Mahatma Gandhi is the key figure that westerners are aware of in terms of India’s independence movement. However, to Indians, he was one of a host of leaders, of cherished figures known as “freedom fighters.” These leaders were distinct people, each with his or her own ideas and approaches. For instance, Aurobindo Ghose, who was the central leader a decade before Gandhi, advocated violence in certain circumstances, and argued in terms of both practical considerations and arguments drawn from religion. Several years later, in 1910, Gandhi published one of his first books, Hind Swaraj, in which he reacted against the ideas of men like Aurobindo while taking into account some of their insights.

Growing up in Richfield, Minnesota, Dr. Ted Ulrich earned his doctorate on the east coast, at The Catholic University of America, focusing on the comparative study of Hindu and Christian thought. At St. Thomas, his research has focused largely on historical aspects of Hindu-Christian dialogue, and he developed a secondary area of research into India’s independence movement. He spent the 2017-2018 academic year in India pursuing this topic through a Fulbright teaching and research grant.

Co-sponsored by the University of St. Thomas College of Arts and Sciences and the University of St. Thomas Theology Department
For more information, please contact Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk at plgavrilyuk@stthomas.edu.
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