The Sikh Next Door – An identity in Transition by Manpreet J Singh
The Sikh Next Door – An identity in Transition by Manpreet J Singh was published by Bloomsbury, India (Academic) last month.
It traces the community’s transition into its heterogeneous, mutating, urban identities within India and outside. In doing so it moves out of the agricultural and martial tropes and analyzes Sikhs in their real -life contexts in urban lives. It brings into frame the trader/professional classes, those changed through interaction with other cultures, the Dalit Sikhs, to see how the changing contexts are re-shaping the community dynamics. It also creates a focus on Sikh women to trace their growth into contemporary urban structures.
The work also analyzes how others respond to the community, particularly in urban spheres. It discusses tropes of otherness reflected in humour, cinematic representations and social attribution in normal times, and violent responses like that of 1984 in India in times of crises. The book rounds off with a broad analysis of how the current generation of Sikhs is engaging with their religious and social identities.
Available from:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-sikh-next-door-9789389165579/
The Sikh Turban: Exploring An Icon Of A Migratory Peoples’ Identity
Research Consultation: Anthropological Collection on Sikh Turbans
The Horniman Museum, London
Kind assistance is requested with researching a collection displaying the dastar as part of Sikhs’ global migration. The collection has three aspirations; to firstly display the pagh’s physical variation as geographically dichotomous and freighting a regionally intrinsic identity trope for instance Makhan Singh as a kalasingha wearing a Kenyan kilemba. Secondly to consider the pagh and its contentious role in Sikh identity within the milieu of other head-coverings e.g. Mitres in Europe during The Middle Ages. Thirdly to reflect on the pagh in Sikh-Britain relationships e.g. Winterhalter’s 1854 portrait of Duleep Singh or turbaned Sikhs as stock British Armed Forces’ media images. Thoughts on the collection mode and process are especially welcomed. The Horniman Museum Collections can be explored at www.horniman.ac.uk, whilst the researchers can be reached on gorby.jandu@gmail.com and JZetterstrom-Sharp@horniman.ac.uk. The collection is due to gain exhibition in 2014 with displays finalised by end 2013.
Researching Wedding Photography in Birmingham: request for contacts
2012 Sikhi(sm), Literature and Film Conference at Hofstra University
2012 Sikhi(sm), Literature and Film Conference at Hofstra University
Fall 2012, October 19-21, 2012
Sponsored by the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies
Sikhi(sm), Literature and Film
Hofstra University and the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies are excited to announce a conference on the literary and visual cultures within, or pertaining to, Sikh traditions both in Panjabi and Diasporic contexts. The conference is designed to be explorative and is therefore open to any and all submissions within these two fields. This conference aims to chart new territory by exploring the aesthetic and expressive traditions within Sikh(ism).
REGISTRATION – NOW OPEN (Click here)
CONFERENCE PROGRAM (Click here)
Nordic Post-doc Introductory Stipends
Finished your Ph.D. within the social sciences in an Asian related topic?
Looking for an opportunity to continue your research?
Searching for a special place to concentrate on this?
NIAS is now open for applications from young scholars who need time and freedom to concentrate on developing their post-doc project. With excellent library facilities, a modern publishing unit, and research staff dealing with different aspects of modern Asia, you can hardly find a more suitable or inspiring working place.
The offer includes a three-month stay at NIAS on a salary that follows existing Danish university standards. We do not provide housing, but will assist in directing your way to accommodations.
Certain conditions apply:
- Recipients of a NIAS introductory stipend have to commit themselves, while at NIAS, to write an application for long term research funding (minimum 2 years)
- Project funding must include a 25% institutional overhead for NIAS
- Successful applicants will be offered a research position at NIAS. If they wish to continue an affiliation with their home institute, an arrangement will be negotiated so the candidate can divide his/her time between the relevant institutions.
Interested? Here is how to proceed:
E-mail us a short draft (max. 3 pp) of your research proposal.
Attach an updated CV and a copy of your Ph.D. diploma.
Add two references that we can contact.
Suggest your preferred period of stay.
Three stipend positions are vacant from October 2009 to June 2010. The deadline for applications is September 1st 2009.
Applications will be evaluated by the NIAS research staff in collaboration with representatives from the Nordic NIAS Council.
