All conferences on South Asia worldwide

February 2012

Bangalore conference on Identities and Resistance: Heritage in Bangalore The Aesthetics and Critical Studies Program at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore, and the Go:India Project, as well as Critical Heritage Studies at University of Gothenburg in Sweden organise a conference on "Identities and Resistance: Heritage" to take place in Bangalore between 22 – 25 February 2012. The conference aims at working with the national museums as a part of public space, public life, places of memory and identity building. In today's processes of globalization, regionalization and de-modernisation, the state loses its former role of representing a nation and a territory. The traditional places of memory take on new roles and their messages are often contested. New kinds of memory making are constantly invented by those groups who's past and memories had been denied and silenced by states and colonizers. The conference will focus on exploring these issues with focus on Karnataka and West Sweden. More information. Venue: Srishti school of art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, India
Guwahati seminar on Contemporary Sri Lankan Fiction in English An International Seminar on Contemporary Sri Lankan Fiction in English will be held in Guwahati, India, 23 – 25 February 2012. It is organised by the Dept. of English at Gauhati University, in collaboration with the university’s Institute of Distance and Open Learning. They are organizing a series of International Seminars on Contemporary South Asian Fiction, considering the fact that this is an emerging area in English Studies today. In the first of the series the focus will be on Sri Lanka, while subsequent seminars will focus on Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and so on. The seminar seeks to define a more nuanced and sensitive critical framework that actively reclaims marginalized voices and draws upon recent studies in migration and the diaspora to reconfigure the Sri Lankan critical terrain. Some of the leading Sri Lankan writers Nihal de Silva, Michael Ondaatje (photo), Romesh Gunasekera, Shyam Selvadurai, A. Sivanandan, Jean Arasanayagam, Carl Muller, James Goonewardene and Punyakante Wijenaike rigorously challenge the theoretical, cultural and political assumptions that pit insider against outsider, resident against migrant and the authentic against the alien. More information.
SASNET's director Anna Lindberg gives a lecture at JNU On Thursday, 23 February at 11.30, SASNET's director Anna Lindberg will lecture on a seminar organised by Jawaharlal Nehru University in Dehli. The topic of her talk is "Class, Caste, and Gender Relations: Female Workers in Kerala 1930 - 2010". The seminar is organised by the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, part of the School of Social Sciences. All are welcome! Venue: CSSS Committee Room, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, JNU, New Delhi, India
Uppsala seminar by Steven Wilkinson on the Partition of India On Thursday 23 February 2012, 13.15 – 15.00, the Forum for South Asian Studies at Uppsala University organises a public seminar on ”Veterans, Skills and Ethnic Conflict: Evidence from the Partition of India” with Professor Steven I. Wilkinson from Yale University, USA. The seminar is organised in collaboration with the Dept. of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University. Prof. Wilkinson, who is a Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Yale University will speak about the effects of war on political and social change, demonstrating how the organizational and killing skills acquired by Indian soldiers in World War 2 help explain the occurrence of ethnic cleansing in India in 1947-49. Wilkinson will show that in districts that supplied large numbers of frontline soldiers, the levels of cleansing were much greater than in those districts that provided very few combat soldiers. This study uses a unique district-level dataset on violence and socio-economic factors in India from 1941–1951. Venue: Sal 2, Gamla torget 3 All are welcome!
Copenhagen lecture on Pakistani Nation building in the shadow of the Indian Army Dr. Geir Heierstad, senior lecturer at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS), University of Oslo will give a public lecture on ”Pakistan: Nation building in the shadow of Bhāratīya Thalasēnā (Indian Army)” at University of Copenhagen on Thursday 23 February 2012, 17.00–18.00. The seminar is organised by the Danish Network for Pakistan Studies (DNPS), Venue: Artillerivej 86, first floor, meeting room, Copenhagen.
Allahabad conference on Civil Society in the Era of Globalization A two-day Indian National Seminar on ”Civil Society in the Era of Globalization” will be held at Allahabad, India, 24–25 February 2012. It is organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Chair in Contemporary Studies at University of Allahabad (the Chair being established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The seminar will focus on the following areas: • Theoretical Concept of Civil Society; • Historiography of the Institutional Evolution of Civil Society; • Civil Society in the era of Globalization; • Rise and Growth of Civil Society in India; • Evaluation of Different Civil Society movements in India; • Challenges of Civil Society; • Civil Society, Democracy and Public Policy; • State and Civil Society; and • Market and Civil Society The list of areas mentioned above may be treated as illustrative rather than exhaustive. Paper-presenters are free to choose an area of their interest which broadly falls within the theme of the seminar i.e. Civil Society in the Era of Globalization. Papers will be reviewed by a committee formed for this purpose. Needless to mention that besides hospitality the Rajiv Gandhi Chair will bear travel expenses by Indian participants as per university rules. Full information.
