Online Zoom Forum: Guru Nanak: The Spiritual, Social, Ecological, and Interreligious Vision in His Life and Work.
Date: Wednesday 15 April 2026.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Event Description:
Format: There will be five talks, each of 12 minutes, followed by discussion among the speakers and the chair, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
Ravinder Kaur Nijjar:
Bio: Ravinder Kaur Nijjar is the Sikh Representative on the Scottish Religious Leaders Forum, Chair of Sikhs in Scotland Interreligious Dialogue Committee, Chair of Religions for Peace UK Women of Faith Network, and Vice-Chair, Religions for Peace UK. For over 35 years she has initiated many projects to promote interfaith dialogue, respect, and peace between communities nationally and internationally.
As an interfaith activist and consultant her current focus is on the empowerment of women, challenging gender-based violence, the leadership role of women of faith, promoting religious literacy through interfaith dialogue, and protecting the Earth through multifaith action and collaboration.
As Co-Chair from 2006-2014 Ravinder Kaur was a founding member of Religions for Peace European Women of Faith Network developing and forming national women of faith networks across Europe and is currently a member of the Executive Board. She is a former member of RfP International Women's Coordinating Committee for the Global Women of Faith Network and serves on the Standing Commission on Advancing Gender Equality.
Ravinder has served on the Scottish Interfaith Council, currently known as Interfaith Scotland since its inception in 1999 and as Convener from 2002-04 was key in initiating Inter Faith Week in Scotland. She also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the UK Interfaith Network from 2000-2015 and was instrumental in establishing Inter Faith week in England and Wales in 2009. She serves as the honorary Sikh Chaplain at Glasgow University.
She is an experienced educationalist and has a Bachelor of Education (Hons) degree (London University), ATQ Primary Qualification (Strathclyde University) and a post-graduate Diploma in Religious Education from the University of Glasgow.
Ravinder Kaur has received numerous awards and was honoured with the Religions for Peace Lifetime Service Award for Multi-Religious Peacebuilding in 2023, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Scottish Asian Women’s Association (2013) and in January 2024 was awarded the Coronation Medal.
Speakers:
Prof Dr Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh:
Title: Unity in Diversity: Guru Nanak and the Light we Share.
Description: I’d like us to collectively reflect on Guru Nanak’s popular verse, “there’s a light in everybody and that light is that One.” What does light ontologically signify? How can transcendent light glue us together? Emit sparkles of joy? Illuminate mutual recognition amongst diverse bodies? Ignite interreligious understanding in our dangerously divided and polarized world? Together, we will view the spectrum of our shared humanity through Guru Nanak’s iridescent prism.
Bio: Dr Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh is the Crawford Professor and chair of Religious Studies at Colby College in the USA. She has published extensively in Sikh Studies – fifteen books and over hundred articles/book chapters. Her latest books include Guru Nanak's Transcendent Aesthetics (Cambridge University Press, 2025), Guru Nanak: Poems from the Sikh Sacred Tradition (Harvard University Press, 2023), Guru Nanak's life narratives—literary and visual, entitled Janamsakhi: Early Sikh Art (New Delh: Roli Publishers, 2023), Guru Nanak: Poems from the Guru Granth Sahib (Harvard University Press, 2022), The First Sikh: The Life and Legacy of Guru Nanak (Penguin, 2019), and Hymns of the Sikh Gurus (Penguin, 2019). In honor of her scholarship, Dr. Nikky Singh has received numerous awards from various institutions and organizations.
Prof Eleanor Nesbitt:
Title: Guru Nanak as Communicator.
Description: Eleanor will highlight how Guru Nanak's insights have impacted on her, a non-Sikh, over the years, and how they can reach every generation.
Eleanor will share some thoughts on how effective a communicator Guru Nanak was, through: his farflung travels; his use of a poetic vernacular; the centrality of music; his powerful imagery drawn from such a wide range of experience; and through his enactment of his message (at least according to the janam sakhi accounts).
She will illustrate how Guru Nanak has communicated across centuries and cultures by reference to the responses of some western women writers, as recounted in her book Sikh: Two Centuries of Western Women's Art and Writing (Kashi House, 2024).
Bio: Eleanor Nesbitt (an emeritus professor at the University of Warwick) is a Quaker. For over 40 years she has researched and written about Sikhs and their faith tradition. With Gopinder Kaur she authored the award-winning book Guru Nanak (1999, Bayeux Arts) and she has also published Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edn 2016, Oxford University Press) and Sikh: Two Centuries of Western Women's Art and Writing (2024, Kashi House) and, with Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, Sikhism: The Basics (2025, Routledge). Eleanor's other publications include: Interfaith Pilgrims (2003, Quaker Books) Intercultural Education: An Ethnographic and Religious Approach (2004, Liverpool University Press) and Open to New Light: Quakers and Other Faiths (2023, Collective Ink). As a poet she has co-authored (with Gavin D'Costa, Mark Pryce, Ruth Shelton and Nicola Slee) Making Nothing Happen: Five Poets Explore Faith and Spirituality (2014, Ashgate).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0029hm2
www.kashihouse.com
https://www.routledge.com/Sikhism---The-Basics/Singh-Nesbitt/p/book/9781032416779
https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/christian-alternative-books/our-books/quaker-quicks-open-new-light
Prof Dr Devinder Pal Singh:
Title: Guru Nanak’s Vision: Unity, Justice, and Ecological Harmony.
