When:
Saturday, December 16-17, 2023
Where:
In-person Venue: Yale University
Saturday sessions are available via Zoom
Saturday sessions are available via Zoom
When:
Saturday, December 16-17, 2023
Where:
In-person Venue: Yale University
Saturday sessions are available via Zoom.
About:
Join the NAHCA Board for a retreat-like experience at the Yale University Divinity School. Saturday begins with sharing stories from our field of Hindu chaplaincy and the aspirations we have for our work. Conference guests will have an opportunity for vocational discernment by participating in a Listening Circle. We will delve into the arts and yoga for the second half of the day, culminating in a dinner talk, "The Yoga of Artistic Expression", that will elucidate the strong connection between Indian dance and music and Hindu spirituality. On Sunday, we delve into current topics in the field of Hindu chaplaincy and have more opportunities to connect and share.
Conference registration (same for both in-person and online) includes access to video recordings of some conference sessions at no additional fee. Conference recordings will be available for purchase separately to non-participants.
If you need your conference registration fee waived due to financial constraints, please email [email protected] with the subject header “Conference small grant request” and let us know your situation and why you would like to attend. We have limited funds for these grants.
If you are able to provide a gift of financial assistance to cover the conference registration for an attendee or additional aspects of the conference then please contribute using the button below.
Saturday, December 16-17, 2023
Where:
In-person Venue: Yale University
Saturday sessions are available via Zoom.
About:
Join the NAHCA Board for a retreat-like experience at the Yale University Divinity School. Saturday begins with sharing stories from our field of Hindu chaplaincy and the aspirations we have for our work. Conference guests will have an opportunity for vocational discernment by participating in a Listening Circle. We will delve into the arts and yoga for the second half of the day, culminating in a dinner talk, "The Yoga of Artistic Expression", that will elucidate the strong connection between Indian dance and music and Hindu spirituality. On Sunday, we delve into current topics in the field of Hindu chaplaincy and have more opportunities to connect and share.
Conference registration (same for both in-person and online) includes access to video recordings of some conference sessions at no additional fee. Conference recordings will be available for purchase separately to non-participants.
If you need your conference registration fee waived due to financial constraints, please email [email protected] with the subject header “Conference small grant request” and let us know your situation and why you would like to attend. We have limited funds for these grants.
If you are able to provide a gift of financial assistance to cover the conference registration for an attendee or additional aspects of the conference then please contribute using the button below.
Preview and download of our conference program.
Register for the conference.
More information about the Conference Hotel.
Become a new member or renew your membership.
Speakers:
Meditation Leaders:
Dr. Preeta Banerjee, Hindu Chaplain, Tufts University
Preeta Banerjee, Ph.D., is the Hindu Chaplain at Tufts University and a spiritual companion who draws on a broad and deep range of experience, having spent over 20 years in academia, coaching, and consulting as an advocate, educator, researcher, and author. Her passion lies in creating brave spaces at the intersection of contemplation, activism, and healing and deepening in interreligious manyness, from a lens rooted in bhakti, gyan, karma, and raj yog. She is a founding board member of the North American Hindu Chaplains Association, Vice Chair of the Mystic Soul Project, and Advisory Council Member of the Spiritual Directors of Color Network. Co-founder and partner at WhiteLeaf Advisors LLC, she previously led a team at Deloitte and was a business school professor at Brandeis and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. |
She has a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the Wharton School, a BS in Computational Biology and Business from Carnegie Mellon, and has recently completed her Graduate Certificate in Interreligious Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace.
bobbie arrington, NAHCA Intern, Harvard Divinity School MDiv Candidate
obbie ellen arrington is the daughter of Barbara, the daughter of Orgiareen, the daughter of Amy, and the daughter of Sarah. She is the daughter of Spirit, handed down from the sky and through bone and earth. She has had a song and conjuring prayer with tongues bequeathed to her by the ancestors. From her father, she received the gifts of public speaking and counseling, which she has used as an educator and social worker. From her mother, she has received the gift of hospitality and compassion for youth, which she has used in her work with non-profits. From spirit, she has received the gift of animacy, which has become the story she has chosen as her calling to tell. |
She is currently exploring this gift at Harvard Divinity School, where she is working towards a Master in Divinity. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master in Social Work.
She is honored to add the North American Hindu Chaplains Association to her professional and spiritual lineage.
She is honored to add the North American Hindu Chaplains Association to her professional and spiritual lineage.
Meditation Leaders:
Dr. Melissa Wood Bartholomew
Melissa Wood Bartholomew (she/her), Ph.D., JD, MDiv, MSW, is the Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Harvard Divinity School. She is a Christ-centered minister and a racial justice and healing practitioner. Melissa is an attorney with nearly a decade of experience in public interest law. She is committed to a multifaith, multidisciplinary, Afrocentric approach to healing justice that is rooted in the African philosophy of Ubuntu, restorative justice, and love. Melissa has studied restorative justice in Rwanda, where she learned about its capacity to help a nation advance justice in a communal way. She believes in the power of restorative justice to operationalize love and transform individuals and systems. |
Melissa is witnessing the impact of applying the heart-centered restorative justice approach to advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging at HDS through various DIB initiatives.
The DIB office provides structural support to help facilitate the collaborative work across departments and communities within HDS that are working together to advance the vision of a restorative, anti-racist and anti-oppressive HDS. Melissa teaches a course in restorative justice at Boston College Law School and a course in diversity and systems of oppression through a restorative approach at Boston College School of Social Work.
The DIB office provides structural support to help facilitate the collaborative work across departments and communities within HDS that are working together to advance the vision of a restorative, anti-racist and anti-oppressive HDS. Melissa teaches a course in restorative justice at Boston College Law School and a course in diversity and systems of oppression through a restorative approach at Boston College School of Social Work.