Delhi conference on India and the European Union in a Changing World A conference on ”India and the European Union in a Changing World: Perceptions and Perspectives” is being organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)'s Jean Monnet Chair and Centre for European Studies and will be held at JNU, Delhi on 1-2 March 2012. The conference is multidisciplinary and open for students, academics, and practitioners, who will debate the relevance and impact of relations between the EU and India since the first summit in 2000 at the bilateral, regional and global levels. The main themes are: – The European Union and South Asia; – India-EU Strategic Partnership; – Economic and Trade Relations; – Indian FDI in Europe/European FDI in India; – India-EU Free Trade Agreement; – India, EU and Global Governance, Multilateralism; – Multiculturalism and Identity in India and Europe; – Environment, Climate Change and Energy Security; – EU and Conflict Resolution in South Asia; – India and the EU: Perceptions and Misperceptions. More information.
Phnom Penh conference on Mathematics Education in Developing Countries The 5th International Conference on Science and Mathematics Education in Developing Countries will be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 1–3 March 2012. It is hosted by Zaman University, Phnom Penh. Science and mathematics play vital roles in developing the economy, interacting with the environment wisely and providing for public health and services. These subjects are also essential to making informed personal, social and political decisions. When taken together science and mathematics can be used ethically to improve the human condition in a sustainable manner. The International programme committee behind the conference include Dr. Peter Sundin, International Science Programme (IPS), Uppsala University; and Dr. Om Prakash Niraula from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. More information.

March 2012

Copenhagen seminar on Civil Society of India and its Democratic Dynamics Chiharu Takenaka, Professor of Political Science, Rikkyo University, Japan, holds a guest lecture at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) on Tuesday 6 March 2012, 10.00–12.00. She will talk about ”Civil Society of India and its Democratic Dynamics from a 21st Century Asian Perspective”. Venue: CBS, Room D1V108, Dalgas Have 15, Frederiksberg, Copenhagen. Please register at: arc@cbs.dk. It is free of charge and all are welcome. Professor Takenaka is a specialist of comparative politics with a focus on India, civil society, and decolonization politics. She has written extensively on India and South Asia, and on democracy and civil participation in politics. Her latest book, Tozoku no Indo-shi (India according to Phulan Devi) from 2011 was based on her exclusive interview with Phulan Devi just before her assassination in 2001. Her Copenhagen presentation will examine the evolution of India’s civil society and its implications for democratic dynamics from this broader perspective of the Asian transformation in the early 21st century. The presentation will be an interim update from an ongoing research project that attempts to capture a new Asia, which is headed by Professor Takenaka and involves about 30 scholars. Prof. Anthony D’Costa, Asia Research Centre at CBS, will also give a small presentation entitled “Problematizing the New India”. More information.
Uppsala symposium on Emergent cities and Conflicting claims The Swedish Development Research Network on Nature, Poverty and Power (DevNet), and the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University, organise a symposium entitled ”Emergent cities. Conflicting claims and the politics of informality” on 9th March 2012, 10.30 – 16.30. The symposium will address the various processes through which people are creating space in the city; sometimes manifesting an emergent insurgence that challenges existing hierarchies and whereby people claim new forms for urban and national membership. This symposium is also co-organised by the Nordic Africa Institute, the Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University, and it will be preceeded by a series of public lectures given on 7 March and focuses primarily on African urban development. Keynote lecturers include Professor Ananya Roy from the Department of City and Regional Planning Education, University of California, Berkeley, USA. Prof. Roy will speak about ”Making Postcolonial Futures: The ‘Slum-Free’ Cities of the Asian Century”. Prof. Roy is the author of the book "City Requiem, Calcutta: Gender and the Politics of Poverty", and an eminent researcher and teacher of urban studies for which she has received numerous awards. Venue: Geijersalen, Engelska Parken (House 6-1023), Thunbergsvägen 3P, Uppsala. Read more.
2nd International Conference on Environmental Technology and Construction Engineering for Sustainable Development to be held in Bangladesh The 2nd International Conference on Environmental Technology and Construction Engineering for Sustainable Development (ICETCESD 2012) will be held in Sylhet, Bangladesh, 10–12 March 2012. The conference is organized by the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST). It has been preceded by a successful first conference on the same issue (ICETCESD 2011) that was held in March 2011. More than 100 papers were presented and more than 120 paper were published in the conference proceedings of which more than 50 papers were authorized by the scientists, engineers and specialists coming not only from Bangladesh, but also from USA, Canada, UK, France, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, India, Nepal, and Afghanistan (see the proceedings from ICETCESD 2011). More information.