Description: This talk examines Guru Nanak’s comprehensive vision of unity, justice, and ecological harmony, underscoring its enduring relevance in contemporary debates on ethics, social issues, and environmental concerns. Rooted in the foundational concept of Ik Onkar, the oneness of the Divine and creation, Guru Nanak’s teachings transcend religious boundaries to promote a universal spiritual humanism. The article explores how his rejection of caste, gender inequality, and religious exclusivism contributed to the development of a radical egalitarian ethos, as evident in communal practices such as sangat and langar. Guru Nanak’s emphasis on justice as a spiritual imperative is explored through his critique of political oppression, economic exploitation, and social discrimination. His ecological worldview, reflected in a poetic reverence for the Earth as mother, water as father, and air as guru, anticipates contemporary environmental ethics and promotes a sacred model of sustainability. The article also analyzes modern applications of his teachings in interfaith dialogue, social justice movements, and environmental activism, particularly through global Sikh initiatives. Drawing from scriptural sources, historical context, and contemporary scholarship, this study presents Guru Nanak’s vision as a transformative framework that addresses pressing challenges of our time. His message offers not only spiritual depth but also a practical pathway for building inclusive, just, and ecologically balanced communities.
Bio: Dr. Devinder Pal Singh, Ph.D., is a distinguished teacher-researcher with over 35 years of experience in university-level teaching and a profound scholar of Sikhism. Currently, he serves as a Professor of Religious Studies at the Arihanta Institute in San Jose, California, USA.
He has authored six books, about 300 articles, 15 book reviews, and seven book chapters in the field of Sikh theology. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of The Sikh Review, Kolkata, and Journal of Studies in Sikhism and Comparative Religion, New Delhi, India. Dr. Singh has delivered over 75 televised talks on Sikhism, science, and society, which are available on YouTube. His 25 radio talks have been aired on Canadian platforms. He has also been working as the Founder-Director of the Center for Understanding Sikhism in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, since 2014.
As a physicist, he has published over 100 papers in international journals and contributed to more than 60 conferences. He has authored over 1,500 articles on Science, religion, and the environment, as well as two dozen books in English, Punjabi, and Hindi. His contributions bridge the realms of Sikh philosophy, science, and environmental issues.
Books Published on Sikhism
Exploring Sikhism - Faith, Values and Heritage (2025)
Rationality and Revelation - A Sikh Perspective on Science-Religion Dialogue (2025)
Mystic Echoes: Stories Rooted in Sikh Spiritual Realms (2025)
A Path to Truthful Living (2025)
Science and Sikhism – Conflict or Coherence (2018)
Dharam atay Vigian (in Punjabi) (2001, 2011, 2019)
For further details, please visit:
https://www.arihantainstitute.org/faculty/20433-devinder-pal-singh-phd
https://philpeople.org/profiles/devinder-pal-singh
https://www.sikhnet.com/authors/dr-devinder-pal-singh
https://asiasamachar.com/tag/dr-devinder-pal-singh/
https://c4usikhism.com/
https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-2962-9967
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Dr Nadia Singh:
Title: Raag and Resistance: Guru Nanak’s Musical Legacy and its Echoes in Punjab’s Contemporary Social Movements.
Description: This paper explores the enduring legacy of Guru Nanak’s musical activism and its resonance in Punjab’s contemporary social justice movements. Music played an integral in his spiritual and socio-political praxis, wherein he positioned his poetic compositions as foundational acts of resistance within the cultural landscape of Punjab. Through the medium of shabad kirtan—devotional hymns set to ragas—Guru Nanak challenged caste hierarchies, religious orthodoxy, and political authoritarianism. He employed music as a vehicle for ethical critique and communal awakening. His partnership with Mardana and the use of the rabab symbolized interfaith solidarity and sonic dissent, establishing a tradition where sound became both sanctuary and subversion. Tracing this legacy through Sikh musical practices, folk ballads, and contemporary protest songs, the paper argues that music in Punjab continues to serve as a resonant force for justice, memory, and collective mobilization. By situating Guru Nanak’s musical legacy within broader frameworks of resistance, the study affirms the enduring power of sonic expression to inspire collective dignity and transformative action.
Bio: Dr Nadia Singh joined Northumbria University as a lecturer in Economics in 2017. She finished her PhD degree in Economics from Oxford Brookes University, UK (2017). Her doctoral research explored the political economy of bioenergy developments in the context of developing countries. The research made an original contribution by developing a multiple stakeholder framework for sustainable bioenergy development, rooted in the concept of equitable economic development and social justice. Nadia completed her M.Phil degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India (2013). Her M.Phil. research empirically estimated the inter linkages between food based nutritional interventions and indicators of childhood malnutrition. Nadia also holds a master degree from Panjab University, India (2009) and BA (hons) degree in Economics from Delhi University, India, which she finished in first class.
Nadia has previously worked as a research fellow at a large policy research institute in India, The Institute of Development and Communication. She was a part of a large cross-country project on the migration of health care professionals from India. She also contributed to the Government of India’s development policy reports on gender equality, food security and renewable energy deployment. Prior to joining Northumbria, Nadia worked as an Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, and led undergraduate seminars in a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules.
Dr Jvala Singh:
Bio: Jvala Singh is a lecturer at University of California, Berkeley, for Punjabi and a sessional instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, teaching courses on religion in India and Sikh history. He completed his PhD at the University of British Columbia, where he explored pre-colonial Sikh historical narratives. This research examined literature in Punjabi and Brajbhasha from the 18th and 19th centuries, building off his previous M.A. research completed at the University of Toronto, where he focused on Sikh Brajbhasha versions of Sanskrit epics, such as the Ramayana.
In furthering accessibility of pre-colonial Sikh Brajbhasha texts, Jvala Singh runs a podcast, the Suraj Podcast, where each episode is a chapter summary in English of the voluminous Suraj Prakash, a historical narrative covering the lives of the ten Sikh Gurus. written by Santokh Singh. You can find his lectures on various topics on his YouTube page.
An archive recording will be made for the EICSP archive.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Cost: By Donation:
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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