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Knowledge Without Borders

CONTENTS

A Place Under the Sun 1

SAU Distinguished Lecture Series 3

Off Campus 4

Academic Events 6

Achievements 10

SAU Click 13

SAU Bookshelf 11

THE QUARTER THAT WAS

1

New Delhi (01.12.2018) SAU News: Buildings do not make a university. While the statement is quiteunderstandably true, a physical space, of which buildings form a major part, is very vital to an institution.South Asian University came into being in 2010 after years of deliberation and planning. The naturaljourney of a university usually begins with the creation of a physical space. The genesis of South AsianUniversity had a slight deviation.

Old JNU Building in New Delhi became the first makeshift campus as the university kick-started with two

master’s degree programmes. As more and more programmes were introduced in the subsequent years,

SAU outgrew the space it was occupying and it was thus shifted to Akbar Bhawan in Chanakyapuri.

What used to be a five star hotel in the centre of India’s capital city soon became a hub of academic

activities with students from all the eight member nations of SAARC living together, thinking together

and studying together. Initially, students were put up in Centaur Hotel near the New Delhi Airport before

the hostels were ready in Akbar Bhawan. Now all the classrooms, laboratories, library, administrative

offices, hostels and other facilities are housed under a single roof.

A Place Under the Sun

The Quarterly Newsletter of South Asian University | Volume 3 Issue 2 December 2018

After eight years of its existence, SAU has been lauded as possibly the most successful SAARC endeavour.

The University, though, is yet to find a physical identity in the form of a permanent campus. That is going

to change, sooner rather than later.

The first brick to construct a permanent campus for South Asian University was laid on the ground by Ms

Sushma Swaraj, the External Affairs Minister, Government of India, on 3 June 2015 in Maidan Garhi, New

Delhi, where a 100 acre plot of land has been provided by the Government of India. The total capital

expenditure is also being borne by the Indian Government.

The construction of the permanent campus would have started earlier if not for some delay due to the

elaborate procedural mechanism of checks and balances. Nevertheless, the construction of the boundary

wall of the university was completed in January 2016. The tender for the construction of five buildings, i.e.

Faculty of Life Sciences and Earth Sciences, three blocks of Staff Housing, Faculty Club and Guest House

and a Guard House was floated in November 2015 and the construction started in May 2016 with a

completion period of 30 months. The construction works are in full swing and at present more than half of

the work is already done and it is likely to be completed by March 2019.

S u b s e q u e n t l y , t h e

construction of seven

m o r e b u i l d i n g s , i . e . ,

Administration Building,

Library, Institute of South

Asian Studies, Faculty of

Law and Humanit ies,

F a c u l t y o f P h y s i c s ,

C h e m i s t r y , I T a n d

Mathematics, Faculty of

Art and Design and the

Convention Centre, as well

a s u t i l i t y b u i l d i n g s ,

i n c l u d i n g e x t e r n a l

development of the site and landscaping, got started in January 2017 with a completion period of 36

months. The current progress of work at site for this part of the project is more than 33%.

The University plans to shift from the existing makeshift campus in Akbar Bhawan in Chanakyapuri to the

new campus once the buildings under construction are completed and occupancy certificates obtained

from the concerned authorities.

Meanwhile, the University has also received permission to begin construction on another 15.4 acres,

where two hostel buildings are planned to be constructed. Several academic programmes are waiting to

be introduced once South Asian University moves to its permanent campus.

After eight years of many trials and tribulations as well as several achievements and triumphs, the SAU

community is now eagerly looking forward to its very own permanent campus.

for the construction of the campus The

establishment of SAU is one of the most visible signs of transformation of SAARC from declaration to

implementation, Ms Swaraj had said on the occasion of the Ground Breaking ceremony.

2

3

New Delhi (13.09.2018) SAU News:

,

Mr. Shivshankar Menon, India’s former National Security Advisor and

Foreign Secretary, delivered the SAU Distinguished Lecture on 13 September 2018, at the Akbar Bhawan

Campus in Chanakyapuri. A visiting professor at the Ashoka University, Mr. Menon has been a Fisher

Family Fellow at the Kennedy School, Harvard University, and Richard Wilhelm Fellow at MIT in 2015. He

was chosen one of the “Top 100 Global Thinkers” by Foreign Policy magazine in 2010. Mr. Menon spoke on

the topic ‘The International Relations of South Asia’. The event was chaired by Dr. Kavita A. Sharma,

President - SAU.

