Seminar on Religion and Social Identity in Punjab
International Seminar on Religion and Social Identity In Punjab
Organised by Department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh in collaboration with the University of Manchester, UK
FEBRUARY 18-19, 2010
Venue: ICSSR, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
See attached programme: Punjab University Programme
Reaching for roots by Nonika Singh
The Sunday Tribune, 14 Feb 2010
Roots remind me of root infinite, the source of everything.
THAT’s Amarjit Chandan, the celebrated poet rooted in Punjabi soil—its chaste language and ethos—yet spanning continents, the universe, the timeless zone. Living in the UK, where his poetry is etched in a 40-feet-long sculpture, he seeks and finds refuge in his language. And just as the lines read, “Far, far away on a distant planet there lies a stone unseen unturned, it can only be seen with closed eyes as you see your loved ones,” he, too, can see and feel Punjab with closed eyes.
Read full article: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100214/spectrum/book8.htm
SOAS Digital Archives and Special Collections
The Library, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London, UK
Self-description:
“SOAS is a leader in the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and our library with its Archives & Special Collections is the HEFCE-designated National Research Library for these regions of the world. We are in the process of putting our collections of rare manuscripts, books, photographs, audio and film material on-line, to be freely available for everyone. The first collection to be made available is the photographic archive of Christoph von Fuerer-Haimendorf (1909-1995). This collection is widely recognised as the world’s most comprehensive visual documentation of tribal cultures in South Asia and the Himalayas. [...] This Web site is under continual development, so please check back frequently for new features.”
CISA Mellon Doctoral and Post Doctoral Fellowships
Mellon Fellowships: Doctoral (2) and Postdoctoral (2), on themes of the Indian Ocean and Histories of the Global South, The Centre for Indian Studies in Africa, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
The Centre for Indian Studies in Africa and the Mellon Chair in Indian Studies at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg calls for applications for two Post doctoral and two Ph.D. fellowships around the themes of the Indian Ocean and Histories of the Global South. The Centre( www.cisa-wits.org.za ) is interested in promoting interdisciplinary and comparative transnational work looking at the connected histories of colonialism, capital, labour, religion as well as post colonial ideologies and formations in Africa, Asia and South East Asia. Selected candidates will work closely with the Director of the Centre and the Chair in Indian Studies on their own research and the intellectual agenda of the Centre in terms of workshops and conferences.
To apply: Submit applications with a detailed CV, a statement of proposed research (1500 words maximum) and three letters of reference to:
Merle Govind, The Centre for Indian Studies in Africa c/o African Literature Department, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3 Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa. or electronic applications can be sent to: Merle.Govind@wits.ac.za
Further details: www.cisa-wits.org.za Closing date: 15 March 2010
SAMAJ – South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
Latest publication, Thematic Issue: ‘Contests in Context: Indian Elections 2009’ It is accessible in full at: http://samaj.revues.org/index1092.html
The issue includes the following contributions:
Balveer Arora and Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal: Introduction: Contextualizing and Interpreting the 15th Lok Sabha Elections
Christophe Jaffrelot and Gilles Verniers: India’s 2009 Elections: The Resilience of Regionalism and Ethnicity
Bertrand Lefebvre and Cyril Robin: Pre-electoral Coalitions, Party System and Electoral Geography: A Decade of General Elections in India (1999–2009)
Rekha Chowdhary: Electoral Politics in the Context of Separatism and Political Divergence: An Analysis of 2009 Parliamentary Elections in Jammu & Kashmir
Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal: Studying Elections in India: Scientific and Political Debates
SAMAJ is a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed, on-line journal, devoted to social science studies on South Asia. For more information, please visit our website http://samaj.revues.org
Multireligious Societies- Polarizing, Co-Existence, Indifference (Conference in Sociology of Religion Aug 4-6)
The University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway, welcomes you to the 20th Nordic conference in sociology of religion. The conference will take place in Kristiansand in August, 4-6, 2010. The conference language is English.
Conference theme: MULTIRELIGIOUS SOCIETIES – POLARIZATION, CO-EXISTENCE, INDIFFERENCE
Plenary speakers: James A. Beckford, Helen Rose Ebaugh, Effie Fokas and Ole Riis.
Have a look at the conference website: www.uia.no/ncsr2010
The website has recently been updated with information on programme, accomodation, suggested sessions, registration and online payment.
Paper abstracts, deadline March 1, 2010
Registration, deadline May 31, 2010.
(Training) Research Methods in the Study of Contemporary Religion 6th-10th September 2010
The Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society at Birkbeck College, and the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society programme is collaborating to run a residential training event for PhD students involved in the empirical study of contemporary/modern religion. This is a major training initiative, at which leading academics in the UK will be leading sessions on a range of issues including: theorising religion and the role of the researcher of religion, choosing/combining research methods, the research agenda for religion and contemporary society, sampling, using quantitative data-sets, rigour and validity, ethical and political contexts of researching religion, ethnography, visual methods, researching religion and media, and studying spaces and objects. Confirmed speakers include Linda Woodhead, Kim Knott, David Voas, Sophie Gilliat-Ray and Peter Collins.
