DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Mark McClish specializes in classical Hinduism, with a focus on early legal and political literature (dharmaśāstra and arthaśāstra).

He holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Indiana University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in Asian Cultures and Languages with a specialization in Sanskrit and Indian Religions. His research uses a close reading of text to explore the development the early Hindu legal and political traditions and the frameworks of political thought in classical South Asia. 

He is author of The History of the Arthaśāstra (Cambridge 2019) and  co-author of The Arthaśāstra: Selections from the Classic Indian Work on Statecraft (Hackett, 2012). His research has been supported by the European Research Council (SAW-ERC) and Fulbright, among other organizations.

Mark also works in the area of religion and ecology, in South Asian and beyond. Of particular interest to him are the growth and development of environmental awareness, the history of conservation as a scientific and cultural practice, and the ways in which people find and make personal and communal meaning through conservation and restoration.