Head, South Asia Program

Senior Lecturer, College of Asia and the Pacific
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: + 61 2 6125 3179
Room: e424 Baldessin Precinct Building

View our 35-min documentary film, 'Mountain God and Sacred Text',
on a seven-day recital of the Bhāgavatapurāṇa

Sanskrit at the ANU

• Watch our promotional video
• Course information
• Admission and enrolment
• Experience the ANU 'living-tradition' of Sanskrit yourself: Sanskrit Class

International and Professional Organisations

• 2012-, Consultative Committee, International Association for Sanskrit Studies
• 2012-, Co-Director, Pan-Asia Institute, ANU-Indiana University

Awards and Nominations

• 2012 ANU Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Education
• 2012 ANU Commendation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning
• 2012 Nominated for OLT Australian Award for University Teaching
• 2011 ANU CAP Award for a Program that Enhances Student Learning
• 2010 ANU CAP First Wattle Oscar for best LMS sites
• 2010 ALTC National Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student learning
• 2008 ANU VC's Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning
• 2008 ANU Students' Award for Excellence in Teaching Distinguished dozen: Students name the best at Festival of Teaching
• 2008 College of Asia and the Pacific Award for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning

• Vice-Chancellor's Excellence in Teaching Award, 2007 (two nominations)
• College of Asia and the Pacific Teaching Awards, 2007 (three nominations)
• Vice-Chancellor's Excellence in Teaching Award, 2006 (nomination)
• Nominated for ANU Dean of Student's 'Last lecture', 2010
• Nominated for ANU Dean of Student's 'Last lecture', 2008
• Nominated for ANU Dean of Student's 'Last lecture', 2007

PhD Supervision

• Successful completions: Ros Matthews (2012)

• In progress: Annie McCarthy, Patrick McCartney

Curriculum vitae

• August 2009

Research interests

• The construction of truth in the Sanskritic episteme
• The ideas of social division in Sanskrit narrative literature
• Purāṇic narratives and their empowerment
• Role of Sanskrit texts in contemporary Hindu practice
• Flexible delivery of small-enrolment languages

Teaching responsibilities

• Sanskrit language and literature, Spoken Sanskrit Interested in enrolling?
• Individual and Society in Asia (Read my Student evaluations for 1st Sem 2007 | 2nd Sem 2007 | 1st Semester 2008 | 2nd Sem 2008 | 1st Sem 2009)
• Religion and Politics in South Asia (Read our student evaluations 2nd Semester 2006)
• RPSA: 'Defining a Nation' (Read our student evaluations 2nd Semester 2008)
• Indian Epics ASIA2062 (Read our student evaluations: 1st Semester 2008)
• Blog on Simla Conference course | Read online report

Recent media

• 'ANU joins edX online revolution' (ANU News 25 Feb 2103)
• 'Learning from Legends: McComas Taylor discusses the Indian epic' (ANU Reporter November 2012)
• 'Behind a Cultural Pathway', (The Australian, 4 Feb 2012)
• 'India Shining?', (ABC Radio Southeast, 16 Sept 2010)
• Naxalite insurgency, India (SBS Radio World View, 9 April 2010)
• Faculty teachers awarded Vice-Chancellor's Citation (ANU Blog Aug 2009)
• Book review: 'The Hindus: An Atlernative History (Wendy Doniger) (South Asia Masala Blog 7 August 2009)
• 'And now, a passage from India' Interview, (Canberra Times, 22 March 2009)
• 'Hindi Teachers Loss Hurts Tongue' (The Australian 2 April 2008)
• 'Distinguished dozen: Students name the best at Festival of Teaching' (ANU News 2008)
• 'Ancient stories find new life' (ANU News 2008)
• 'Six Easy Lessons in Sanskrit' (ANU Reporter 2008)
• 'Simla Conference Re-enacted' (FAS News 16 Sept 2008)
• 'Friend in Asia' (The Australian 12 Sept 2007)
• 'Eye on South Asia's giants' (The Australian 12 Sept 2007)
• 'The Perfection of Sanskrit' - ABC Radio 'Linga Franca' (8 December 2007)
• 'First National Sanskrit festival' ABC Radio National (Canberra), 17 November 2007
• 'Funding for Asian Studies', ABC Radio National, 8 March 2007
• 'Sanskrit, the language of life' (Canberra Times 22 May 2006)

