penn-in-Hand and by the British Library and will help to preserve these works above and beyond their physical well-being. • We assessed the overall state of the physical collection and created a plan for practical solutions for preserving the collection as a whole. The work included protecting the collection from vermin and insects, dust, and similar issues related to raw preservation of the manuscripts held in Bangladesh. Consultant with the Penn Museum (2010-2017) • I have helped to identify Buddhist and Hindu sculptures and numismatic materials from South Asia and elsewhere through my own scholarly work of translating and identification of iconography or through connecting the museum with scholars who hold expertise related to the museum’s collections. These works include a stela from the Pāla dynasty, a liṅga from north India, numismatic inscriptions, as well as a Thangka from the Chinese dynasty of Qianlong. 3 • I have contributed to approximately 10 item descriptions and translations for their public and institutional records. Researcher, The Digital Sanskrit Library Project (2009-10), • I created digital cataloging records based on manuscripts of the Mahābhārata and Bhāgavata Purāṇa held at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Pennsylvania. • The metadata is being used for an online manuscript project hosted by the Sanskrit Library, centered in the Department of Classics at Brown University and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Peer Reviewer of articles: - Journal of Hindu Studies - Library Hi Tech - Manuscript Studies: A Journal of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies - Oxford Bibliography