Annual meeting of the American Association for Asian Studies in Toronto The 2012 AAS (American Association for Asian Studies) Annual Meeting will be held 15–18 March 2012 in Toronto, Canada. Founded in 1941, AAS is a scholarly, non-political, non-profit professional association open to all persons interested in Asia. It seeks through publications, meetings, and seminars to facilitate contact and an exchange of information among scholars to increase their understanding of East, South, and Southeast Asia. It counts among its members scholars, business people, diplomats, journalists, and interested lay persons. Conference registration opened on 14 September 2011. Full information.
Haryana conference on Humanism, Democracy and Culture The Department of English at RKSD College, Kaithal – affiliated to Kurukshetra University in the state of Haryana, India – organises an interdisciplinary, international conference to explore humanism, postcolonialism and democracy discourses from in India from both western and Indian perspectives on 20–21 March 2012. Interested scholars can now submit a 300–400 words abstract of a paper that should address the following topic(s): – Postcolonialism and Indigenous Representation; – Postcolonialism and Indian humanism; – Postcolonialism and Western Aspirations; – Postcolonialism and Marxism; – Postcolonialism and Nativism, and Cultural Fundamentalism in East and West; – Postcolonialism and Indian languages. The deadline for submitting abstracts has been extended till 31 January 2012. Keynote and plenary speakers include Dr. Rajender Dudrah, Head of Drama & Senior Lecturer in Screen studies, School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, University of Manchester, UK; Dr. María do Mar Castro Varela, Professor for Gender and Queer Studies at Alice Salomon University, Berlin, Germany; Dr. Nikita Dhawan, Junior Professor for Gender and Postcolonial Studies, Cluster of Excellence ‘The Formation of Normative Orders’ at Goethe-University, Germany; Dr Bhaskar Mukhopadhya, Convenor MA Postcolonial Studies, Goldsmith, University of London, UK; and Dr. Pavan Malreddy, Chemnitz University of Technology (CUT), Germany. More information.
Oxford Symposium on Indian Religions The 37th Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions will be held at Merton College, the University of Oxford, UK, on 23–25 March 2012. The Spalding Symposium is an annual conference bringing together scholars from many disciplines who are working in the general areas of Indic Studies. This year the organisers encourage papers relating to ecology and related matters, such as animals; however, they will also consider papers on other themes. The symposia are funded by the Spalding Trust. It is expected that a selection of papers from the Symposium will be published in our peer-reviewed journal, Religions of South Asia (RoSA). Abstracts should be submitted before 3 February 2012. More information about the Symposium.
Aligarh conference on Population Dynamics and Sustainable Resource Development An International Conference on ”Population Dynamics and Sustainable Resource Development” will be held in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, 25–27 March 2012. It is being organized by Dept. of Geography at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), and aims to form a platform to discuss and debate about population dynamism and sustainable resource development. Sub-themes include – Population Dynamics. Fertility, mortality, migration; – Modern Innovation in agriculture and Changing Land Use Pattern; – Human Resources, Health and Hygiene; and – Remote Sensing and GIS Application in Resource Development, Management and Planning. Abstracts should be submitted before 28 February. More information about the Aligarh conference.
Mirja Juntunen lectures on Cultural Belonging During the spring semester 2012, the Department of Oriental Languages, Stockholm University, organizes a lectures series on Mondays. The theme is ”Space as a theoretical starting point, and lectures focus on different regions of Asia. On Monday 26 March 2012, 15–17, Dr. Mirja Juntunen will lecture on ”Strategies of Cultural Belonging: Creating a Hegemonic Space from 'In-Between'". Venue: Main hall, Dept. of Oriental Languages, Kräftriket 4 A, Stockholm.
Syracuse conference on Health, Nutrition, and Agriculture in South Asia The South Asia Center at Syracuse University (SU) has issued a call for papers for its annual SU-Cornell South Asia Consortium Conference 2012. The conference will be held at Syracuse 29–30 March 2012 and the theme of the conference is ”Health, Nutrition, and Agriculture in South Asia: Contemporary Issues and Future Directions”. The purpose of this conference is to create an open, creative environment for academic researchers andapplied practitioners (in the social and biological sciences) working on topics related to health, food studies and agriculture in South Asia to share insights and experiences across disciplines to stimulate new collaborative ideas for research and practice. The conference incorporates traditional elements (didactic sharing) with innovative experiences involving South Asian food and creative networking strategies to stimulate new thinking. Note that the deadline for the a call for papers has been extended, and is now 31 January 2012. Full information.
