From February 17-19, 2012, graduate students and experts in their fields will be assembling at California State University, East Bay in Hayward, California as part of Sikholars: Sikh Graduate Student Conference to present their studies on topics related to Sikhs and Sikhism.

According to the organizers of the conference:

The Sikholars: Sikh Graduate Student Conference was born out of repeated conversations with graduate students about the need for a collaborative effort to bring various expertises together to identify, analyze, and support the needs for research about the Sikh community.

I am not a graduate student, but as a fan of Sikh studies and issues, I attended their first two conferences and enjoyed them immensely. Each time, I was  impressed with the depth and breadth of the presentations and open discussions about many historical and contemporary aspects of Sikhism and the global Sikh community.  I left the events feeling enlightened, educated, and inspired. I’m certainly looking forward to attending again this year.

Sikholars has announced their list of speakers at their website: sikholars.org. Additional information is also available on the blog, The Langar Hall.