Participant Info

First Name
Natasha
Last Name
Chawla
Country
United Kingdom
State
Affiliation
University of Oxford PhD Candidate
Website URL
https://oxford.academia.edu/NatashaChawla
Keywords
Study of Religion, Religion and Ecology, Religion and the Environment, Advaita, Yoga, Hinduism, Ecosophy
Availability
Media Contact
Additional Contact Information
PhD
other credentials

Personal Info

Photo
About Me

Prior to entering the DPhil, I enrolled on the Postgraduate Diploma in Theology and Religion here at Oxford in 2017—as a “conversion” course from my previous study, an MA in Fashion Marketing from the University of the Arts, and before that, a BA in Business and Economics.

This move to religion stemmed from unpalatable answers to the questions a much younger, and perhaps more naive self, raised, such as “Where are the ethics in marketing?” to which the professor promptly replied, “I’m a marketing lecturer, don’t ask me about ethics!” And “Why are economic models and policy based on assumptions that just aren’t true?” (I still hope to meet a completely rational person (‘agent’) who has perfect knowledge).

Together with these haunting and half-answered questions, some eye-opening life experiences in the fashion world in parallel with an active teaching and organising role in my local Vedanta (a branch of Hindu philosophy) centre, and over a decade of studying and teaching yoga philosophy, enrolling on the PGDip in order to gain a more objective and comparative view of the study of religions seemed an oddly natural progression.

An MA in the Religions of Asia in 2018 at SOAS followed the PGDip. My dissertation looked at the concept of prakṛti (Nature) in the Bhagavad Gītā and its relevance to today’s environmental concerns. This formed the basis for my DPhil proposal. My thesis looks at the environmental concerns of today from the perspective of the polymath, Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941). Tagore engaged with Nature and the environment in multiple ways and his vast literary outflow as well as his public lectures and private correspondence illustrate his deep sensitivity to and foresight of issues surrounding humans’ relationship with and behaviour towards Nature, creation and creativity, and ‘progress’, that can perhaps provide an alternative perspective.

Recent Publications
Media Coverage
Country Focus
Expertise by Geography
England, India
Expertise by Chronology
Modern, 20th century
Expertise by Topic
Colonialism, Environment, Religion