PROFESSOR ATUL K. SHAH www.atulkshah.co.uk
Globally renowned expert advisor and broadcaster on culture, accounting, finance, business ethics, holistic education and leadership
Professor Julia Hegewald discusses the upcoming 2027 lecture series at Oxford University
Followers of my books and blogs will know how passionate I am about scholarship and the Jain tradition. It is one of the oldest living cultures of the world, yet so little is known about it in education and academic circles, and I often have to spell the word Jain in my dialogues. I have personally been involved in the western renaissance of Jainism through a range of institution building initiatives such as the founding of the Young Jains global movement, the editorial of Jain Spirit magazine, and having an active research programme on Jain and Dharmic Business Ethics.
Jainism has a vastly diverse philosophy and heritage highly relevant to the challenges of contemporary society. It has a unique philosophy of respect for all living beings (ahimsa), the interdependence of all life (parasparopagraho jivanam), non-possesiveness (aparigraha) and self-discipline (saiyam). These qualities embrace the huge challenges of modernity in terms of inequality, climate change and the increase in war and violence. Throughout the history of India, Jains have been leaders and pioneers in a range of fields from philosophy and science to literature, art and even business enterprise. One of the significant outcomes of their commercial success has been the endowment of arts and culture all over the breadth and depth of India, with an estimated 100,000 Jain temples and an even larger number of schools, hospitals, dharamshalas and charitable institutions.
It is therefore a delight to have Professor Julia Hegewald appointed as the new and prestigious Professor of Art History at the University of Oxford for 2027. Julia A.B. Hegewald is Professor of Oriental Art History and Head of the Department of Asian and Islamic Art History at the University of Bonn.She has published widely on the art and architecture of the Jaina community in India, most notably Jaina Temple Architecture in India: The Development of a Distinct Language in Space and Ritual (2009, 2018, 2024). In recent years, she has engaged intensively with the Digambara Jaina tradition in the south Indian state of Karnataka, with a number of publications, including The Jaina Heritage: Distinction, Decline and Resilience (2011), Jaina Tradition of the Deccan: Shravanabelagola, Mudabidri, Karkala (2021), Jaina Culture in Medieval Karnataka: Dominance, Dependency and Endurance (2025) and Jainism under Threat: Extreme Forms of Dependency in Medieval Karnataka, South India (2026).
In this interview below, Julia discusses the new Oxford series and the range of topics she will be speaking about, and her personal life journey travelling all the way from Germany to discover and unravel this vast artistic legacy which the world knows so little about.
All the lectures are free and open to the public and the full details are attached here. If you are unable to attend the lectures, they will be captured on video and the videos will be uploaded onto the website at some point.
In addition, there will be a special Jain Art exhibition at Oxford which will accompany the lectures and continue throughout 2027. Please share this blog with anyone who has an interest in the Arts and Indian heritage.