Mr. Menon said that no countries in any other region of the world have such affinity as the ones in South

Asia, although the region is the least integrated. Despite a prosperous past, 200 years of colonisation

changed the region’s economy, geography, literacy, poverty and many other aspects. The South Asian

countries have been fighting with one another even as the evolution of nation states and processes of

identity formation continue, instead of co-operating among themselves. He argued that, given this

context, the foundation of SAARC has been a turning point for the region.

Mr. Menon said that the South Asian countries need to be more connected and working together to build

their common future. As the nations settle into their identities, a political will is needed for better co-

operation. Two and half decades of globalisation has brought a big shift in the pattern of disparity within

South Asia. He argued that the destiny and prosperity of these countries are linked and the region needs

the world more than ever before. He lauded the idea of the South Asian University and contented that

this institution needs to take up a lot of initiative for more co-operations in the interest of the region. The

event ended after a lively question and answer session.

SAU Distinguished Lecture Series features noted academicians, leaders and experts, heads of important

organisations, ambassadors and eminent personalities from various fields of knowledge. The lecture

series was initiated in January 2015, with the first lecture delivered by Paula Richman, William H. Danforth

Professor of South Asian Religions, Oberlin College, Ohio, USA. In the past, many High Commissioners and

Ambassadors of South Asian countries to India, including those of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh,

Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka have also spoken to the faculty and students of SAU, as part of this series.

SAU Distinguished Lecture


4

Colombo (8-9.11.2018) SAU FE News:

“Towards Equitable, Inclusive, and Sustainable

Development within the Globalised Economy”

The Faculty of Economics, South Asian University and the Department

of Statistics and Economics, University of Peradeniya jointly organised the 6 Peradeniya International

Economic Research Symposium (PIERS), on the theme

on 8 - 9 November, 2018, at the Postgraduate Institute of

Humanities and Social Science, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. The Faculty of Economic Sciences and

Business Administration, Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania, provided collaborative support for

the conference.

In the inaugural session on 8th November, Professor Santosh C. Panda, Dean, Faculty of Economics and

Vice President, South Asian University, spoke about the unique character of the South Asian University

and highlighted the continuous efforts initiated by SAU to collaborate with academic institutions across

South Asia to promote research in social sciences in the region. The inaugural session was followed by a

lively panel discussion on South Asian Economic Development, which was chaired by Dr. Soumya Datta,

FE, SAU. The panelists included, among others, Dr. Dushni Weerakoon, Executive Director, Institute of

Policy Studies, Sri Lanka and Professor Mir Anjum Altaf, former Dean, School of Humanities and Social

Sciences, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

The second day of the conference was devoted to technical sessions, where research scholars and young

faculty members from various countries presented their work that focused on issues of economic

development. Dr. Sunil Kumar, Associate Dean, FE, SAU, chaired one of the technical sessions, while three

doctoral students from the faculty – Sahil Mehra, T.M. Vasuprada and Vaishali Kohli, along with two

alumni – Apurva Bhatnagar (research scholar at CESP, Jawaharlal Nehru University) and Rinni Sharma –

presented their research work in various sessions. The conference ended with a talk by Professor Sirimal

Abeyratne, Department of Economics, University of Colombo, and Concluding Remarks by Professor

Herath Gunathilake, Asian Development Bank.

th

PIERS 2018

Off Campus

Professor Sanjay Chaturvedi, Department of International Relations, represented the South

Asian University at the Annual Meeting of Himalayan University Consortium (HUC), held in

Kathmandu, Nepal on 30-31 October 2018.


5

Kathmandu (15.09.2018) SAU FLSB: , ,

, ,

“Sickle Cell Anemia and its coexistence with alpha- and

beta-thalassemia in a cohort of indigenous Tharu population of Nepal: Implications for the South Asian

region”

A one-day symposium titled “A Genetic Approach to Blood Disorders”

was conducted in Hotel Woodland, Durbarmarg, Kathmandu on 15 September 2018 to strengthen the

National Sickle Cell Disease Control within the framework of Nepal National Program for the Prevention

and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, and also to spread awareness on screening, management

and prevention of hemoglobinopathies.

