Dr. Udi Halperin is a scholar of Hinduism who teaches in the Department of East Asian Studies at Tel Aviv University. His research focuses on lived religion in modern India, with a particular focus on the Western Indian Himalaya. His book, The Many Faces of a Himalayan Goddess: Hadimba, her Devotees, and Religion in Rapid Change (Oxford University Press, 2019), is based on several years of fieldwork in the Kullu Valley (Himachal Pradesh, North India) and examines the multiple ways in which the local goddess Hadimba is embedded in the lives of her devotees
Dr. Halperin's current research explores the phenomenon of divine presence in Hinduism, as it manifests itself primarily in its material and performative aspects. This includes investigating the variety of forms that divine presence can take, the ritual mechanisms that are used to construct it, and its effects on the everyday lives of people in North India. Dr. Halperin's articles have been published in leading journals, such as the Journal of the American Academy of Religion (a leading journal in the field of religious studies) and the International Journal of Hindu Studies (a leading journal for research on Hinduism)
Dr. Halperin has twice been awarded four-year research grants from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) (in 2015 and 2022). He was also a central member of the team that drafted a proposal that won a 7-year grant from the Rothschild Foundation to develop the Department of East Asian Studies. Dr. Halperin served as one of the two directors of the management of this project for 5 years, and he has held various other positions in the department (such as Chair of the Teaching Committee, and Advisor to the BA and MA programs) and in the The Zvi Yavetz School of Historical Studies (member of the School's Scholarship Committee)
Dr. Halperin teaches courses on Indian Civilization, Hindu Goddesses, Pilgrimage and sacred geography in India, Hindu rituals, Divine presence in Hinduism, and Hinduism and ecology. He was elected to the University's 100 Club (outstanding teachers) and was awarded the Dean's Award for Outstanding Teaching for several years. He was also twice awarded the Rector's Award for Outstanding Teaching (in 2015 and 2023)
