Talk:Sheldon Pollock

@Mohanbhan: would you care to explain your revert? -- Kautilya3 (talk) 04:01, 29 December 2017 (UTC)Reply

Philology is already hyperlinked above and I don't see why you want to put toxicity in quotes when Pollock doesn't.-Mohanbhan (talk) 04:03, 29 December 2017 (UTC)Reply

• "above"? What is above? The first use of a technical term in an article should be wikilinked.
• Sanskrit's 'toxicity' is Pollock's interpretation. It is not a fact. See WP:YESPOV.

I am surprised that I need to explain these things to you. You are experienced enough. -- Kautilya3 (talk) 04:17, 29 December 2017 (UTC)Reply

I thought philology was already hyperlinked but now I see that what is hyperlinked is the word philology in the contents list. That Sanskrit is not toxic is also not a fact but something that you say based on your understanding of Sanskrit. Since I know why Pollock says Sanskrit is toxic and don't know why, in spite of the reasons Pollock gives, you think it is not toxic, I reverted. But since it is a small matter I have self-reverted. Also, it would be nice if you just state your opinion without making remarks about me or my experience. -Mohanbhan (talk) 09:28, 29 December 2017 (UTC)Reply

Malhotra's critique is more than this one sentence. Context is needed, just like better sources than this primary one. And be aware of WP:UNDUE, and the location of Malhotra's criticism in this article. Although Malhotra's critique has had some impact in India, in the context of Pollock's career it's a minor event. See also WP:COATRACK, of course: this article is about Pollock, not about Malhotra, nor is it's primary aim to give a soapbox-opprtunity to certain criticasters. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 06:48, 5 February 2018 (UTC)Reply

The following information has been added twice diff 2nd, and removed twice (by me):

American author Rajiv Malhotra describes Pollock's portrayal of sacred Hindu texts as 'socially oppressive and politically motivated'.^[1]

• The reference is Malhotra's promo-website on his "The Battle for Sanskrit." Although primary sources, such as this website, can be used to represent the point of view of a specific person, in this case Malhotra, it's not the best source of course.
• It also means that this "info" belongs at the section on the petition, not in a separate section.
• The interview in question says:

[According to Malhotra,] Pollock portrays the most sacred texts of Hindus as socially oppressive and politically motivated.

That's subtly different from

American author Rajiv Malhotra describes Pollock's portrayal of sacred Hindu texts as 'socially oppressive and politically motivated'

which seems to say that Pollock's "portrayal of sacred Hindu texts" itself is 'socially oppressive and politically motivated'.

• The second time, this info was inserted with the edit-summary "The central premise of Malhtora's argument is Pollock's misrepresentation of facts." What are "facts" is questionable in this case; the point is that Pollock uses a social-critical methodology, to which Malhotra objects. Malhotra himself says, in this interview:

My issue with Pollock is that he has not been open about his biases with his Indian counterparts. Pollock portrays the most sacred texts of Hindus as socially oppressive and politically motivated. And what did the Hindu majority country do? Indian Government gave Sheldon Pollock Padma Sri and a National Award and research grants, not to mention a long list of hagiographies. Are we really being unfair to Pollock here? Unfortunately, his Hindu counterparts are largely unaware of what he has written. The strongest criticism in my book is about the lack of response from the Indian side – what we call purva-paksha.

So, not "misrepresentation of facts," but a lack of Indian responses to Pollock's writings. In other word: Malhotra's criticism is not about Pollock, but about his own point of view, and the lack of support for this point of view. That information should also be included, plus the fact that Malhotra is an activist, not an academic writer.

An alternative, to be inserted to the petition-section, would be something like:

Indian-American author and Hindu-activist Rajiv Malhotra has repeatedely critcised Pollock's critical methodology, which "portrays the most sacred texts of Hindus as socially oppressive and politically motivated." According to Malhotra, this approach and portrayal does not do justice to Indian traditional perceptions of Sanskrit and it's significance for Indian society. In response to Pollock, and the lack of Indian repsonses from a traditional point of view, Malhotra published, among other writings, The Battle for Sanskrit, to reverse the dominance of western approaches in the academical study of Sanskrit.

Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 08:12, 5 February 2018 (UTC)Reply

https://mesaas.columbia.edu/faculty-directory/sheldon-pollock/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 37.250.83.227 (talk) 17:27, 3 November 2019 (UTC)Reply

Hello, I would like to propose several improvements to the Sheldon Pollock article.

The proposed changes include:

• Adding a Personal life section, supported by reliable published sources.
• Updating the edited volumes and books listed under Selected publications.
• Adding verified articles and book chapters published between 2016 and 2024.
• Improving the formatting and references in the Awards section.

I have a conflict of interest. I will prepare a sourced draft for independent editor review and welcome feedback on the proposed changes.

Thank you. Kangroo32 (talk) 18:03, 20 October 2026 (UTC)Reply

I am working on proposals for improvements to the Sheldon Pollock article. I have reviewed the suggested changes against university, publisher, award-body, and independent reporting sources. Below is a proposal for independent review. I have not edited the live article, and I welcome feedback on which changes meet Wikipedia’s sourcing and due-weight requirements.

1. Selected publications

I suggest retaining the existing structure of the Selected publications section and considering a small number of additions. The following works have been checked against publisher or institutional records:

• Kritische Philologie: Essays zu Literatur, Sprache und Macht in Indien und Europa (2015), published by Wallstein Verlag.
• The Art of Reading: From Homer to Paul Celan (2016), with Pollock as a co-editor.
• “What Should a Classical Library of India Be?” (2018), published in Geschichte der Germanistik, volumes 53/54, pp. 6–21.
• “‘Indian Philology’: Edition, Interpretation, and Difference” (2018), in L’espace du sens: Approches de la philologie indienne / The Space of Meaning: Approaches to Indian Philology.
• “Sorting Out Babel: Literature and Its Changing Languages” (2018), co-authored with Stephen Owen, in What China and India Once Were: The Pasts That May Shape the Global Future.
• “Indian” (2021), a chapter in How Literatures Begin: A Global History.
• “A Theory of Philological Practice in Early Modern India” (2024), a chapter published by Springer.
• Hindi and History: Poets, Poetry, and Poetics in Mughal India (2026), edited by Pollock and collecting the scholarship of Allison Busch.

The official Columbia University bibliography is available here:

https://www.columbia.edu/cu/mesaas/faculty/directory/pollock_pub/

Additional sources:

• Springer: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-49617-2
• De Gruyter Brill: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780691219844/html
• Columbia University Press: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/what-china-and-india-once-were/9780231184717/
• Permanent Black: https://www.permanentblack.com/product-page/hindi-and-history
• Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies: https://chs.harvard.edu/book/bollack-jean-the-art-of-reading-from-homer-to-paul-celan/

I recommend that the reviewing editor select only the most notable additions and preserve the section’s balance between books, edited volumes, and articles or chapters. These are suggestions for consideration, not a request to add every item.

2. Awards and honours

I found sources that may help verify or correct several existing entries in the awards and honours section:

• University of Chicago Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching (2001): The University of Chicago Chronicle identifies Pollock as a recipient. Source
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) research funding: The official NEH record identifies Pollock as project director for Sanskrit Knowledge Systems on the Eve of Colonialism, with project director dates from September 2000 to September 2006. This does not by itself verify the broader 1995–2004 period stated in the article.
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences: The Academy profile confirms Pollock’s election in 2014. I could not verify the claim that he resigned in 2021, so I suggest retaining that detail only if a reliable source is found.
• Friedrich Weller Prize (2019): The Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities press materials identify the associated book as A Rasa Reader: Classical Indian Aesthetics.
• British Academy: The Academy profile identifies Pollock as an International Fellow, elected in 2020, rather than a “Corresponding Fellow.”

Other existing award entries can be checked against these institutional sources: Padma Awards notification (2010) for the Padma Shri; Government of India press release (2009) for the Presidential Certificate of Honour for Sanskrit; Columbia University’s faculty profile for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award; Columbia’s awards page for the Lionel Trilling Book Award; and the Association for Asian Studies for the Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize.

