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{{short description|21st-century Swedish religious scholar}}
{{Infobox scholar
| image = Ferdinando Sardella.JPG
| image_size = 120
| alt =
| caption = Ferdinando Sardella, 2013
| name = Ferdinando Sardella
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| alma_mater = [[University of Gothenburg]]
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| main_interests = [[history of religion]], [[religious studies]], [[Hinduism]]
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| awards = [[Donner Institute#award|Donner Institute award]]
}}
'''Ferdinando Sardella''' is a Swedish scholar of the [[history of religions]], [[Hinduism]], and [[religious studies]], the former director and coordinator of the [[Forum for South Asia Studies]] at [[Uppsala University]].<ref name=UU>{{cite web|title=Ferdinando Sardella|url=http://katalog.uu.se/empinfo/?languageId=1&id=N10-1029|publisher=Uppsala Universitet|accessdate=6 February 2014|quote=Ferdinando Sardella is a postdoctoral researcher and the Director for the Forum for South Asia Studies for the Humanities and Social Sciences at Uppsala University. He is a fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.}}</ref><ref name=Oxford /><ref name=Uppsala/><ref name=LU>{{cite web|title=Forum for South Asian Studies at Uppsala University|url=http://www.sasnet.lu.se/content/forum-south-asian-studies-uppsala-university|work=SASNET – Swedish South Asian Studies Network Lund University Search form Search|publisher=[[Lund University]]|accessdate=6 February 2014|quote=Dr. Ferdinando Sardella from the Department of Theology was appointed Coordinator for the Forum.}}</ref>

==Academic background==
[[File:Bhaktisiddhanta.jpg|thumb|alt=A man in his 50s sitting with a pen in hand and pensively looking forward|[[Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati]] (1874–1937), the subject of Sardella's monograph.]]
Sardella studied at the [[University of Gothenburg]], and graduated with [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] and [[Bachelor of Theology|B.Th.]] degrees. Following his [[Master of Arts|MA]] in theology with the history of religions as his major subject,<ref name=Oxford>{{cite web|title=Ferdinando Sardella|url=http://www.ochs.org.uk/people/ferdinando-sardella|work=The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies|accessdate=16 January 2014}}</ref><ref name=Uppsala>{{cite web|title=Ferdinando Sardella|url=https://uppsala.academia.edu/FerdinandoSardella|work=Academia.edu|accessdate=16 January 2014}}</ref> Sardella obtained a [[PhD]] degree in 2010 at his alma mater on [[Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati]], a prominent [[Bengali people|Bengali]] proponent of the ''bhakti'' tradition of [[Gaudiya Vaisnavism]] in the 20th century and founder of a movement called the [[Gaudiya Math]].<ref name=Gothenburg>{{cite web|title=Ferdinando Sardella, Senior lecturer, History of Religions|url=http://lir.gu.se/english/staff/teachers-and-researchers/ferdinando-sardella/|work=University of Gothenburg|accessdate=16 January 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201224359/http://lir.gu.se/english/staff/teachers-and-researchers/ferdinando-sardella/|archivedate=1 February 2014}}</ref>

Exploring the Gaudiya Vaisnava bhakti school along with its philosophy and practice as taught by Bhaktisiddhanta, Sardella showed it to be a personalistic current that challenged the predominantly [[monism|monistic]] perception of Hinduism in the West. Hitherto relatively unknown, this strand of [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu|Chaitanya]] ''bhakti'' later on gained global spread in the form of the [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness]], or the [[Hare Krishna movement]], inspired by Bhaktisiddhanta's teachings.<ref name=Gothenburg/> In 2010 the [[Donner Institute]], attached to [[Abo Akademi University]], gave Sardella's dissertation their first newly established award for "outstanding research into religion".<ref name=Gothenburg /><ref>{{cite web|title=The Donner institute|url=http://www.abo.fi/forskning/donnerska_institutet|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140116213007/http://www.abo.fi/forskning/donnerska_institutet|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 January 2014|work=Åbo Akademi University|accessdate=16 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="AboAward">{{Cite web|url = http://www.abo.fi/forskning/di_priset|title = The DI Prize for Outstanding Research into Religion|accessdate = 19 January 2014|website = Abo Akademi University}}</ref> In 2013 the dissertation was published by [[Oxford University Press]] as a monograph that [[Gavin Flood]] in his review called "a significant contribution to scholarship not only of the modern Gaudiya Vaisnava movement but also of the religious history of Bengal within the last half of the colonial period".<ref>{{cite web|last=Flood|first=Gavin|title=Modern Hindu Personalism The History, Life, and Thought of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati|url=http://global.oup.com/academic/product/modern-hindu-personalism-9780199865901?cc=se&lang=en&tab=reviews|work=Oxford University Press, USA|accessdate=20 January 2014|authorlink=Gavin Flood}}</ref>

Sardella currently serves as a postdoctorate researcher in the History of religions at the Department of Theology, and until February 1, 2014 was the director and coordinator of the [[Forum for South Asia Studies]] for the Humanities and Social Sciences at [[Uppsala University]].<ref name=UU/><ref name=Oxford /><ref name=Uppsala/><ref name=LU/> He is a research fellow at the [[Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies]] in Great Britain, heading the ''Bengali Vaishnavism in the Modern Period'' research project.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fellows|url=http://www.ochs.org.uk/people/fellows|work=Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies|publisher=University of Oxford|accessdate=20 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bengali Vaishnavism in the Modern Period|url=http://www.ochs.org.uk/research/bengali-vaishnavism-modern-period|work=The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies|publisher=University of Oxford|accessdate=20 January 2014}}</ref> Sardella also serves as a senior lecturer on the [[History of Religions]] at the University of Gothenburg.<ref name=Gothenburg /> He is an external expert for the Centre for the Study of Religion and Society at the Department of Sociology, [[Jadavpur University]] in Kolkata, in collaboration with [[Ruby Sain]].<ref name=Gothenburg />