The Chief Guest of the event, Prof. Dr. Rameshwar Adhikari, Executive Director of Research Centre for

Applied Science and Technology (RECAST), spoke about the relevance of awareness about preventable

blood disorders and the various ways in which different sections of society can work to achieve it. Dr.

Nilam Thakur, Kathmandu Centre for Genomics and Research Laboratory, Nepal, elaborated on the

difficulties associated with getting blood samples from remote regions of Western Nepal and educating

the patients about the importance of genetic counselling, while Dr. Ajaya Jung Kunwar, Nepalese Army

Institute of Health Sciences, Kathmandu, gave an account of the research conditions in Nepal and

suggested key areas that the government could focus on. Dr. Durga Prasad Pathak, President,

Thalassemia Society of Nepal, spoke about the suffering of thalassemic individuals and how he started

multiple blood transfusion units for free for the benefit of poor patients. Dr. Ravi Shankar Akundi from

SAU shared his experiences on how this project was visualized and how it helped to connect researchers

with patients directly. The efforts of various technicians and doctors were sincerely acknowledged, as

they were involved at the village level and helped to escort patients, assisted in the counselling sessions,

and performed clinical studies. Other delegates included Prof. Anjani Kumar Jha, Chairman, Nepal Health

Research Council (NHRC); and Dr. Sunil Dhungel, President, Neuroscience Society of Nepal (NSN). More

than 80 students registered to attend the event, which also included caregivers and patients associated

with thalassemia.

The symposium was a part of a collaborative project

, supported by the Institute for South Asian Studies (ISAS), South Asian University, New Delhi. The

project proposal jointly written by Dr. Ravi Shankar Akundi (FLSB, SAU), Dr. Ajaya Jung Kunwar, and Dr.

Nilam Thakur, hypothesized that populations carrying mutations for both sickle cell anemia and

thalassemia are at a higher risk of clinical morbidity and mortality compared to those carrying single

mutation. The project identified prevalence of coexistence of both diseases in the Tharu population,

native to Indo-Nepal Terai region.

Symposium on Sickle Cell Anemia


6

New Delhi (19.11.2018) SAU DIR News:

,

"

"

,

Shweta

Singh, Department of International Relations,

Faculty of Social Sciences organized a series

of panel discussions on Gender, Populism

and Rise of Extremism: Perspectives from

Scandinavia and South Asia . The aim was to

explore the intersecting boundaries of

populism, nationalism and extremism, both

theoretically and empirically using feminist

methodologies. The event was innovative in

many ways given its focus on a inter-

disciplinary and cross-regional dialogue, focus on methodological pluralism, and attempt to foreground

these conversation in the empirical realities of the two regions. The event brought together feminist

scholars from Scandinavia and South Asia - particularly from UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tampere

Peace Research Institute, University of Gothenburg, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Banaras Hindu

University, Research Initiatives, Dhaka and Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi - in a

stimulating dialogue, spread across four panels.

The closing of the event was marked by an exclusive dialogical conversation with Dr. Meghna

Guhathakurta, titled "South Asian Feminism(s) and the Journey of Dr. Meghna Guhathakurta", which was

facilitated by Shweta Singh. Dr. Meghna Guhathakurta taught International Relations at the University of

Dhaka, Bangladesh, from 1984 to 2006, and is currently Executive Director of Research Initiatives,

Bangladesh (RIB), a research support organization based in Dhaka, which specializes in participatory

action research with marginalized communities. This conversation bridged the silent spaces between the

personal and the political, and explored the feminist terrain in South Asia, rooted in politics of memory,

partition, migration, homeland, through the personal and political journey of Dr. Meghna Guhathakurta.

