Durga Kale
Positions
Sessional Instructor
Contact information
Location
Office: SS502
Background
Educational Background
PhD University of Calgary, 2023
Biography
Durga Kale is a Sessional Instructor at the University of Calgary, Canada. With a background in archeology and training in anthropology, she focuses on the ethnographic study of religion in Western India. Her research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals on archaeology, curatorial practice, and oral history. Her current research focuses on religious narratives of landscape claims in Western India. Her interdisciplinary work brings together religious studies, and anthropology, and moves towards a discourse on theories of affect in South Asia.
For her research projects in the past, she has analyzed the tradition of sati-memorials in Western India beyond their appearance and presence as memorial stones in her paper “Speaking Stones: Oral Tradition as Provenance for the Memorial Stones in Gujarat.” One of many joint publications from her research and curatorial projects is a catalog for the special exhibition she curated at Nickle Galleries (UCalgary), and she has recently contributed to the Data of Religious History (DRH) at the University of British Columbia.
Research
Areas of Research
Vernacular religious literature, local traditions, inter-faith discourse.
Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Islam
Archaeology of South Asia, ancient history and literature. She previously worked on goddess traditions connected with health-seeking behavior, body practices, and possession rites. The Ph.D. project focuses on narratives on sacred landscape, diaspora and belonging through the claim on landscape.
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| RELS 200 | Religious Myths and Worldviews | Summer 2019, Summer 2020 |
| RELS 203 | Introduction to Asian Religions | Fall 2022 |
| RELS 398 | Religion and Environment | Winter 2024 |
| RELS 373.01 | Social Justice and Sikh Ethos | Spring 2024 |
| RELS 370 | Gods, Monsters and Demons | Spring 2024 |
| RELS 205 | Religion and Good Life | Summer 2024 |
| RELS 333 | Religious Perspectives on Death and Afterlife | Fall 2024 |
| RELS 381 | Gender, Sex and Religion | Fall 2024 |
| RELS 203 | Asian Religions | Fall 2024 |
Awards
- Eyes High International Doctoral Scholarship, 2021
- Alberta Graduates Excellence Scholarship (AGES) - International , 2020
- Research Travel Award , Canadian Society for the Study of Religion (CSSR). 2020
Publications
- The Floating Existence of Taraṅgas Appraising Local Deities and Social Meaning-Making on the Western Coast of India. Durga Kale. Asian Ethnology. (2022)
- Publications on Japan . Focillon Organization . (2022)
In the News
- PhD profile . UCalgary News. (2023)
- Stories of Jewish diaspora in Konkan. Navhind Times. (2023)
- Guest lecture on Anthropology. Panther Prowler (California, USA). (2022)
- Women in the study of Asian Religions. Loyala University Chicago (Online archive). (2021)
- About Graduate Experience. Grad-Post, University of Calgary. (2019)
- Money and Calgary. Galleries West. (2019)
- Ancient currency reveals a deeper understanding of the past. (2019)
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