Event Date & Time: February 7, 2026 | 9:00 - 10:00 AM PST

Presenters: Christopher Jain Miller, Jonathan Dicksten, and Cogen Bohanec

 

 

Arihanta Institute is pleased to partner with Young Jain Professionals (YJP) to present Engaged Jainism for Young Jain Professionals, a speaker series designed to provide quality structured learning rooted in Jain texts, scholarly research, and practical application for modern life. The series brings together Arihanta faculty to explore how Jain philosophy meaningfully connects with the professional, ethical, and social questions facing young Jains today.

In 2026, the series will feature quarterly events led by Arihanta faculty members Prof. Christopher Jain Miller, Prof. Jonathan Dickstein, and Prof. Cogen Bohanec. Each session includes a brief presentation followed by a faculty roundtable discussion shaped by participant-submitted questions and live audience Q&A. All events are free and open to YJP members.

Following each quarterly event, participants are invited to continue their learning through a related course on Arihanta Institute's online learning platform, offered at a discounted rate for YJP members. Additionally, participants may take part in the year-long Swādhyāya Challenge, which rewards sustained engagement with the series through tiered prizes including course discounts, free courses, and complimentary Arihanta Institute membership.

 

 

 

Engaged Jain Professional Ethics: 

How can Jain principles guide ethical decision-making in professional life? In this session, Prof. Christopher Jain Miller presents on the intersection of Jain doctrine and professional ethics, followed by a faculty roundtable exploring how Jain thought might inform how we navigate our career and professional choices.

 

Christopher Jain Miller, the co-founder and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Arihanta Institute, is Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute. He completed his PhD in the Study of Religion at the University of California, Davis. Christopher's primary fields of research interest are Yoga Studies and Engaged Jain Studies. Christopher is the author of Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation (Routledge 2024) and the co-editor of Engaged Jainism: Critical and Constructive Studies of Jain Social Engagement (SUNY 2025) as well as Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age (Lexington 2020).

 

Jonathan Dickstein is the Tirthankara Shreyansanath Endowed Assistant Professor of Jain and Vegan Studies at Arihanta Institute. He received a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2022. Jonathan's areas of research include Jain Studies, religion and ecology, comparative ethics, and South Asian religions.

 

Cogen Bohanec is an Assistant Professor in Sanskrit and Jain Studies at Arihanta Institute where he teaches various courses on Jain philosophy and its applications. Dr. Bohanec specializes in the Jain and Hindu traditions, comparative dharma traditions, philosophy of religion, theo-ethics (virtue ethics, and environmental and animal ethics in particular), and Sanskrit language and literature, and has numerous publications in those areas, particularly in the fields of Jain and Hindu Studies amongst other disciplines.