Gender, Populism and Rise of Extremism: Perspectives from Scandinavia and South Asia

New Delhi(20.11.2018) SAU DIR News:

,

Shweta Singh, Department of

International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences organized a

workshop, titled ‘The Role of Civilians in Civil-Military operations’. The

resource person for the workshop was Prof. Gunhild Hoogensen Gjorv,

Uit The Arctic University of Norway, and it was chaired by Prof. Sanjay

Chaturvedi, Dean and Chairperson, Department of International

Relations, FSS. The workshop focused on the NATO intervention in

Afghanistan (ISAF 2001-2014; Resolute Support 2014), which heavily

relied upon coordination and cooperation with both civilian agencies

and general population. It examined the concept of civilian agency in relation to conflict situations, what

is meant by agency, and the range in which civilians are able (or not) to exercise agency. Is there a

continuum of agency, and if so, what factors affect agency? Are there ways to effect agency, such that

civilians are able to exercise more agency under certain circumstances? How does this agency affect

moves towards governance during conflict? Are there any general trends or lessons learned that we can

draw from population-centric approaches that can be relevant to hybrid threats that target civilians and

their vulnerabilities with the intention to destablize government and society? The workshop drew on

participants from across Universities and think tanks in Delhi and beyond.

Workshop

Academic Events


7

New Delhi (12.11.18) SAU DIR News: Medha Bisht,

Ass istant Professor , Department of

International Relations, FSS, convened an

Authors’ Workshop in collaboration with

Indian Environment Law Organisation (IELO)

on November 2018. The workshop was titled

‘Recasting Norms: Critical Hydrodiplomacy in

South Asia’, and it followed from the ‘Patna

Dialogue’, which was held on 18 August 2018 in

Patna, India, and was organised by IELO, with

SAU as one of the collaborating partners. The

Patna Dialogue gave a platform to community representatives from the Kosi and Gandak Basin districts in

Nepal and North Bihar, who had gathered to discuss, deliberate and act on the existing state of floods,

rivers and governance. The Authors' Workshop expanded the scope of discussion to other issues such as

the role of culture, community, gender and critical communication in hydro-diplomacy. Water

professionals, academics and thinktanks from Lahore, Kathmandu and Dhaka participated in the

workshop through Skype.

12

Exhibition on Water Architectures: The Workshop also displayed an

exhibition on ‘Water Architectures’, curated by Late Mr Hemang Desai.

Through a journey of step-wells in Gujarat, the exhibition emphasised

the idea of ‘feminine spaces’ in water discourses and underlined the

virtues of human ingenuity, collaboration, initiative and innovation, as

markers for re-imagining hydro-diplomacy in South Asia.

MEA Distinguished Lecture Series

New Delhi (03 & 06.09.18) SAU DIR News: The Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social

Sciences, along with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, organized two lectures

under the MEA Distinguished Lectures Series in

September at SAU. The first was by Former Foreign

Secretary, Ambassador Shyam Saran, on 3 September

2018. The title of his talk was ‘The Emergence of Eurasia.’

The second talk, delivered on 6 September 2018, was by

Ambassador Swashpawan Singh, former Permanent

Representative of India to the UN in Geneva. The title of

his talk was ‘The Politics of Multilateralism: The View

from Geneva.’ Both the talks were chaired by Dr. Kavita

Sharma, President, SAU.

Interaction with the Stimson Center

New Delhi (11.09.18) SAU DIR News:

,

,

An interactive workshop consisting of representatives of the South

Asia Program, Stimson Center, Washington DC and faculty members and students of the Department of

International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, SAU was held on 11th September. The workshop

sought to examine the research and initiatives being taken by the two institutions, and identify areas of

collaboration and interaction.

Authors’ Workshop


8

New Delhi (12. .2018) SAU FE News:09 Development

Study Group (DSG), the student chapter of the

Faculty of Economics, organised a lecture by

Professor Prabhat Patanik (Professor Emeritus,

Jawaharlal Nehru University) on 12 September

2018 on the theme "Imperialism, Third World, and

Unequal Development: Reflections on the Life

and Works of Samir Amin". In his talk, Professor

Patnaik highlighted the centrality of imperialism in

Samir Amin's work, and elaborated on how Amin

integrated the idea of imperialism within the

Marxian labour theory of value through his work on unequal exchange. The salience of his work was the

theorization of super-exploitation of labour in the peripheral economies by the global capital. The

conclusion that stems out of Amin's analysis, which critically informed his praxis, stresses on the

importance of 'de-linking' the peripheral economies from global capitalism in order to achieve genuine

progress. Professor Patnaik also engaged with various critiques of Amin's work, while emphasizing his

crucial role as an eminent scholar and thinker whose intellectual activity was integrated with his political

praxis. The event was attended by a large audience, comprising students and faculty members of South

Asian University, as well as other academics, researchers, and social activists from outside SAU.