General Outreach

• Visit by Nantien Institute (Nov 2011)
• Third Sanskrit Winter Refresher (July 2011)
• Narrabundah Hindi Students visit (Oct 2011)
• Second Sanskrit Winter Refresher (July 2010)
• Narrabundah College Hindi Students visit ANU (June 2009)
• ANU at Dickson College (May 2009)
• Public Performance by Dr Ananth Rao: 'Rama's Grains' (March 2008)
• Beep Honk, Clatter: The sounds of Outdor Hindi (FAS Bhinneka May 2007)

Committees

• 2012, Chair, India History Post Search Committee
• 2012, Chair, Hindi-Urdu Post Search Committee
• 2012, ARC Expert Assessor
• 2010-, Chair, South Asia Board of Studies
• 2009--, ANU Wattle Reference Committee
• 2009-, FAS Schools and Community Outreach Program
• 2008-09, ANU LMS selection committee
• 2008 Academic Skills job selection committee
• 2007--, Faculty of Asian Studies Dean's Advisory Group/Faculty Management Group
• 2007,Faculty of Asian Studies Education Committee (Tutor liaison)
• 2007, Faculty of Asian Studies Workloads Committee
• 2006-07, Asian Studies Graduate Affairs Committee
• 2006--, Asian Studies Library Advisory Committee
• 2006--07, Faculty of Asian Studies Heads of Centres Committe

Publications

• Taylor, M and Ye Shaoyong (translators). 2013. Ji Xianlin: 'My heart is a Mirror' and 'Life in the Cattle Yard'. Asian Literature and Translation 1(1): 1-64. Read online
• Taylor, M. (under review). 'Stories of God: Contemporary performance of  Bhāgavata-kathā'. Book chapter in Acri and Pinkney (eds) Replaying the Past: Performances of Hindu Textual Heritage in India and Bali. (Submitted 1 Feb 2013). Read draft online

• Taylor M. (under review). Purāṇic masculinities and transgender adventures in the garden of the Goddess. (Submitted to International Journal of Hindu Studies 14 Feb 2013)  Read draft online

• Taylor, M. (under review). 'How to do things with Sanskrit: Speech act theory and oral performance of sacred texts'. (Submitted to Numen, 29 August 2012). Read draft online
• Taylor M. In press. 'Textual strategies, empowerment and 'true' discourse in the Bhāgavatapurāṇa'. DICSEP 5. (accepted 16 Aug 2011) read draft online
• Taylor, M. 2012. 'Heavenly carrots and earthly sticks: How phalaśruti paratexts empower purāṇic discourse'. Journal of Hindu Studies 5:92-111. Read online

• Taylor, M. 2012 'Rādhe, Rādhe! -- Continuity and change in the contemporary oral performance of the Bhāgavatapurāṇa. Religions of South Asia 6(1):83-101. Read online
  
• Taylor, M. 2012. 'Empowering the Sacred: How a text creates discourse in a contemporary oral performance of the Bhāgavatapuāṇa' In. Orality and Literacy: Composition and Performance: Brill: 129-149. Read online.
• Taylor, M. 2011. 'Village deity and sacred text: Power relations and cultural synthesis at an oral performance of the Bhāgavatapurāṇa in a Garhwal community'. Asian Ethnology 70(2): 197-221. Read online
• Taylor, M. 2011. 'Purnabhadra's Pancatantra: Jaina tales or Brahmanical outsourcing?' International Journal of Jaina Studies 7(1): 1-17. read online
• Taylor, M. 2011. 'Mythology Wars: The Indian Diaspora, 'Wendy's Children' and the Struggle for the Hindu Past'. Asian Studies Review 35(2): 149-168  Read online
• Taylor, M. 2010. Indian idol: Narrating the story of Krishna in Globalising contexts. Report to POSCO TJ Park Foundation read online here or here
  
