Ed Steidle in India

Ed Steidle began his graduate studies in comparative literature at the Johns Hopkins University and went on to earn his master’s and doctoral degree at UC Berkeley. Since joining the Stanford faculty in 1984, he has taught in various departments, including the English department, the Western Culture Program, and the graduate program in the Humanities. He also developed the successful Crossroads series for the Continuing Studies program. Ed’s background is in comparative literature and medieval literature, and his courses cover the history, art, and literature of selected cultures across Eurasia and the Americas from antiquity to the modern period.  

On this trip, Ed will explore, among other topics, the Vedic period and the parallels between Indian and Greek epic traditions as well as the evolution of the Axial Age in India, the Upanishads and Buddhism in particular, and the pivotal function that the tales of Krishna may have played in Sufism and its diffusion in the medieval West. He will also examine Buddhist doctrine and its evolution beyond India and Mughal India, one of the four powerful “Gunpowder Empires” that competed with the west for over three hundred years.

• Joined Stanford faculty in 1984

• Taught in Stanford’s English Department, Graduate Program in the Humanities and Continuing Studies program

• Created the Crossroads and Making of the Modern World series

• BA, English literature and Oriental philosophy, Franklin and Marshall College

• MA and PhD, comparative literature, Johns Hopkins University and UC Berkeley