Professor
Fields of Interest
Biography
Ph.D. Asian Languages and Literature, University of Washington, 1994
M.A. Eastern Philology and History: Indo-Iranistics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, 1986
B.A. Eastern Philology and History: Indo-Iranistics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, 1983

Current Research Projects:
- Edition and translation of selected works by Nagridas, alias Savant Singh of Kishangarh (1699-1764) and his concubine Rasik Bihari alias Bani Thani ("the Indian Mona Lisa"). Confluence of classical Hindi devotional and Indo-Persian and Rajasthani court idiom (sponsored by a NEH and Guggenheim Fellowship).
- Revisiting the birth of Urdu: the reception of "the father of Urdu," Vali, in eighteenth-century Delhi salons, an interdisciplinary project with Purnima Dhavan (History, UW) (sponsored by a Simpson Cross Disciplinary Conversations grant).
- An edited volume on Vernaculars, Memory construction and Emotion: Giant Jinas and Warrior Epics in Gwalior together with Eva De Clercq (Gent University, Belgium).
Research
Selected Research
- Pauwels, Heidi, and Eva De Clercq, eds. 2020. Vernacular performance, memory construction, and emotions: warrior epics, Akhārās, and giant Jinas in Gwalior, Special issue of South Asian History and Culture. Introduction DOI: 10.1080/19472498.2020.1719318
- Pauwels, Heidi, and Anne Murphy, eds. 2018. From Outside the Persianate Center: Vernacular Views of Aurangzeb/“Alamgir.” Special Issue of Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 28.3.
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Pauwels, Heidi R.M. 2017. Mobilizing Krishna’s World: The Writings of Prince Sāvant Singh of Kishangarh. Seattle, University of Washington Press; Hyderabad, Orient Blackswann (262 pages) ISBN 978-0-295-74223-6
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Pauwels, Heidi R.M. 2015. Cultural Exchange in Eighteenth-Century India: Poetry and Paintings from Kishangarh. Studies in Asian Art and Culture 4. Berlin: E.B. Verlag. (301 pages) ISBN 978-3-86893-184-6
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- Pauwels, Heidi. "Cosmopolitan Soirées in Eighteenth-Century North India: Reception of early Urdu Poetry in Kishangarh." South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (Centre d’Études de l’Inde et de l’Asie du sud). 2014b.
- Pauwels, Heidi. "When a Sufi tells about Krishna’s Doom:The Case of Kanhavat." The Journal of Hindu Studies (2013;6): 21–36.
- Heidi Pauwels, Monika Horstmann, eds. Indian Satire in the Period of First Modernity. Khoj 9. Harrassowitz Verlag: 2012.
- Heidi Pauwels, Purmina Dhavan. Welcoming Vali: An Exploration of the Literary Legacy of Vali Dakhani. 2011.
- Heidi Pauwels. "A Tale of Two Temples: Mathura’s Kesavadeva and Orchha’s Caturbhujadeva." South Asian History and Culture 2.2 (2011): 278-299.
- Heidi Pauwels. "Rathauri Mira." International Journal of Hindu Studies 14.2-3 (2011): 177-200.
- Heidi Pauwels. "The Woman Waylaid at the Well:' A Folk Theme Appropriated in Myth and Movies." Asian Ethnology 69.1 (2010): 1-33.
- Heidi Pauwels. "The Saint, the Warlord, and the Emperor: Discourses of Braj Bhakti and Bundela Loyalty." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 52 (2009): 187-228.
- Heidi Pauwels. Patronage and Popularisation, Pilgrimage and Procession: Channels of Transcultural Translation and Transmission in Modern and Pre-Modern South Asia. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2009.
- Heidi Pauwels. The Goddess as Role Model: Sita and Radha in Scripture and on Screen. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
- Heidi Pauwels. "Stealing a Willing Bride: Women’s agency in the myth of Rukmini's Elopement." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 17.4 (2007): 407-441.
- Heidi Pauwels. Indian Literature and Popular Cinema: Recasting Classics. London and New York: Routledge, 2007.
- Heidi Pauwels. In Praise of Holy Men: Hagiographic poems by and about Hariram Vyas. Groningen Oriental Studies 18. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 2002.
- Michael C. Shapiro, Heidi Pauwels, Carol Salomon, Alan W. Entwistle. Studies in Early Modern Indo-Aryan Languages, Literature and Culture. South Asia Books.
- Heidi Pauwels, Harirama Vyas. Krsna's Round Dance Reconsidered: Hariram Vyas's Hindi Ras-Pancadhyayi. Curzon Press.
Research Advised: Graduate Dissertations
- Castro, Genoveva. Wājid 'Alī Shāh Plays Krishna's Stolen Flute : The Multiplicity of Voices in the King of Awadh's Dramatic Work. Seattle]: University of Washington, 2016.
- Ritter, Valerie. Useful Absences and the Nature of the Modern : Ayodhyāsiṁh Upādhyāy "Hariaudh" (1865-1947), His Priyapravās (1914), and Hindi Poetry. University of Washington, 2001.
- Diamond, Christopher. expected 2019. “Poet, Scholar, Saint: Competing Vernacular Memories of Vidyāpati (16th-19th cent. CE)”
Research Advised: Graduate Masters Theses
Courses Taught
Additional Courses
Autumn 2021
Winter 2021
Winter 2020
Spring 2019
Autumn 2017
Spring 2017
Autumn 2015
Spring 2015
Winter 2015
Autumn 2014
Spring 2014
Winter 2014
Winter 2013
Resources & Related Links
Affiliations
Affiliated Departments:
Professional Affiliations:
Association of Asian Studies, American Academy of Religion, American Oriental Society, European Association for South Asian Studies
Related News
Related News
- Professor Heidi Pauwels publishes Mobilizing Krishna's World - December 15, 2017
- Memory Construction and Emotion in India, Past and Present - November 12, 2017
- Departmental Faculty Shine Brightly in UW's Interdisciplinary Honors Program - June 7, 2016
- LACMA Exhibit Features Translation from Prof. Pauwels’ New Book - May 2, 2016
- New book by Professor Heidi Rika Maria Pauwels - September 8, 2015
- Autumn 2015 Course Spotlight - LOVE AND WAR - November 22, 2013
- Faculty News 2010 - June 1, 2010
- Faculty News 2009 - June 1, 2009