Sardella is a deputy member representing Sweden in the [[Nordic Centre in India]], an association of leading universities and research institutions of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden established in 2001 for facilitating cooperation in research and higher education between the [[Nordic countries]] and India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nordiccentreindia.com/organisation|title= Nordic Centre in India|accessdate=24 January 2014}}</ref>

==Areas of research==
Sardella's areas of interest and specialization are: modern Hinduism, Buddhism, religions in South Asia (from both a local and a global perspective), [[new religious movements]], religion and science, medieval [[bhakti]] movements, [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Sanskrit]] studies, the history and sociology of religion, interreligious dialogue, [[comparative religion]], globalization and postcolonial theory.<ref name=Gothenburg /> His current research plans include projects that explore the globalization of [[Vaisnavism]], covering the postcolonial period up to the turn of the 21st century.<ref name=LU/><ref name=Gothenburg />

==Publications==
Sardella has authored a number of academic books, papers and chapters.<ref name=Uppsala/><ref name=Gothenburg /><ref name=UppsalaCat>{{cite web|title=Ferdinando Sardella, Publications|url=http://katalog.uu.se/empinfo/?languageId=1&id=N10-1029|work=Uppsala Universitet|accessdate=16 January 2014}}</ref>

'''Books:'''
*''Modern Hindu personalism: The History, Life, and Thought of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati;'' Oxford University Press. (2013)
*''The Sociology of Religion in India: Past, Present, and Future;'' Abhijeet Publications. (2013)
*''Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati: the Context and Significance of a Modern Hindu Personalist.'' Diss. (2010)

'''Chapters:'''
*Text migration: The translation and modern reception of the Bhāgavata Purāna.''The Bhagavata Purana'' by [[Ravi Gupta|Ravi M. Gupta]] and [[Kenneth Valpey|Kenneth R.Valpey]]; [[Columbia University Press]]. (2013)
*Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. ''[[Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism]]''. Knut A. Jacobsen (Editor-in-Chief), University of Bergen; [[Brill Publishers]]. (2013)
* Sweden. ''[[Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism]]''. Knut A. Jacobsen (Editor-in-Chief), University of Bergen; [[Brill Publishers]]. (2013)
*Religious experiments in colonial Calcutta: Modern Hinduism and bhakti among the Indian middle class. ''Religion and the body'', Tore Ahlbäck, Björn Dahla (red.), Åbo: Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History. (2011)
*Hinduism i Sverige (Swedish: Hinduism in Sweden). ''Religion i Sverige'', Ingvar Svanberg and David Westerlund (red.). Stockholm, Sweden. (2008)
*Krishnarörelsen (Swedish: The Krishna movement). ''Religion i Sverige'', Ingvar Svanberg and David Westerlund (red.). Stockholm, Sweden. (2008)
*Krishnaskolan, mellan öst och väst (Swedish: The Krishna School, between East and West) (2007)

'''Papers:'''
*Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati: A personalist view of nature. ''[[Journal of Vaishnava Studies]]''. (2010)
*Shifts in Burmese Buddhism: The practice lineage of S. N. Goenka. ''Journal of Sociology'', Kolkata, India. (2010)
*Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati (1874–1937). ''Journal of Vaishnava Studies''. (2008)
*Neither man nor God: Perspectives on the guru in the Hare Krishna movement in Sweden. FINYAR, Umeå: Föreningen forskning och information om nya religiösa rörelser. (2005)
*Prinsessa och asket. Samtida tolkningar av Mirabai (Swedish: Princess and ascetic. Contemporary interpretations of Mirabai). ''[[Cakra: Journal for Indian Religions]]'', Lund: Centrum för teologi och religionsvetenskap. (2004)

'''Book reviews:'''
*''Hindu Widow Marriage'', by Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar and Brian A. Hatcher (translator)

'''General articles:'''
*Upplysning i ett indiskt interneringsläger-Walter Eidlitz: en konvertits andliga sökande (Swedish: Enlightenment in an internment camp: Walther Eidlitz, a Convert's Spiritual Search)
*Kolkata, stad i förändring (Swedish: Kolkata: A changing city) (2005)

==See also==
*[[Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies]]

==External links==
*[https://www.facebook.com/ferdinando.sardella Ferdinando Sardella on Facebook]
*[http://www.indianembassy.se/events.php?eid=33 Ferdinando Sardella lecturing on Tagore and religion at Uppsala University on event highlighted by the Indian Embassy in Sweden. May 2011]
*[http://talks.ox.ac.uk/talk/index/8362 Ferdinando Sardella's talk abstract at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. May 2012]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Uppsala University |state=collapsed}}
{{University of Oxford |state=collapsed}}
{{University of Gothenburg |state=collapsed}}
{{Bengal Renaissance}}
{{Caitanya sampradaya}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sardella, Ferdinando}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Hindu studies]]
[[Category:Indologists]]
[[Category:Vaishnavism]]
[[Category:Gaudiya Vaishnavism]]
[[Category:Academics of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies]]
[[Category:University of Gothenburg alumni]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Ferdinando Sardella - Revision history

>Citation bot at 03:39, 31 December 2020