David Haberman will deliver this year's Phi Beta Kappa lecture Feb. 22.
GENESEO, N.Y. – A leading authority on South Asian religions as well as environmentalism and religion, David L. Haberman, will deliver SUNY Geneseo’s Phi Beta Kappa lecture Feb. 22. The lecture, titled “Drawing Personality Out of Stone: Environmental Possibilities in the Worship of Natural Entities in India,” is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Doty Recital Hall and is open to the public without charge. A reception will follow in the Doty Hall Foyer.
Haberman, professor of religious studies at Indiana University, also will be meeting with students, faculty, and staff in classes and small group sessions during his three-day visit to campus Feb. 21-23 as part of Phi Beta Kappa’s Visiting Scholar Program.
"There are few scholars anywhere whose expertise integrates so many traditional disciplines in such distinctly non-traditional ways,” said Tom Greenfield, president of Geneseo’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter. “Dr. Haberman is an environmentalist, Asian studies scholar, an ethicist, a religious studies professor and an expert on anthropomorphism in narrative. Over the course of many years, he has lived and worked in the most sacred places in India, including Banaras, Vrindavan, Yamunotri, and more. We look forward to welcoming him to our campus and the Geneseo community."
Haberman is highly respected for his scholarly work on South Asian religions, Hinduism, and religion and the environment. His studies have taken him to India for more than 40 years. He is the author of eight books, including “River of Love in an Age of Pollution: The Yamuna River of Northern India,” “Acting as a Way of Salvation,” and “People Trees: The Worship of Trees in Northern India.” He earned his doctorate in the history of religions at the University of Chicago. He received a prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2014-15.
Dr. Haberman’s visit is made possible by the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar program and Phi Beta Kappa Alpha Delta of New York, with support from the Office of the President and Office of the Provost at SUNY Geneseo. Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious undergraduate honors society with chapters at 286 colleges and universities throughout the country. Geneseo is the only undergraduate college in the SUNY system to be granted a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. The Alpha Delta of New York chapter was installed in January, 2004.