Nikky-Guninder K. Singh, Crawford Family Professor of Religion, Colby College

Neutral Singh · #1 (**permalink**) 30-May-2005, 17:13 PM

Profile : Nikky-Guninder K. Singh
Crawford Family Professor of Religion

Office: Lovejoy 349
Phone: 207-872-3175
Fax: 872-3802
Email: nksingh@colby.edu
Mailing Address:
4644 Mayflower Hill
Waterville, Maine 04901-8846

Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh was born in India, and went to Stuart Hall, a Girls' Preparatory School in the USA. She received her BA in Philosophy and Religion from Wellesley College, her MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and her PhD from Temple University. This photograph with the President of India, Giani Zail Singh, and her father (on her right) celebrates the launching of her first book on Sikh aesthetics. The image was taken at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's House), New Delhi, India.

She is the Crawford Family Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Colby Collge in Maine, USA. Her interests focus on poetics and feminist issues. Nikky Singh has published extensively in the field of Sikhism, including The Feminine Principle in the Sikh Vision of the Transcendent (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), The Name of My Beloved: Verses of the Sikh Gurus (HarperCollins and Penguin), Metaphysics and Physics of the Guru Granth Sahib (Sterling). Her book on Sikhism was translated into Japanese. She has lectured widely in North America, England, France, India, and Singapore, and her views have been aired on television and radio in America, Canada, and India.

Education :

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Ph.D. (l987) Temple University, Religion

M.A. (l982) University of Pennsylvania, ReligionB.A. (l978) Wellesley College, Religion (Honors) and Philosophy
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/education-and-academics/3839-nikky-guninder-k-singh-crawford-family.html

Areas of Expertise :
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<LI class=text>Sikhism <LI class=text>Eastern sexuality <LI class=text>Indian women’s issues <LI class=text>Major religions of northern India <LI class=text>Role of women in religious literature <LI class=text>Literary analysis of scripture <LI class=text>Religious themes in Western literature

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=530 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=subtitle_pro>Publications :</TD></TR><TR><TD background=images/dotline-orange.gif></TD></TR><TR><TD class=text>

The feminine principle in the Sikh vision of the Transcendent: This study explores the presence of the feminine in the Sikh conception and perception of Transcendent Reality. Sikh scriptures, transitional writing of the Sikhs, and their modern secular literature constitute the sources for the investigation. Within these extensive parameters, Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh closely analyzes feminine imagery, tone, and symbolism, and in so doing recovers a holistic pattern of imagining and experiencing the sacred which can serve as a mode of empowerment for women. The book is divided into eight chapters which approach the Sikh vision of the Transcendent from historical, scriptural, symbolic, mythological, romantic, existential, ethical, and mystical perspectives. Each of these discloses the centrality of the woman, and enables the author to reverse what she regards as the one-sided androcentric hermeneutics which has prevailed in Sikh scholarship. The author maintains that the Sikh Gurus and poets did not want the feminine principle to serve just as a figure of speech or literary device; it was rather intended to pervade the whole life of the Sikhs. Her work bolsters the claim that literary symbols should be translated into social and political realities, and gives expression, too, to a powerful new voice in religious studies, whose fresh treatment of a religious tradition that has been relatively neglected in scholarly literature will give new direction and authenticity to feminists worldwide.

The Name of My Beloved: Verses of the Sikh Gurus translated by Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh is the first contemporary English translation of hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib-the principal sacred text of the Sikh religion- and the Dasam Granth, the poetry of the tenth Sikh guru. (It is) a significant contribution to the understanding of the essentials of the Sikhs' sacred scriptures. - Khushwant Singh

The vision of Guru Nanak, the fifteenth-century founder of the Sikh faith, celebrated the oneness of the Divine that both dwells within and transcends the endless diversity of life. Guru Nanak's vision inspired the rich and inclusive philosophy of Sikhism, which is reflected in this first modern English translation of poems from the central Sikh text, the Guru Granth Sahib, and from the highly esteemed Dasam Granth. The Guru Granth Sahib consists of poems and hymns by Guru Nanak, his successors, and Hindu and Islamic saints, and the Dasam Granth collects the poetry of the tenth Sikh Guru. poetry from both texts is heard daily and at rites of passage and celebration in Sikh homes and gurudwaras, carrying foward Sikh belief in the oneness and equiality of all humanity.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=3839

Japanese translation cover of Sikhism: World Religions (New York: Facts on File) 1993

The Guru Granth Sahib: Its Physics and Metaphysics attempts to trace the unifying force behind the trinity of Sikh metaphysics, aesthetics and dynamics. The book brings to a focus all those energies*spiritual, artistic and material*which animate and sanctify the Sikh way of life. Naturally in such a quest the Guru Granth Sahib offers the complete answer. Various aspects of the Guru Granth Sahib*its pontifical status, its philosophy, and its aesthetics*have been dealt with exceptional discernment and originality. A rigorous intellectual discipline is applied to bring out Sikh perspective on God, man and human destiny and in the process some of the problems of Sikh theology have been resolved with remarkable assurance and finesse. This study is marked by deep personal faith as well as by penetrating insights of a vital and searching intellect.Through a slim volume, this monograph will nevertheless constitute a well-formulated, lucid and concise statement and will rank as a reliable guide to Sikh thought and poetics. In Guninder Kaur, Sikh faith has found a highly accomplished and articulate interpreter of the innermost vision of the Gurus and of the concept of life issuing from it.

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