For the older Harvard, AIIS, and ACLS fellowship entries, I recommend retaining the precise award names and dates only if reliable sources can be found to verify them. Institutional affiliation or project funding alone does not establish that an individual received a particular fellowship.

3. Personal life and climate activism

Columbia University’s memorial confirms that scholar Allison Busch died on 19 October 2019:

https://mesaas.columbia.edu/to-friends-and-colleagues-of-professor-allison-busch/

An independent YES! Magazine feature published in 2022 describes Pollock’s climate activism, including his work with Third Act and an educator working group:

https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2022/07/27/climate-change-baby-boomers

Inside Climate News also reports his involvement with Third Act’s New York City working group:

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31072025/new-york-climate-activists-zohran-mamdani/

If the reviewing editor considers this material relevant and proportionate for the biography, I suggest considering a concise addition along these lines:

“Pollock’s wife, scholar Allison Busch, died in 2019. Pollock has also been involved in climate activism through Third Act, including work with its educator and New York City working groups.”

I have not included a cause of death, a total number of grandchildren, or a claim that Pollock founded the Elders Coalition for Climate Action because I have not verified those specific details from sufficiently reliable sources.

Request for review

I would appreciate independent review of these suggestions, particularly the selection of publications suitable for the article, the exact wording of older fellowship and grant entries, and whether the proposed personal-life and activism material merits inclusion. Please feel free to reject, revise, or omit any proposal that does not meet Wikipedia’s sourcing, notability, or due-weight standards. Kangroo32 (talk) 16:29, 29 October 2026 (UTC)Reply

{{edit COI|R}}

I am requesting independent review of the proposed changes above. The proposal covers selected publications, awards and honours, and personal life and climate activism. Supporting sources and suggested wording are included in my previous comment. I welcome independent review and understand that any or all of the suggestions may be declined.

~~~~ Kangroo32 (talk) 17:29, 2 November 2026 (UTC)Reply

{{edit COI|N}}

=== Proposal to update the awards and honours section ===

I would like to propose a concise update to the awards and honours section of the article. The following details are supported by university, award-body, and government sources.

Proposed wording:

Pollock received the University of Chicago Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching in 2001. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014 and became an International Fellow of the British Academy in 2020. His book A Rasa Reader: Classical Indian Aesthetics received the Friedrich Weller Prize in 2019. His book The Language of the Gods in the World of Men received the Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize and the Lionel Trilling Book Award. Other honours include the Padma Shri (2010), the Presidential Certificate of Honour for Sanskrit (2009), and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award (2008).

Supporting sources:

• University of Chicago Chronicle (2001): http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/010607/pollock.shtml
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences: https://www.amacad.org/person/sheldon-i-pollock
• British Academy: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/fellows/profiles/sheldon-pollock-fba/
• Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Friedrich Weller Prize): https://www.saw-leipzig.de/de/aktuelles/presse/pressematerial_fruehjahrssitzung.pdf/%40%40download/file/Pressematerial_Fr%C3%BChjahrssitzung.pdf
• Association for Asian Studies (Coomaraswamy Prize): https://www.asianstudies.org/grants-awards/book-prizes/coomaraswamy-prize/
• Columbia University (Lionel Trilling Award): https://fas.columbia.edu/content/faculty-recognition-and-awards
• Government of India (Padma Awards, 2010): https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/Document/pdf/notifications/PadmaAwards/2010.pdf
• Press Information Bureau, Government of India (2009): https://www.pib.gov.in/newsite/erelcontent.aspx?lang=2&reg=48&relid=51869
• Columbia University faculty profile (Mellon Award): https://mesaas.columbia.edu/faculty-directory/sheldon-pollock/

The NEH record also identifies Pollock as project director for Sanskrit Knowledge Systems on the Eve of Colonialism from September 2000 to September 2006. I suggest treating this as research-project information rather than an award, and considering it separately if relevant: https://awardsearch.neh.gov/AwardDetail.aspx?gn=RZ-20701-01

I welcome independent review of the proposed wording, references, and whether all these honours merit inclusion in the article. Kangroo32 (talk) 12:45, 9 November 2026 (UTC)Reply