In this episode of the Engaged Jain Studies Podcast, Professor Christopher Jain Miller interviews Dr. Melanie Barbato, Senior Lecturer in History of Christianity at the Pacifika Communities University, Suva, Fiji. Listen in as Dr. Barbato explains Jain approaches to human security including the topics of Personal Security, Health Security, Food Security, Environmental Security, Economic Security, Political Security, and Community Security. Appreciate the particular Jain responses to these global challenges, and leave inspired to contribute to making the world a more secure place for all.

 

 

This EJS podcast episode offers a preview of Professor Barbato's upcoming course for the Compassion Studies Initiative, 2018 | Human Security as Compassion: Jain Perspectives on Global Challenges.

 

In this course you will learn how Jain thought and practice can speak to each of the seven areas of human security: 1) Personal Security, 2) Health Security, 3) Food Security, 4) Environmental Security, 5) Economic Security, 6) Political Security, 7) Community Security. Human security is not merely a matter of technology and logistics and a task for states and big organizations. It can also be approached as value-based: helping others to feel and be safe as an act of compassion. Underlying the concept of human security is the desire to understand what each individual human being needs to be able to flourish and live a meaningful life. In the course we will discuss different ways of answering this question, from the United Nations sustainable development goals to the wisdom of the Jain scriptures, and how they can inform each other to address today’s global challenges.

 

👉🏽✨ Pre-register for Human Security as Compassion and unlock access to 50+ courses with Arihanta's Institute's Course Membership! Along with this course, gain access to courses covering engaged Jain studies, Yoga philosophy, compassion studies, vegan studies, and more.

 

Start your 14-day Course Membership free trial today and join a global community of lifelong learners dedicated to positive change. Embrace knowledge for a more compassionate, purposeful life.

 

The Compassion Studies Initiative is supported by a grant from the Uberoi Foundation. 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

Melanie Barbato is the author of Jain Approaches to Plurality: Identity as Dialogue (Brill) and the editor of Interreligious Dialogue and Diplomacy, a special issue of Cross Currents (UNC Press). She is a Senior Lecturer in History of Christianity at the Pacifika Communities University in Suva, Fiji, and coordinates the Network of Hinduism in Dialogue at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, UK.

 

Christopher Jain Miller is the co-founder, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute. He completed his PhD in the study of Religion at the University of California, Davis and is also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Zürich's Asien-Orient-Institut and Visiting Professor at Claremont School of Theology where he co-developed and co-runs a remotely available Masters Degree Program focusing on Engaged Jain Studies. His current research focuses on Engaged Jainism and Modern Yoga, and he is the author of a number of articles and book chapters concerned with Jainism and the practice of modern yoga. Christopher is the author of Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation (Routledge 2024), as well as co-editor of the volumes Engaged Jainism: Critical and Constructive Approaches to the Study of Jain Social Engagement (SUNY 2025) and Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age (Lexington 2020).