For more information please contact:
Project Coordinator Katrine Herold at katrine.herold@nias.ku.dk
and SUPRA Student Assistant Erik Svanström at erik.svanstrom@nias.ku.dk
Migra-Nord Mobility Programme
Migra-Nord network offers grants for short (1-2 weeks) scholar visits for Nordic researchers to Nordic universities and research institutions on the basis of application. The intended visit should fit into theme of media, migration and/or ethnic relations. The programme is focused on research and research training. The applicants should be doctoral students or have a PhD. The visit should advance research and collaboration among Nordic scholars.
The applicant needs to contact the institution where she/he would like to visit. Together with the institute the applicant drafts a working plan for the visit. It can include seminars, presentations, working on a joint article, research proposal, tutoring of doctoral dissertation, and the like.
The grant can cover travel expenses in economy class, meals and accommodation (in longer stays, the applicant should look for a university guesthouse or similar). Please note that according to Nordforsk guidelines daily allowance cannot be paid and receipts are needed for all payments. Costs will be reimbursed after the visit on the basis of receipts and budget.
Interested applicants should first approach Karina Horsti (karina.horsti@helsinki.fi) with a preliminary idea and budget. Final applications will be evaluated by the board of the network on the basis of following requirements:
- budget is acceptable
- quality of the project plan
- outcomes of the visit
- benefit for research training, career or Nordic collaboration
Call for papers – World Religions and Disability: Cross-Cultural and Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Edited by: Darla Schumm and Michael Stoltzfus
Deadline for abstract submissions: July 1, 2009
The editors of World Religions and Disability: Cross-Cultural and Interdisciplinary Perspectives invite contributions for an inter-disciplinary and cross-cultural collection of essays that critically examine how the religions of the world represent, understand, theologize, theorize and respond to disability and/or chronic illness. Religious teachings and practices help to establish cultural standards for what is deemed “normal” human physical and mental behavior and in establishing a moral order for the fit and healthy body and mind. Religion plays an important role in determining how disability is understood and how persons with disabilities are treated or mistreated in a given historical-cultural context.
Abstracts not to exceed 600 words are due by July 1, 2009 and should be sent to: dschumm@hollins.edu and mjstoltz@valdosta.edu. Please note that acceptance of an abstract does not guarantee inclusion in the collection; editors will review and make final decisions upon receipt of the completed essays.
Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:
Asian religions and disability
Disability and inter-religious comparison, contrast, and dialogue
Religious and/or sacred texts and disability
Religion, prejudice, ethics and disability
Religious/philosophical conceptions of the body or self and disability
Founders of religions (i.e. Mohammad, Buddha, Jesus, etc.) and their encounters with disability
The shaping of identity, religion, and disability
Religious rituals and the inclusion or exclusion of persons with disabilities
The Punjab and its Diaspora: Representations and Identities
Attention to Punjab has tended to be bifurcated along the lines created by Partition, with scholars of India and Pakistan focusing on their own part of the region. However, this book breaks down such divisions to consider the area on both sides of the border. In doing this, the contributing scholars (who include the poets Amarjit Chandan and Daljit Nagra, historian Grainne Goodwin, religious studies scholar Jasjit Singh, and literary critic Nukhbah T. Langah) draw upon the two Punjabs’ shared but differentiated legacies of British colonialism, traumatic experiences of partition, relative economic vitality, dominance in their regions, and centrality to (re)inventions and imaginings of the postcolonial Indian and Pakistani nation-states. Given many of the contributors’ location in Britain and elsewhere, non-resident Punjabis are another key area of concern.
In an effort to enhance understandings of Punjabi literature, history, and anthropology, the volume discusses representations of the Punjab and its diaspora in research from different disciplines. It examines the protean nature of Punjabi identities and the cultural, religious and linguistic diversity of the region/s. The collection represents a genuinely interdisciplinary attempt to theorize the Punjab and many of the major languages and dialects spoken there are represented (including Punjabi, Siraiki, and English).
Possible paper topics may include but are not limited to:
- Partition and its legacies
- Rural, urban, and suburban Punjab
- The politics of language in the Punjab (interventions into Potohari and Hindko are particularly welcome)
- Punjabi Islam and Sufism
- Punjabi cultural identities and practices
- Political flashpoints in the region
- Artistic, filmic, literary, and musical representations
- Political relations between the two Punjabs
- The Punjabi diaspora
Please send an abstracts of not more than 200 words and a few sentences of biodata (via Word attachment) to Claire Chambers: c.chambers@leedsmet.ac.uk by the deadline of 21 April 2009. The volume’s emphasis is on representations and identities, and your abstract needs to address one or both of these issues.