Saturday Panelists
Swami Tyagananda
Swami Tyagananda joined the Ramakrishna Order at the monastery in Mumbai in 1976 after graduating from the University of Mumbai in India. He received spiritual instruction (mantra-dīkṣā) from Holy Mother’s disciple Swami Vireswarananda and his monastic vows (sannyāsa) from Swami Gambhirananda. Besides Mumbai (1976–80), Tyagananda served in the monasteries at Belur Math (1980–82), New Delhi (1982–83) and Chennai (1983–1997) and was sent to Boston in 1998 to assist Swami Sarvagatananda. He is the Hindu chaplain at Harvard and MIT since 1999 and, after Sarvagatananda’s retirement in 2002, he was appointed head of the Vedanta Society in Boston. (https://vedantasociety.net/) Tyagananda was editor of the English journal Vedanta Kesari for 11 years (1986–97) and has written, translated and edited fourteen books. He writes a fortnightly blog (https://vedantasociety.net/blog) and his talks are available as audio podcasts (https://vedanta.libsyn.com/). He has presented papers at academic conferences and he gives lectures and classes at the Vedanta Society as well as at MIT, Harvard and, on invitation, other colleges and religious groups in North America. |
Dr. Kavita Pallod-Sekhsaria
Dr. Kavita Pallod-Sekhsaria is the founder of KPS Psychotherapy, a private practice focused on providing psychotherapeutic services to the South Asian community in Maryland. Kavita's doctoral dissertation "Hindu Indian American Conceptions of Mental Health" aimed to unpack how understanding a Hindu worldview of mental health can enable greater access to mental healthcare by the underserved Hindu American population. Kavita is passionate about more broadly destigmatizing the use of spiritual means of coping in the therapeutic space. Kavita also serves as the volunteer Hindu Chaplain at American University. |
Dr. Raj Balkaran
Dr. Raj Balkaran serves as McMaster University’s Chaplain of Indian Spirituality and runs a thriving private spiritual counsel practice where he helps guide people on their life journeys. He also hosts the New Books in Indian Religions podcast where he interviews academics on their cutting-edge research. Dr. Balkaran is a scholar of Sanskrit narrative texts and Tutor at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. He is also the Founder of the online School of Indian Wisdom where he integrates scholarship, storytelling and spirituality to apply ancient Indian wisdom teachings to modern life. See https://rajbalkaran.com for more information. |
Shamā Mehtā
Shamā Mehtā was born in India and now calls southeastern Michigan home. A lifelong practicing Hindu, Shamā is a Board Certified Chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains. She completed her Clinical Pastoral Education training at Oakwood Healthcare System (now Beaumont Health). Shamā holds a Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry from Ecumenical Theological Seminary and is currently working on her Doctorate in Ministry. Currently employed with Michigan Medicine as a Certified Educator Candidate, Shamā has nearly a decade of experience in hospital chaplaincy. Shamā is also a Qualified Bilingual Medical Interpreter and is a frequent guest speaker at universities and hospital systems. |
Saturday Workshop Leader
Rev. Dr. Monica Sanford
Rev. Dr. Monica Sanford is the Assistant Dean for Multireligious Ministry at Harvard Divinity School. As a Buddhist chaplain and minister, Dr. Sanford supports students who have been traditionally underserved by graduate level religious vocational education – such as Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Humanists, etc. Dr. Sanford conducts scholarly research on Buddhist chaplaincy across all employment sectors and college chaplaincy across all religious and spiritual traditions. As a Dharmic chaplain working in a primarily Christian profession, Dr. Sanford dedicates a large portion of her scholarship to building the academic field of Dharmic religious vocation and working in solidarity with members of other minority religious and spiritual traditions (including people with no religious tradition) to ensure that chaplaincy is a vocation open to all. She focuses on building bridges between existing professional standards and Dharmic wisdom. |
Dr. Preeta Banerjee
Preeta Banerjee, Ph.D. is the Hindu Chaplain at Tufts University and a spiritual companion who draws on a broad and deep range of experience, having spent over 20 years in academia, coaching and consulting as an advocate, educator, researcher, and author. Her passion lies in creating brave spaces at the intersection of contemplation, activism and healing and deepening in interreligious manyness, from a lens rooted in bhakti, gyan, karma, and raj yog. She is a founding board member of the North American Hindu Chaplains Association; Vice Chair of the Mystic Soul Project; and Advisory Council member of the Spiritual Directors of Color Network. |
Co-founder and partner at WhiteLeaf Advisors LLC, she previously led a team at Deloitte and was a business school professor at Brandeis and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has a PhD in Strategic Management from the Wharton School; a BS in Computational Biology and Business from Carnegie Mellon; and has recently completed her Graduate Certificate in Interreligious Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace.
Sunday Workshop Leader
Rev. Kate Smanik
Rev. Kate Smanik is the Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at Colby College. She is a graduate of the College of Wooster (2001, B.A.) and Yale University (2005, M.Div.) and has more than 17 years experience in higher education. Kate is a doctoral candidate in higher education administration at Indiana University where her research focuses on chaplaincy in higher education, the spiritual and religious education of young adults and the role that restorative practices can play in research and education. Kate received her training in Circle Process from Kay Pranis in the Spring of 2019 and further training in Restorative Practices from the Restorative Justice Project of Maine in the summer of 2021. Kate lives with her family on the Colby College campus in Waterville, ME where you can find them building fairy houses in the Colby arboretum and exploring the rocky coastline of Maine. |
Sponsors
We look forward to seeing you at the conference!