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Professor Jonathan Dickstein, PhD

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Professor Jonathan Dickstein, PhD
Assistant Professor, Arihanta Institute
Jonathan Dickstein (PhD), an Assistant Professor at Arihanta Institute beginning May 2023, specializes in South Asian Religions, Religion and Ecology, and Comparative Religious Ethics. He received his doctoral degree in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he wrote his dissertation on ancient Indian animal taxonomies and their relevance for religious ritual and dietary practice. Jonathan’s current work focuses on Jainism and contemporary ecological issues, and accordingly extends into Critical Animal Studies, Food Studies, and Diaspora Studies.

Jonathan has published in a wide array of interdisciplinary journals on topics such as veganism and politics, yoga and diet, Jain veganism, and the ethic of nonviolence (ahiṃsa). Jonathan considers himself a scholar-practitioner, having spent many years not only in libraries but also in public advocating for justice for both humans and nonhumans alike.

Publications

“Veganism as Left Praxis.” Capitalism Nature Socialism 33, no. 3(2022): 56–75.     

“Review: Sacred Cows & Chicken Manchurian: The Everyday Politics of Eating Meat in India by James Staples.” Himalaya Journal 40, no. 2 (2021): 164–166.     

“Jain Veganism: Ancient Wisdom, New Opportunities.” Religions 12, no. 7 (2021): 512.     

“Animal Abuse in Modern Yoga Gastropolitics.” Sacred Matters Magazine, May 16, 2021.     

“The Ism in Veganism: The Case for a Minimal Practice-Based Definition.” Food Ethics 6, no. 2 (2021).       

“Why Aren’t We All Boycotting Factory Farms?” Sentient Media, October 5, 2020.         
              
“Ahiṃsā.” In La Pensée végane. 50 regards sur la condition animale, ed. Renan Larue. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2020.     

“The Strong Case for Vegetarianism in Pātañjala Yoga.” Philosophy East and West 67, no. 3(2017): 613–628.

Courses