Bhaktivedanta College
Encyclopedia
Bhaktivedanta College, located in the rural Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...

 region of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, is a Vaishnava college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 administered by ISKCON. The programme at Bhaktivedanta College is the study of Vaishnavism.

History

The college was opened by ISKCON in 2002 and aspires to be a Vaishnava university. The main offering of the college is the Ministerial Program. This program educates devotees to become preachers, teachers, leaders, scholars, and managers.
Bhaktivedanta College, located in the rural Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...

 region of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, is a Vaishnava college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 administered by ISKCON. The programme at Bhaktivedanta College is the study of Vaishnavism.

History

The college was opened by ISKCON in 2002 and aspires to be a Vaishnava university. The main offering of the college is the Ministerial Program. This program educates devotees to become preachers, teachers, leaders, scholars, and managers.
Bhaktivedanta College, located in the rural Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...

 region of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, is a Vaishnava college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 administered by ISKCON. The programme at Bhaktivedanta College is the study of Vaishnavism.

History

The college was opened by ISKCON in 2002 and aspires to be a Vaishnava university. The main offering of the college is the Ministerial Program. This program educates devotees to become preachers, teachers, leaders, scholars, and managers.The Hare Krishna Movement: Forty Years of Chant And Change, Graham Dwyer, Richard J. Cole, 2007, ISBN 1845114078 Referred as "the Bhaktivedanta Theological College in Belgium" p.55

Bhaktivedanta College is part of the educational vision for ISKCON developed by its Ministry of Educational Development. The Ministry creates institutes of higher education in Vaishnava Theology.

Partnership with University of Wales

Bhaktivedanta College is in partnership with the University of Wales, Lampeter
University of Wales, Lampeter
University of Wales, Lampeter is a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822 by royal charter, it is the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales and may be the third oldest in England and Wales after Oxford and Cambridge...

 (UWL), a center for Theology and Religious Studies in the UK. This partnership enables Bhaktivedanta College to offer accredited academic courses for which students are awarded certificates and diplomas, leading to a degree. As an educational institution training young Vaishnava theologians in Krishnology, Bhaktivedanta College is preparing a new generation of ISKCON scholars trained inside ISKCON's educational institutions.Hare Krishna Marks 40th Anniversary; Eastern Tradition Grows Up to Find Many of Its Ideals Have Gone Mainstream, Announces ISKCON Communications. Business Wire, 10 July 2006

The Campus

The campus of the college is located at Radhadesh, set in the hilly rural Ardennes region of Belgium. Radhadesh is a devotee center for ISKCON and receives tens of thousands of visitors a year.

Leadership

In February 2009 ISKCON’s GBC body approved the sannyasa
Sannyasa
Sannyasa is the order of life of the renouncer within the Hindu scheme of āśramas, or life stages. It is considered the topmost and final stage of the ashram systems and is traditionally taken by men or women at or beyond the age of fifty years old or by young monks who wish to renounce worldly...

 initiation of Yadunandana who is the principal of Bhaktivedanta College.

Disciple of Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Satsvarupa das Goswami is a senior disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness , better known in the West as the Hare Krishna movement...

, Yadunandana Swami is originally from Spain, teaching among other subjects Bhaktivaibhava course at the college and is specialising on History of sannyasa in ISKCON.




Staff

  • Yadunandana Swami Principal of Bhaktivedanta College.
  • Hanumatpresaka Swami General Secretary of the North American Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies.
  • Kadamba Kanana Swami
    Kadamba Kanana Swami
    Kadamba Kanana Swami is a Hare Krishna guru and one of the senior members of ISKCON. He is a member of the faculty at Bhaktivedanta College where he teaches in the subject area titled Reflections on Chaitanya Charitamrita...

     teaches Caitanya-caritamrta.
  • Kenneth R. Valpey
    Kenneth R. Valpey
    Kenneth R. Valpey is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Theologian who studied at Oxford University, St Cross College . While there, he conducted his research at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. He has a D.Phil. from Oxford University, where his dissertation was on Chaitanya Vaishnava murti-seva...

     teaches at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and has a Fellowship at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
    Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
    The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, founded in 1997, is a Recognised Independent Centre of Oxford University. The Centre is engaged in developing academic programmes of education, research and publishing in the field of Hindu studies...

    .
  • Radhika Ramana Dasa
    Radhika Ramana Dasa
    Radhika Ramana Dasa, also known as Dr. Ravi M. Gupta, is a notable Vaishnava scholar. Presently, he is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and a member of the faculty at Bhaktivedanta College...

     Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
    Religious studies
    Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...

     at the College of William and Mary
    College of William and Mary
    The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...

     in Williamsburg, Virginia
    Williamsburg, Virginia
    Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...

    .
  • Shaunaka Rishi Das
    Shaunaka Rishi Das
    Shaunaka Rishi Das is the Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies , a position he has held since the Centre's foundation in 1997. He is a Hindu cleric, a lecturer, a broadcaster, and Hindu Chaplain to Oxford University...

     Hindu Chaplain to Oxford University.
  • Urmila Devi Dasi
    Urmila Devi Dasi
    Urmila Devi Dasi, , was born in 1955 in New York City. Her father was president and later, CEO, of the Manischewitz food company, founded by his grandfather. She joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in 1973 in Chicago and became a disciple of A. C...

     teaches "History of ISKCON" and "ISKCON and Society."
  • Prahladananda Swami teaches at the Vaishnava Institute for Higher Education.
  • Anuttama Dasa International Director of ISKCON Communications, and a member of the Governing Body Commission
    Governing Body Commission
    The Governing Body Commission is the managerial authority of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness . ISKCON's founder, A.C...

    .
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