Special Lecture

New Delhi (27-29.11.2018) SAU FE News: The

Faculty of Economics, South Asian

University, organised an international

workshop in technical collaboration with

Buckingham Business School, The

University of Buckingham, United

Kingdom. Dr Sunil Kumar, Associate

Professor, Faculty of Economics, along

with Dr Charles Vincent, Professor of

Management Science and Director of

Research, Buckingham Business School,

the University of Buckingham, UK,

conducted the workshop. The three-day

classroom-based workshop focused on the measurement of efficiency and productivity using data

envelopment analysis (DEA). The workshop was attended by more than 50 participants from across India.

International Workshop

Library Orientation EventNew Delhi (17.09.2018) SAU Library News: Prof. G. K. Chadha Library organised Cambridge Core User

Awareness Workshop on 17 September 2018 at the Lecture Hall, South Asian University. An instructor

from the Cambridge University presented a live demonstration on the Cambridge Core Platform,

current subscription package of South Asian University, how to use the new platform, facetted

search functionalities, downloads, etc.


9

New Delhi (12.11.2018) SAU Sociology News: Department

of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, South Asian

University, in collaboration with Rosa Luxemburg

Stiftung (South Asia), organized a panel discussion

around their ongoing research in Telangana, titled

“Contemporary Left Politics and the Tribal Question”,

on 12 November 2018 at FSI Hall, Akbar Bhawan, SAU.

The Panel consisted of Professor Nandini Sundar, Delhi

University, Professor Archana Prasad, Jawaharlal

Nehru University, Professor Ramdas Rupavath, Hyderabad University, and Kotesh Devulapally,

Independent Researcher. Dr. Ravi Kumar, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, South

Asian University, chaired the lecture.

Panel Discussion

New Delhi (2-3.11.2018) SAU FLSB News:

-

Faculty of Life

Sciences and Biotechnology organized a hands-on

workshop on “Transcript profiling using Real Time

PCR”. The workshop was conducted by Dr. Ananda

Mustafiz and Dr. Ritu Gaur. This two-day workshop was

designed to give an overall idea about using Real Time

PCR based gene expression analysis from any

biological system. The researchers received a hands on

training on RNA isolation, qualitative and quantitative

analysis of RNA, cDNA synthesis, Real Time PCR and data analysis. Mostly faculty members and some PhD

students from the SAARC countries participated in the workshop.

Workshop on Transcript profiling using Real Time PCR

New Delhi (26.09.2018) SAU Sociology News: A

,

‘Political

Ecology of Survival: Life and Labour in the River Lands of

East and North East India’

, ‘Migrants in the

Neoliberal City’

n event

was held at SAU by the Faculty of Social Sciences, in

collaboration with the Calcutta Research Group (CRG)

to launch two recent publications of the CRG:

edited by Madhurlata Basu,

Rajat Roy and Ranabir Samaddar and

An edited by Ranabir Samaddar. The

unveiling of the books was followed by a panel

discussion featuring the editor of the two books, Prof. Ranabir Samaddar of CRG, and Prof. Sanjay

Chaturvedi and Dr. Diya Mehra from SAU, Prof. Partha Nath Mukhopadhyay from Centre for Policy

Research, and independent journalist Mr. Bharat Bhushan. The panel discussion was followed by a lively

session with the audience.

