Deepak Shimkhada , assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies, was one of several presenters for the 2006 annual Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast Conference, hosted June 17 at Washington State University in Pullman. Shimkhada, vice president of the APSAC Board, organized a panel discussion on Goddesses and Rituals in Hinduism and also presented his paper, Return to the Womb: The Sexual Symbolism of Arghapatra.
Washington State University professor Michael Myers chaired the panel, which also included presentations by Sthaneshwar Timalsina, San Diego State University (Faces of the Mother: Kali and Her Sequence), and Senda Ines Sferco of Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina (Arts, Religion and Politics: The Study of the Balanese Ritual 'Tjalonarang.). Also in attendance were Anand Yang, president of the Association for Asian Studies, and Ian Wendt, assistant professor of South Asian studies at the University of Washington.
Shimkhada says his own paper explored the meaning of the Hindu ritual of offering Arghya to deities. "The symbolic meaning of the ritual can be understood as a return to the womb, from which all living beings came into existence," Shimkhada says.
Shimkhada, a graduate of the University of Baroda, India, received his master's degree from USC and a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University. He has written many papers dealing with the topic of Eastern philosophy and culture.
Maxwell Hodge '08