The evolution of the fledgling Duke chapter of the Hindu Students Council will take a giant leap forward this weekend, as the three-year-old group hosts the 2001 Southeast Regional HSC Conference beginning tonight.
Approximately 200 students from universities and schools from as far away as Florida and as nearby as the North Carolina School of Math and Science are expected to attend.
The conference, which has been titled "Connections, Reflections and Visions of Hindu Traditions," will include workshops led by guest speakers and experts from the Triangle, as well as speeches by nationally renowned Hinduism experts David Frawley and Subhash Kak.
Frawley, a prominent speakers on Hinduism, will discuss in his keynote address Saturday afternoon how science relates to Hinduism and what Hindus' duties will be in the future. Kak, an expert on Indian civilizations, will discuss the history and future of Hindu culture in his closing remarks Sunday.
"I think this is a really great event for our university to host," said senior Smita Trivedi, one of the founding members of the HSC. "We want to bring awareness of this religion and culture to campus and to open an interfaith dialogue among all students."
Duke's HSC chapter, which focuses primarily on intellectual study of ancient text and its application to the members' everyday lives, began with only eight students in 1998. Membership tripled in 1999 and has remained constant this year. Inspired by a visit to last year's conference at Emory University, a group of underclassmen have been working diligently to bring the conference to the Duke this year.
"We are very excited about how far we've come and how much we've blossomed in two years," Trivedi said. "The South Asian community has really stepped up its support for us, and the conference should be a great success."
The weekend's festivities will incorporate a multicultural show Friday night at Baldwin Auditorium featuring several student groups including Mi Gente and Diya, as well as a Saturday night garba, a traditional Hindu group dance. The universality of Hinduism will be a cornerstone of the conference, and tonight's performance has been designed to show how Hindu culture can be accessed by those who are not directly affiliated with the religion. The show is open to the public.
"One of our main goals was to have this not be a heterogeneous group," said junior Anand Nathan, president of the HSC. "We would like to get a lot of people who are not Hindus to come."
Hinduism is a religion followed by roughly one-sixth of the world's population and has its origins in the South Asia, primarily in India.
"In a much deeper context, Hinduism really isn't a religion," Trivedi said. "It is much more of a philosophy and way of life. It teaches that every religion is correct and that no religion is wrong. It is really all-encompassing."
The weekend's workshops, led by six Duke faculty members among other experts, will address aspects of Hindu culture, including philosophy, yoga, practical meditation and South Asian politics.
Individuals interested in participating can register for the weekend's events for $15 at tonight's performance.
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