Book Unveiling and Panel Discussion


10

Achievements: Faculty, Students & Alumni

Taru Shikha Dutt

Keshav Saini

Nawneet Mishra

Rituraj Batth

from Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology has been awarded Doctor of Philosophy

on 10 September 2018 for her thesis, titled

, completed under the supervision of Prof. Rajiv K Saxena. She has

also been selected for the postdoctoral position in Department of Microbiology, Immunology and

Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.

from Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology has been awarded Doctor of Philosophy on 13

November 2018 for his thesis, titled

, completed under the supervision of Dr. Nirotpal Mrinal / Dr. Ritu

Gaur.


on 16 November 2018 for his thesis, titled

, completed under the supervision of Dr. Ritu Gaur.

from Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology has been awarded Doctor of Philosophy on 26

November 2018 for her thesis, titled

, completed under the supervision of Dr.

Ananda Mustafiz.

“Uptake of carbon nanoparticles by resting and activated

lymphocytes and its biological activities”

“Unravelling DNA-protein code of differential interaction of RelA (p65)

with human and murine IL-4 kB-motif”

“Studies on the role of cellular proteins APOBEC3B and COX7AI in

cancer”

“Characterization of Glyoxalase I and Ascorbate Oxidase gene family

members in plant system and their role in abiotic stress tolerance”

Professor Santosh C. Panda, Dean

Professor Sanjay Chaturvedi

, Faculty of Economics and Vice President, SAU, was invited by Hunan

Normal University, China, to deliver a keynote lecture in an international conference on "Urbanisation,

Total Factor Productivity and Large Countries' Development" on November 17, 2018. The conference was

hosted by School of Business at Hunan Normal University, together with the Research Center of Large

Country Economy affiliated with the University. Professor Panda delivered a lecture on "Total Factor

Productivity Growth in India: What KLEMS data Reveal?". The other keynote speakers at the conference

included Professor Nicholas Hope from Stanford University, U.S.A., and Professor Rachel Murphy from

University of Oxford, U.K.

, Department of International Relations has been nominated to the

Academic Council of Goa University as Chancellor’s Nominee for the period 2018-2020.

Dr. Dhananjay Tripathi

Dr. Jagdish Chand Bansal

Dr. Sai Ramani Garimella

, Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, was awarded a visiting

fellowship to the Centre for Advanced Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad,

from 17-21 September, 2018. As a part of the visiting fellowship, Dr. Tripathi delivered one public lecture and

two class lectures.

, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, visited Department of

Mathematics and Computer Science, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK from November 2018

as a visiting faculty. He also delivered an invited talk in the Faculty of Science.

, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Legal Studies, was invited to address the BRICS

Forum on Private International Law at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa on 21-22 November

2018.

16 -23

Faculty


Award of Doctor of Philosophy in the period September-November, 2018

11


SAU Bookshelf

Amreesh Parvez

Parul Gupta

Shibendra Kumar Lal Karna


on 27 November 2018 for his thesis, titled

, completed under the supervision of Dr. Priti Saxena.

from Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology has been awarded Doctor of Philosophy on

28 November 2018 for her thesis, titled

, completed under the supervision of Dr. Senthil Kumar Venugopal.

from Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology has been awarded Doctor of

Philosophy on 29 November 2018 for his thesis, titled

, completed under the supervision of Dr. Yuba Raj Pokharel.

“Dissecting the Functional Role of Lipid Metabolizing Enzymes in

the Biology of Corynebacterineae”

“Role of Augmenter of Liver Regeneration (ALR) in Liver

Regeneration”

“Prostate tumor overexpressed 1((PTOV1), A novel

target for PIN1 mediated cancer progression”

Students

Ramya PS,

Sweta Sharma

Sariful Islam

doctoral scholar in the Department of International Relations, received the best paper award

at the Emerging Scholars Symposium organised by the prestigious Bandarnaike Centre for International

Studies (BCISS), Colombo, Sri Lanka.The paper, titled ‘The Kokang Conflict and Myanmar’s Peace Process:

Examining China’s Role as a Mediator’, was presented on 1 October 2018.

, doctoral scholar in the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Mathematics and

Computer Science, received ACM-Women travel fellowship for attending International conference on

Artificial Intelligence in New Zealand during December 2018.

, MPhil candidate at the Department of International Relations, was an organizing

committee member for a workshop on Peace, Justice, and Cultural Diversity in South Asia, held from 21 to

24 October in Jodhpur, India. Eighty-three participants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and

Nepal attended this workshop, convened by South Asian Fraternity (SAF).