• Taylor, M. and Beckmann. E. 2009. 'Skilful methods can achieve what power cannot': Flexible Delivery of Sanskrit at the Australian National University as a Model for Small-enrolment Languages. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 6(1): 245--253 read online

• Taylor, M. 2008. 'What enables canonical literature to function as 'true'? The case of the Hindu purāṇas'. International Journal of Hindu Studies 12(3): 309-328. read online

• Taylor, M. 2008. 'This is the truth, the truth without doubt': Textual authority and the enabling of 'true' discourse in the Hindu narrative tradition of the Śivapurāṇa. Religions of South Asia 2.1: 65-82. read online

• Taylor, M. 2007. The Fall of the Indigo Jackal: The Discourse of Division in Purnabhadra's Pancatantra. Albany NY: SUNY Press.
  
• Taylor M. 2007. "Perfumed by golden lotuses: literary place and textual authority in the Brahma- and Bhāgavatapurāṇa". Acta Orientalia Vilnensia 8(1): 69-81. read online

• Taylor, M. and Lama Choedak Yuthok (translators). 1996. The Clear Mirror: A Traditional Account of Tibet's Golden Age. Snow Lion. order online

Conferences and Workshops Organised

• Second National Australian Sanskrit Conference, Canberra, 10-11 July 2010
• Second Sanskrit Winter Refresher Workshop 5-9 July 2010
• First Sanskrit Winter Refresher Workshop 20-24 July 2009
• First National Sanskrit Conference November 2007
• Second Spoken Sanskrit Summer School, Feb 2009
• First Spoken Sanskrit Summer School, Feb 2006

Contributions to Innovation in Teaching and Learning at ANU

• Case Studies of Educational Excellence (2010)
• Tutorial participation - ASLC Podcast, (2009)
• Innovative pedagogy: How far can you go at ANU (May 2009)
• Student use of Digitally recorded lectures (2008)
• ANU Digital Lecture Delivery Project (2009)
• Podcast: Studying First Year in the Asian Studies Program (2008)
• Faculty Members at 3rd CLaSIC Conference, Singapore (Dec 2008)

General Sanskrit Links

• Listen to the Daily News in Sanskrit
• ANU Faculty of Asian Studies Sanskrit Studies page
• Sanskrit teaching and research news page.

Spoken Sanskrit Videos

• How to speak Sanskrit
• Re: मम वृत्तान्त:..about me
• laghvI kathA
• About my Family मम कुलस्य वृत्तान्तः
• A fable in Sanskrit: पक्षिणो वानरश्च
• सिंहमूषकबिडालकथा
• ब्राह्मणछागकथा

Documents Online

Sanskrit Documents

• Little Red Book of Sanskrit Paradigms, 6th ed.

• Kalidasa's Meghaduta

• Nala and Damayanti, from Mahabharata (some small errors)

• Bhagavadgita (Sanskrit-English version)

• The Heart Sutra

• The Laws of Manu (Sanskrit-English version) Part 1

• The Laws of Manu (Sanskrit-English version) Part 2

Tibetan Documents

• The Precious Key: An introduction to literary Tibetan for Dharma Students, by McComas Taylor and Lama Choedrak Yuthok Rinpoche (download now)

• Tibetan alphabet worksheets

• Tibetan dictorionary order

• Thirty-seven Practices of the Bodhisattva (Tibetan)

• Thirty-seven Practices of the Bodhisattva (Tibetan-English bilingual)

• The Bodhicaryavatara of Shantideva

• The Heart Sutra

Chinese Documents

• Ji Xianlin: Life in the Cattle Yard (translated by McComas Taylor and Ye Shaoyong)

• Ji Xianlin: In the Mirror of My heart (translated by McComas Taylor and Ye Shaoyong)

The Experts discuss Spoken Sanskrit

Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering discuss Spoken Sanskrit...