Michael Ward (History instructor, and Social Science Dept Chair) is excited to present his research at the 2019 Western Conference of the Association for Asian Studies titled Crossing Borders (October 18-19, 2019)As a follow-up to a June 2019 panel presentation, Professor Michael Ward will continue an examination of ongoing problems associated with continued and outmoded colonial definitions of India, its peoples, and cultures as portrayed in textbooks widely used at all levels of education nationally. At issue are persistent misrepresentations of Hinduism and Indian heritage in ways that reflect Orientalist definitions stemming from the British colonial period. Grounded in 18th and 19th-century European Indology, appropriated by German Indology, and imposed on the history of India, misleading academic depictions of continue to betray a growing body of evidence to the contrary and undermine indigenous Indian identity, thus reinforcing old pejorative stereotypes that still dominate related fields of study. Accordingly, Western Orientalist paradigms persist despite a rich and growing body of evidence and scholarship to the contrary. The problem is deeper than that of historiographical and cultural misrepresentation, however, involving a kind of intellectual ownership of the historical narrative and its interpretations as well. (Dr. Michael K. Ward, History Professor and Social Sciences Department Chair at Ventura College; presentation Topic: “European Templates of Colonization: the Americas and India Compared.” October 18. 2019) Conference information can be found at: Information: https://ceaa.colmex.mx/ingles