The Daily Bulletin

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar “The Cow Paradox: An Exploration of the Human-Bovine Dynamic in India,” presented by Dr. Chirantana Mathkari on Monday, April 28, at 3:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 214. Attendees are welcome to arrive at 2:30 p.m. to enjoy coffee and cookies leading up to the seminar.

Research Seminar Abstract: India, the leading producer and consumer of milk, houses 307 million cattle, nearly a third of the world’s total. The cows and buffaloes together contribute to 97% of the total milk produced in the nation. The contemporary Hindu religious beliefs in the largely Hindu nation of India regard the cow holy, although the sacrality of the cow is not supported by any of the Hindu scriptures. Contrary to this cultural view of the cow, the buffalo, although associated with religious worth in the prominent Hindu scriptures, is not considered holy and indeed goes completely unacknowledged in the current Hindu culture. This religious worth of the cow and the disregarded holiness of the buffalo influences the bovines’ treatment by Indians, and their interactions and relationships with Indians in multiple unique ways. However, the effects of this culturally shaped human-bovine dynamic on the well-being of both elements remain largely unexplored. This seminar explores how the cow’s acclaimed holiness influences the well-being of the Indian dairy cows and buffaloes as well as that of the humans of India through cultural, legal, dietary, and economic consequences.