About Dr. Sehdev Kumar
Dr. Sehdev Kumar is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Historian of Science & Mystical Thought, he is author of many books including The Vision of Kabir; his latest book, 7000 Million Degrees of Freedom: One Earth, Seven Billion Worlds, is a fervent appeal for a new earth consciousness. After He currently lives mostly in the Himalayas, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, at the Madhuban Ashram, and in the international spiritual community of Auroville in South India, with some 3000 people from 60 countries. Born and brought up in Punjab, in the princely state of Patiala in India, Sehdev studied at S.D.S.E. High School, and in Mohindra College in Patiala, and at Panjab University in Chandigarh.
Mohindra Collega, Patiala
Panjab University, Chandigarh
With B.Sc. (Hons.) and M.Sc. in physics, with first class and distinction, at the age of 21, Sehdev was awarded a scholarship for post-graduate studies in Nuclear Physics in Canada. Specializing in Radiation Physics, he earned M.A. from Ontario Cancer Institute of the University of Toronto, and Ph.D. in the History & Philosophy of Science.
Mohindra Collega, Patiala
Panjab University, Chandigarh
For three years, Sehdev was a Junior Fellow and a resident at Massey College of the University of Toronto with graduate students from more than 30 academic departments.
During his studies in Canada, Sehdev’s intellectual and cultural interests and pursuits became much wider and eclectic. In seminar and lectures with Prof. Marshall McLuhan at the University of Toronto, he was drawn to communication studies and films, and to mystical thought and poetry. He was also increasingly involved in anti-war and peace movements in Canada and the USA, with fervent commitment to the use of science for peace.
On an award from Canada Council of the Arts, Sehdev studied film-making at the Film School at UCLA, Los Angeles. Later he taught comparative aesthetics of international cinema in the School of Communication Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, and Mathematics at Prince of Wales College in Prince Edward Island in Canada.
Simon Fraser University, Canada
Prince of Wales College, PEI
University of Waterloo, Canada
For more than 25 years, as Professor at the University of Waterloo, Dr. Kumar focused on global environmental issues from ecological, scientific and bio-ethical perspectives, and was deeply committed to environmental sustainability, social justice and global peace. In fact, he saw them all as one integral whole.
In short, Dr. Kumar’s commitments are wide and deep: from the physical to the metaphysical, from the scientific to the spiritual, from the political to the bio-ethical; in short, from the earthy to the sacred.
For the past decade, Dr. Kumar has been lecturing on International Cinema and the Human Condition, and about the Story of Human Civilization from ecological, cultural and spiritual perspectives, and on Bioethical Issues in the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto, and at the Life Institute in Ryerson University in Canada, and as ‘Enrichment Lecturer’ on cruises all across the globe.
On Princess Cruise
Sailing from Hawaii to Sydney
From 2011-16, Dr. Kumar was Distinguished Professor of Culture & Communication in Himgiri Zee University in Dehradun. Currently he is Director of Studies Abroad Program at the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Integral Studies in the international township of Auroville in South India for students from several universities in USA, Canada and Europe.
For over 10 years, Prof. Kumar wrote a weekly column, Ideas & Beliefs, on Science, Bioethics and Culture for South Asian Observer in Canada. His latest book is 7,000 Million Degrees of Freedom: One Earth, Seven Billion Worlds.
Author of The Vision of Kabir and The Ocean in a Drop, Prof. Kumar is also a distinguished exponent of the poetry and philosophy of St. Kabir, and presents Kabir, in original and with his English trans-creations all over the world.
Professional Experience
- 1996-present: Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo, Canada.
- 1998-present: Principal, Kumar International Mediators & Adjudicators.
- 2011- 2016: Visiting Distinguished Professor of Culture & Communication, Himgiri Zee University, India.
- 2009-2018: Columnist/Editorial Writer for South Asian Observer, with more than 500 feature articles on arts and literature, and multicultural and bioethical issues in Canada and internationally.
- 1998-present: Instructor, School of Continuing Studies, University of Toronto, lecturing (in different years) on Science/Religion Dialogue, Bioethics, Law & Culture, Clash of Civilizations, International Cinema and the Human Condition.
- 2012-present: Enrichment lecturer on various historical and cultural subjects on a number of cruise lines.
- 2015-present: Instructor, Life Institute, Ryerson University, Toronto, lecturing on “Human Journey Across the Ages: Ecology, Culture and the Self”, “Brain, Mind and the Soul”, “History and Future of Human Unity”.
Academic Qualifications
- Ph.D., University of Toronto, History & Philosophy of Science.
- M.A., University of Toronto, Radiation Physics in Cancer Research
- M.Sc., Panjab University, Nuclear Physics.
- B.Sc. (Hons.), Panjab University, Physics.
- Certificate in Mediation & Applied Negotiation, Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation.
Books
- “Matters of Life & Death: Reflections on Bioethics, Law and Human Destiny”, 2014, Panjab University Press, Chandigarh, forthcoming.
- “How’s & Why’s of an Unexpected Universe”, Akaar Books, 2013, collection of reflective essays on the meaning of human presence in the universe.
- “Thousand-petalled Lotus: Jain Temples of Rajasthan”, Indira Gandhi National Institute of the Arts, New Delhi, 2001.
- “The Vision of Kabir”, 2013, Third Edition, Spirit Born Foundation, Canada, translation of mystical poems of a 15thcentury poet-sage.
- “The Lotus in the Stone: Explorations in Dreams, Myths & Consciousness”, 1985. Alpha & Omega Books, Concord.
- “7,000 Million Degrees of Freedom – One Earth: Seven Billion Worlds”, 2019, iUniverse, New York.
- “Ocean in a Drop: Sakhis of Kabir”, expected in January 2021.
- “Glimpses of the Real in a House of Illusions”, expected in August 2021.
" We all draw from the same well. Many different vessels. But one water permeates all"
- Kabir Das
Video's
Tat Tvam Asi
Men with Feet of Clay
Yoga of Forgiveness
In the Matter of Self
7 Steps Towards Global Peace – Part 1
7 Steps Towards Global Peace – Part 1