The event is open to PhD students working across a wide range of disciplines including theology and religious studies, sociology, anthropology, C20th religious history, social policy and geography. Students accepted on to this programme will have their residential costs and travel costs (within the UK) paid for by the project, and there will be no registration fee for those participating. Places at this event are limited, and students interested in attending should complete the application form at: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/crcs/events/CRT_methods_event) and return this electronically to Peta Ainsworth (p.ainsworth@lancaster.ac.uk) by 19th February. Priority will be given to UK-based students in receipt of research council or other institutional studentships, and/or who can demonstrate a clear interest in empirical research in their work. The event will be run at St Catherine’s College in Oxford, with all meals and overnight accommodation provided at the College.
Any queries about this training programme can be sent to Prof Gordon Lynch, Birkbeck College (g.lynch@bbk.ac.uk)
AHRC-funded studentships at Royal Holloway: History and Historical Geography of British imperialism
The AHRC research council studentships have the standard UK/EU qualification criteria. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and College studentships, as well as only fees only awards, for PhD research are also available.
Details of the awards are available from: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/graduate-school/AHRC_BGP/AHRC_index.html
The closing date for applications for funding is 8th March 2010 – but interested candidates should get in touch well before that date with Dr Zoë Laidlaw (zoe.laidlaw@rhul.ac.uk) and Dr David Lambert (d.lambert@rhul.ac.uk) to discuss potential projects and maximize their chances.
Call for Papers: 1th EASA Biennial Conference: Maynooth, Ireland
1th EASA Biennial Conference: Maynooth, Ireland - 24-27th August 2010
Panel: Material Culture, Migration and the Transnational Imaginary
Short Abstract
Material objects are used to objectify memory; as things with their own trajectories, migrating objects are also used to create new links and new relations, positively or negatively affecting imaginations of community and belonging, making migration a crisis of local/global identification.
Migration is not just about citizens crossing borders from homeland to host-countries; it incorporates global movements of things, ideas and people: transnational movements affecting those who move as well as those who don’t. Migration as the crisis of passage moves the traditional paradigm of migration into the realm of the imaginary, in which distant and previously unknown peoples can become connected through materials circulating in this global domain. The same types of objects cited previously can similarly be used to express outward belonging and membership to “imagined communities” not able to be experienced personally, changing persons and altering their concepts of local and global belonging.
We welcome papers addressing this crisis and how ordinary people respond to their extraordinary situations through the multiple meanings objects provide.
To submit a paper to this panel, see: http://www.nomadit.co.uk/easa/easa2010/paperproposal.php5?PanelID=595
For general information on the conference, see: http://www.easaonline.org/conferences/easa2010/index.htm
“Settling Into Motion“ – The Bucerius Ph.D. Scholarships in Migration Studies
“Settling Into Motion“ – The Bucerius Ph.D. Scholarships in Migration Studies- Call for applications
The ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius requests applications for 6-8 Ph.D. Scholarships in migration studies.
The Bucerius Ph.D. scholarship program in migration studies “Settling Into Motion” offers up to eight scholarships for Ph.D. theses addressing migration in changing societies. For 2010, research applications on “Migration, Diversity and the Future of Modern Societies” are especially welcome. Qualified Ph.D. students of – in a broad sense – social sciences can apply until 25 February 2010.
Please find further information as well as the online application on the program’s website: www.settling-into-motion.de
Debate about the right to carry a kirpan
Should religion be an excuse for carrying daggers?
Sikhs should be allowed to carry ceremonial knives in schools and other public places, says Britain’s first Asian judge. But can religion ever justify loopholes in the law, asks philosopher Rebecca Roache.
The idea of children being allowed to carry knives while at school sounds like a red rag to a bull. But that is what Sir Mota Singh QC, Britain’s first Asian judge, who is now retired, says should be allowed. Not any old knife – but the ceremonial dagger known as the Kirpan.
The Kirpan is one of five “articles of faith” which also include Kesh (unshorn hair) and Kara (steel bangle) that are worn by practising Sikhs.
Read full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8506074.stm
Mightier than the kirpanI find it hard to justify knives being allowed in schools – be they Sikh ceremonial symbols or otherwise
Hardeep Singh Kohli The Guardian, Tuesday 9 February 2010
What do you know about Sikhism? The men wear turbans. It comes from the north-west of India. It has at its heart the five “Ks”, the kesh (long hair), kara (steel bangle worn on the right hand), kaacha (undergarment), kanga (comb) and kirpan (a ceremonial dagger); all baptised Sikhs are expected to wear the five “Ks” daily. Sikhs are regarded as the best dancers in the world. This is all unequivocally true, especially the last part.
But I’d like to concentrate on the fact that Sikhism is the only world religion that requires devotees to carry a dagger. The function of the kirpan arose from necessity. From the end of the 16th century, as the Moghuls swept through Persia into the peace-loving hinterland of the Hindus, converting them to Islam, Sikhs became defenders of freedom, guardians of religious independence, champions of tolerance; and we were willing to lay down our lives for the cause. In that context it is easy to understand why we needed daggers, which were carried with us at all times since the threat of violence was constant.
Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/feb/09/dagger-dilemma-sikhism-kirpan-schools
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