On May 22, the Sikh Foundation welcomed nearly fifty participants to an online gathering titled “Sound, Sovereignty, and Sikh Scholarship: Bridging History, Culture, and Contemporary Engagement.” Hosted by Professor Anna Bigelow of Stanford University, the event invited us to pause amid what she called “the barrage of calamities we are confronting” and to reflect on how Sikh scholarship continues to guide us through uncertain times.
Rather than a formal lecture, the evening unfolded as a conversation—personal, reflective, and wide-ranging. Each of the three panelists spoke from their own research and lived experience, offering insights that wove sound, sovereignty, and Sikh scholarship into a shared story.
Professor Inderjit Kaur (University of Michigan) opened by recalling her journey into Sikh musicology. “I first started as a community scholar while still teaching economics, and I was doing what we call historical musicology to kind of try and dig out how people understood this term ghar, which is understood to be musical. But you know, how do they play it? How do they play differently, depending on what ghar designation there is on a shabad in the Guru Granth Sahib? … I realized I needed more training, and that’s when I went back for a second PhD.” Her reflections reminded us that Sikh sound is not just art, but a deeply embodied and ethical way of transmitting knowledge.
Professor Rajbir Singh Judge (Cal State Long Beach) turned to the theme of sovereignty, drawing from his forthcoming book Prophetic Maharaja: Loss, Sovereignty, and the Sikh Tradition in Colonial South Asia. He asked pointedly: “What do we make of narratives of historical redemption? Put it more simply, I’m interested in what it means to make it—and the sacrifice that entails—a question of violence and redemption. These are theological questions bound to Christianity, as numerous scholars have shown… but for me the Sikh tradition opens a different way of thinking about sovereignty, one that is always wrestling with its own ethical contours.” His words highlighted how Sikh thought resists easy answers, insisting on inquiry and responsibility instead.
Professor Simran Jeet Singh (Union Theological Seminary) shared how his scholarly path grew out of a disconnect he noticed early on. “The descriptions that I was finding from the scholars didn’t really match my experience as a Sikh growing up in a Sikh family—the way that we lived, and the people that I know lived and understood what it meant to be Sikh. And that’s really where I felt I became increasingly interested to understand why that happened, how that happened… maybe thinking about again, this sort of experience after 9/11, what it might look like to tell our own story and to tell our own history. And so that was the beginning of the journey for me.” From there, he reflected on what it means to keep working for justice when justice itself can feel elusive.
As the evening drew to a close, the moderator posed a final question: What is one idea or challenge we might carry forward from today into our own lives and communities? Each panelist responded with honesty and hope, underscoring curiosity, ethical living, and courage as touchstones of Sikh tradition. Audience members, too, joined in with questions and reflections, making the conversation a truly collective space.
The Sikh Foundation is grateful to Professors Kaur, Judge, and Singh for sharing so generously, and to everyone who joined us. The conversation was a reminder of why we hold these gatherings: to bring people together across borders and generations, to reflect on Sikh art and scholarship, and to carry those insights into the challenges of our time.