Harinder Singh is the Senior Fellow at the Sikh Research Institute. He holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Wichita State University, an MS in Engineering Management from the University of Kansas, and an MPhil from Punjab University in the linguistics of the Guru Granth Sahib.
He co-founded the Sikh Research Institute and the Panjab Digital Library, envisioned the Kaur and Singh Academy, and organized the Free Akal Takht campaign.
He appears on radio and television programs and speaks at universities, parliaments, museums, conferences, and civic institutions. He has authored several books and numerous articles integrating the political and the spiritual. He consults on curriculums, exhibitions, and films and is featured in many documentaries on the Sikhs, the Panjab, and South Asian matters.
His current focus is on developing critical thinking for Sikh institutions via the State of the Panth report series and developing open-source decoding of Guru Granth Sahib in contemporary Panjabi and English for a global audience.
He has served on the National Conference on Community and Justice boards, The Fellowship of Activists to Embrace Humanity, The Nanakshahi Trust, among others. He looks for culturally-specific things to experience and a light roast pour-over coffee to sip during travels, reads and binge-watches to stay in touch with what the world is up to, and listens to sabads, poetry, Hir, jazz, and political rap.
Harinder Singh resides with his family in the United States.
The Khalsa inauguration on Vaisakhi day in 1699 infused the Sikhs and gave them a structure of ideas and institutions that continue to shape their lives both individually and collectively. We will discuss Panthic leadership through Sikhi ideals and historical models. We will also explore the current deficits in leadership and their code of conduct. How can Love-drenched & Wisdom-centered impetus revive organic leadership in the vicinity of ideals!
To commemorate International Women's Day, Harinder Singh highlighted that the Sikh culture, as envisioned in the Guru Granth Sahib and created by the Ten Nanaks, insists on complete equality.
Join Harinder Singh and Jasleen Kaur as they discuss the larger Sikh context around beadbi as a political problem in need of a political solution. What is beadbi? How has it been dealt with historically? What are its Panthic and legal understandings?
Sikh Research Institute (SikhRI) has released its eighth report in the State of the Panth series titled Dan: Sikhi & Giving, exploring what it means to give in a Sikh context, how giving is understood throughout Sikh history.
Sikhs believe in the idea of IkOankar (1Force, Oneness, One Universal Integrative Force).
The Sikh Cast is taking a close look at the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM). The United States is in a moment of turmoil following the death of Minnesota resident George Floyd, leading to an outpouring of protests across the country. Manpreet Singh holds a spirited conversation with special guests Corey Winchester, Harinder Singh, SikhRI’s Senior Fellow on Research and Policy and, Asha Marie Kaur SikhRI’s Researcher on what the BLM movement means in education, policy and much more. Corey Winchester is a public educator in Evanston, Illinois with an MEd in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies. You can watch his TED talk on education and identity here: https://bit.ly/2MLToE8
The Sikh Cast Host has a one on one dialogue with Harinder Singh on how the Guru would deal with the Black Lives Matter Movement. They ask how can Sikhs around the world go beyond the protest and how do we explore it from the Sikhi lens.
This episode of The Sikh Cast is from a live webinar recorded on June 29th, 2020. It features Senior Fellow Harinder Singh and The Sikh Cast host Manpreet Jassal, together they discuss the controversial sikh motto "Raj Karega Khalsa." They get into its usage from the 1700's to a modern context, discussing the how and the what of its meaning.
73 years ago, two nation-states were carved by the British mapmaking: Hindustan and Pakistan. The historical Sikh Homeland in The Panjab was divided by the Radcliffe line. In now truncated Indian Panjab, a proportion of the Sikhs led many campaigns to fight for economic, political, state, human, and religious rights. What’s next to secure the Sikh aspirations and the Panjab’s autonomy?
73 years ago, two nation-states were carved by the British mapmaking: Hindustan and Pakistan. The historical Sikh Homeland in The Panjab was divided by the Radcliffe line. In now truncated Indian Panjab, a proportion of the Sikhs led many campaigns to fight for economic, political, state, human, and religious rights. What’s next to secure the Sikh aspirations and the Panjab’s autonomy?
The principle of Miri-Piri is often encapsulated with the two crossed swords in today's Sikh consciousness, one representing the political spirit of the Sikhs and the other representing the spiritual.
Akal Takht Sahib (Timeless Throne Sovereign) commands the worldly moral authority of the Sikhs, functioning as the institutional manifestation of the Miri-Piri (Political-Spiritual) doctrine as envisioned by the Gurus.
The Gurduara is considered to be the heart of the Sikh community. Throughout all components of the Gurduara, the teachings of the Gurus must be visible in both abstract heights and concrete realities.
The Anand Karaj (Sikh marriage ceremony) is one of the life stages outlined with specific sentiments and ceremonies for Sikhs. Its procedures have received increased attention in recent years as a major community issue.
As the global Sikh population expands in size and complexion, the definition of a Sikh becomes increasingly important to support and shape the community. This study sets out to establish an understanding of how to conceptualize who is a Sikh.
COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything for everyone. There are those who are serving the need of the hour, and there are those who are serving their own needs, that’s just how things have always been. Allow me to share the Sikh ethos as a reminder:
“The whole Guru Grantha is the voice of a wedded women or a maiden pining in love of the Beautiful. Her nobleness in Guru Grantha is infinite, her freedom is of the highest. Both man and woman as sexes are forgotten in her voice.
Join Harinder Singh as he discusses Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Medicine For Life.