CALL FOR PAPERS – Sites and Politics of Religious Diversity in Southern Europe
Editors: Ruy Blanes and José Mapril
Publisher: Brill (pending final approval of MS)
Expected date of publication: 2010
We are pleased to invite you to contribute an essay to a proposed book on “Sites and Politics of Religious diversity in Southern Europe”. Pending approval of the final manuscript, the book will be part of the International Studies in Religion and Society (ISRS) series, published by E.J. Brill.
GENERAL CONCEPT
In recent years, the Southern borders of Europe (from Ceuta to Lampedusa and Athens) have become landmarks for the media and academic verve regarding the migration and diasporas towards and beyond ‘Schengen Europe’. In these debates, religion is acknowledged as playing a central role in the recognition of major societal changes in the continent, being object of political concern and attention: from the recognition of plural forms of Christianity to the debates on a ‘European Islam’, and so on. Yet, in this respect, what goes on around those borders, in the countries that are targeted as gateways for the transglobal flow that finds Europe as its destiny, is still largely uncharted and un-debated.
Traditionally catalogued as ‘single-faith’ nations, part of an alleged ‘Mediterranean cultural continuity’ –a popular interpretation among a generation of anthropologists in the seventies and eighties–, countries like Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece are now experiencing important transformations that defy longstanding categories: Catholic Iberia, Orthodox Greece, etc. Those transformations do not just multiply religious expressions, but also challenge traditional ‘regional’ and ‘national’ socio-political categories, such as nationhood, local belonging, tradition, heritage, citizenship, etc. This book will present and discuss, from a critical point of view, case studies on religious pluralism and diversity in Southern Europe, and on the impact of migrant religiosity in national and EU politics.
We welcome in particular anthropologically and sociologically informed papers that tackle issues directly related to religious diversity and the politics of multiculturalism in this context, focusing on one (or both) of the following approaches: 1) religious pluralism as discourse in the public sphere; and 2) Southern European ethnographies that challenge mainstream perceptions of ‘European religiosity’.
SUBMISSION PROCEDURES:
1. We invite you to submit an Abstract Proposal (including title and institutional affiliation) of 300-500 words describing a scholarly essay that you propose to submit with relation to the general theme of the book. Proposals are due to the editors by April 1st, 2009.
2. If your proposal is approved, you will be given guidelines and asked to submit a 8000-word essay (including notes and references) by early July, 2009. Essays must be previously unpublished.
Abstract proposals and further enquiries can be e-mailed to either Ruy Blanes [ruy.blanes@gmail.com] or José Mapril [jmapril@gmail.com].
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References on gidda in India
I am looking for general historical research, publications or archival references to gidda in India, especially in relation to women and their baulee.
Also, any specific details on this subject in relation to war and especially WW1 and WW2 would be appreciated.
Contact Details: Dr Nirmal Puwar, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Goldsmiths University of London, Lewisham Way, New Cross, London SE14 6NW.
Email: N.Puwar@gold.ac.uk
Allama Mashraqi – Book Manuscript Submissions Invited
1) Authors working on well researched and high quality manuscript(s) in English on Allama Inayatullah Khan Al-Mashriqi and/or the Khaksar Movement (also known as Khaksar Tehrik) are invited to submit their works for review by a publication house. While relevant works typically target the adult audience, works that are intended for children, teenagers, or adolescents will also be considered. If accepted, the book(s) will be printed and published in the USA and shall be available for global sale to the mainstream, libraries, research institutes, etc.
Visit the following web site for more details:
http://www.allamamashraqi.com/manuscriptsubmission.html
2) Authors working on well researched and high quality manuscript(s) in English on Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan (a world renowned social scientist and a pioneer of microcredit and microfinance schemes) are invited to submit their works for review by a publication house. While relevant works typically target the adult audience, works that are intended for children, teenagers, or adolescents will also be considered. If accepted, the book(s) will be printed and published in the USA and shall be available for global sale to the mainstream, libraries, research institutes, etc.
Visit the following web site for more details: http://www.allamamashraqi.com/home.html
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Punjab Research Group 
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