 Signe Cohen
Associate Professor and
Director of Graduate Studies
Education: Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Interests: South Asian Religions
Email: cohens@missouri.edu
My main interests are Hinduism and South Asian Buddhism. Trained as a Sanskritist, I enjoy working with original Hindu and Buddhist texts, both in Sanskrit and in other ancient Asian languages, such as Pali, Prakrits, Tibetan, and Tocharian.
In my research I attempt to combine philological and philosophical analysis. In my recent work on the Upanishads, I have tried to establish a relative chronology for these ancient Sanskrit texts, and I have identified later interpolations within each text. I then use this text-critical analysis as a basis for discussing the historical development of important Hindu concepts present in these texts.
On the lighter side, I am deeply fascinated with ancient tales about robots and mechanical beings. I am particularly interested in how Hindu and Buddhist robot stories express fundamental beliefs about soul and soullessness.
Another ongoing research interest is the undeciphered Indus Valley script (Pakistan/North India ca. 2000 BCE). I have attempted to demonstrate that the language underlying this ancient script is unlikely to be an Indo-European or Dravidian one. My research on this topic continues!
Teaching
RS 2110 Major World Religions
RS 3200 Hinduism
RS 3240 Buddhism of South and Southeast Asia
RS 4001/4005 Topics: Sanskrit I
RS 4001/4005 Topics: Sanskrit II
RS 4001/4005 Topics: Old Norse
RS 4960 Readings: Sanskrit III
RS 8210 Texts: Indian Buddhism
RS 8200: Religious Texts and Interpretations: The Veda
Recent Publications
Text and Authority in the Older Upanishads. Brill 2008.
Was the Indus Civilization Matrilineal?, Acta Orientalia 67 (2007): 189-202.
The Indus “Seal of Divine Adoration” and the Khasi Myth of Origins, Acta Orientalia 66 (2005): 7-13.
Romancing the Robot and Other Tales of Mechanical Beings in Indian Literature, Acta Orientalia, 64 (2003): 65-75.
Ewigkeit im zyklischen Weltbild in O. Reinke (ed.): Ewigkeit – was ist damit gemeint? Beiträge aus Natur- und Geisteswissenschaften, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2003.
The Svetasvatara Upanishad Reconsidered, Acta Orientalia 59 (1998) 150-178.
Text Transformed: A Text-Critical Study of the Older Upanishads (forthcoming).
The Substitute Guests: Feeding Brahmans at the Sraddha (forthcoming).
Vediske skrifter. Oslo: De Norske Bokklubbene 2002. (Introduction to Vedic religion, including translations).
On the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit/Middle Indic Endig "-e" as a 'Magadhism' ,
Acta Orientalia Vol. 63 (2002).
Ramayana (Verse translation of selections from the Sanskrit epic), Oslo: De Norske Bokklubbene 2000.
The Svetasvatara Upanishad Reconsidered, Acta Orientalia 59 (1998) 150-178.
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