New Delhi (05.11.2018) Sociology News:

Sociology and Social

Anthropology in South Asia: Histories and Practices,

A panel

discussion on the book,

published by Orient Blackswan, was organized at India

International Centre (IIC) on 5 November 2018 with the

facilitation of IIC, Orient Blackswan and South Asian

University. The book is edited by three members of the

of Department of Sociology, Dr Ravi Kumar, Dr Dev

Nath Pathak and Prof Sasanka Perera. The panel

included Professors Satish Deshpande and Nandini Sundar from the Department of Sociology at Delhi

school of Economics and the editors were represented by Dr Dev Nath Pathak. The Dean, faculty of Social

Sciences, SAU, Prof Sanjay Chaturvedi gave the welcome address and the vote of thanks. The event was

well attended by sociologists and students of sociology from Delhi-based universities and colleges.

Panel Discussion on Book

12

The book,

, published by Orient Blacksawn has been edited by Dr Ravi

Kumar, Dr Dev Nath Pathak and Prof Sasanka Perera from the

Department of Sociology, South Asian University. Given the relative

absence of discussion on the history, present status and future of

sociology and anthropology in South Asia, the book is the first, and so

far the only intervention of its kind, which looks at the way sociology

and social anthropology have evolved in the region with a focus on

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka. Prof

Roma Chatterji, Professor of Sociology and Head, Department of

Sociology, Delhi University, in her Foreword notes, “South Asian

University’s contribution to the recent debates on the state of

sociology in the region emerges from an anxiety about the discipline

itself and its relation to public institutions and the politics of the nation

state….” Discussing the contents of the book, Prof Gananath

Obeyesekere, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Princeton

University, has noted that the book “entices us to rethink our current work on South Asia. It is an

important, and in my view, a refreshing look at ourselves and the region in which we live.” Prof Roderick L

Stirrat, Research Professor in Anthropology, University of Sussex, notes that “this collection of essays by

a group of South Asian scholars constitutes a major contribution to our understanding of the

anthropology and sociology of the region …. suggesting how an overarching research agenda for the

region might be developed.” Prof Avijit Pathak, Professor of Sociology, Centre for the Study of Social

Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University notes, “as these vibrant sociologists and anthropologists from

South Asia begin to reflect on the culturally/historically specific identities of their disciplines through an

engaged reflection on socio-cultural riddles, a refreshing debate on the politics of knowledge enchants

us.”

Sociology and Social Anthropology in South Asia: Histories and

Practices

Pathak, Deo Nath. 2018.

New Delhi: Primus Books

A hermeneutic engagement with Maithili folk songs allows this book to

hinge upon the notions of living and dying in the contemporary world

despite the admission that medicine, insurance, market, and media

may condition human experiences. Amidst the binaries of union and

separation, rigid religion and fluid faith, popular and folk, modernity

and tradition, central to this book is the pluralism of cultural script(s)

and their philosophical musings on living and dying, folk philosophy,

cultural subversion as well as reconciliation. Predominantly sung by

women, the folksongs of Mithila are woven around calendar of events,

rites of the passage, and everyday life situations. The cultural scape of

sound and sight thus conjures a fusion of epistemology and ontology,

knowledge and existential being, the classical Sanskritic-textual and the folk subaltern-oral. Straddling

the particular context of Maithili folksongs and the generic aspects of folk world view, steering across

Hinduism, tradition and modernity, and folklore in the age of mechanical reproduction, this book

contributes to the sociology and social anthropology of, inter alia, folklore, religion, gender and

mythology. Moreover, this makes for a contribution into sociology and social anthropology of death in

South Asia.

Living and Dying: Meanings in Maithili Folklore


Akbar Bhawan, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021, IndiaEmail: | Phone: + 91-11-24122512-14 | Fax: + [email protected]

SAU Click

Traditional Fishing, |Ashulia, Dhaka, Bangladesh Photographer: Md. Hamza Kamal Mostafa, MA Sociology

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Knowledge Without Borders - sau.intsau.int/sauconnect/dec2018.pdf · project proposal jointly...

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Transcript of Knowledge Without Borders - sau.intsau.int/sauconnect/dec2018.pdf · project proposal jointly...