Varanasi seminar on Reflections & Revival of Buddhism in Modern Times The Department of Hisotry of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapit University in Varanasi organises an international seminar on ”Reflections & Revival of Buddhism in South and South-East Asia in Modern Times”. The seminar will take place between 31 March and 2 April 2012 and aims at exploring the trends of Buddhism in South and South-East Asia nowadays, as well as discuss the question of happiness for the humanity in the light of Buddhist ideals and its relevance today. To facilitate the discussions during the seminar, the following topics are going to be discussed: – Role of States/Governments; – Contribution of Buddhism in moral and spiritual development; – Areas of Buddhist Studies, Intellectual exercises; – Buddhist temples and monasteries and their missionary activities; – Buddhist Educational and Cultural centers; – Funding for promotion of Buddhist centers and its impact; – Contribution of Buddhism in material uplift of communities and places; – Neo-Buddhist movements: Dalit movement; – Relevance of Buddhism in addressing socio-political challenges in India; – Tibetan Buddhist: Movement and Dilemma; – Reform movements within Buddhist denominations and new Buddhist sects. Both Indian and international scholars are welcome. Papers on the above mentioned topics should be sent by 31 January 2012. More information.

April 2012

Commonwealth anthropologists 2012 conference in Delhi The Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth (ASA) will hold its 2012 conference in New Delhi on 3-6 April 2012. The theme for the conference will be ”Arts and aesthetics in a globalising world”. Every five years or so, ASA tries to hold its annual conference outside the UK, in a Commonwealth country. The aim is to widen the possiblities for participation by Commonwealth colleagues, and so the 2012 conference will be hosted for the first time in India – at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Art and aesthetics will be explored from various angles and perspectives, among which the impact of globalisation on the creation and movement of contemporary artworks, changing skills of artists, art and new religions, and more. Ecological conservation and narratives are also among the topics of exploration. Among interesting panels at the ASA 2012 conference, one will be convened by Tereza Kuldova, PhD Fellow at the Department of Ethnography, Museum of Cultural History, Oslo, Norway. The panel is entitled ”Exploring the Aesthetics and Meanings of Contemporary Indian Fashion: From Craft to Catwalk”. More information. Associate Professor Paolo Favero (photo) from the Lisbon University Institute, but previously at the Dept. of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University, co-organises another panel on the role of contemporary digital practices in offering new forms of representation of/in India. The panel is named ”Screening India through digital image-making”. More information about this panel. Eswarappa Kasi from the National Institute of Rural Development in Hyderabad, India, and Smita Yadav, University of Sussex, UK, co-convene a panel entitled ”Narratives of coping with marginalization: impact of state policies on natural resources and tribal lives”. More information.
Yale University Modern South Asia Workshop Yale University Modern South Asia Workshop 201 will be held 7–8 April 2012 at New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Abstracts are now invited for this two-day workshop that brings together the ongoing work of advanced graduate students and recent PhDs working on topics of current interest in modern South Asian Studies. Submissions of paper proposals from all disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences are invited, particularly those that will foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and exchange of ideas from across the diverse regions of South Asia. Past papers have tackled issues ranging from film and ethnomusicology to state formation and elections and have presented new theoretical and methodological alternatives in the study of South Asia. The workshop is sponsored by the South Asian Studies Council at the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. More information.
Future of South Asia theme for the BASAS Conference 2012 The British Association for South Asian Studies, BASAS, invites for its Annual Conference 2011 to be held at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), in London between 12 and 14 April 2012. The theme for the conference will be the future of South Asia. The conference aims to lay bare the diverse and complex ways in which future trends and developments in the South Asia region and the way in which we understand and encourage interdisciplinary conversations about the region. The conference organizers are Dr. Lawrence Saez, and the Centre of South Asian Studies at SOAS. Proposals for panels and papers are welcome and can address some of the following issues: community, class, caste, ethnicity, gender, nation, governance, law, geography, development, culture, environment, history, language, art, linguistics, and representation. Deadline for submission of papers abstracts is 31 January 2012. More information about the BASAS 2012 conference.
Sixth SASA conference at Claremont The American South Asian Studies Association invites individual papers and panels for presentation at its sixth annual conference to be held at the Claremont Graduate University, USA, April 13-15, 2012. The conference strives to advance the understanding of South Asia's history, cultures, societies, politics, issues and opportunities in a professional environment unique for SASA's warm collegiality. We welcome papers from all academic disciplines and all periods of time that address the rich tapestry that is South Asia's past, present and future. The Keynote Speaker for SASA VI will be Eklil Ahmad Hakimi, the Afghani Ambassador to the United States. Deadline for submitting abstracts is February 15, 2012. More information.
Honolulu conference on South Asian cities The Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Hawai’i, USA, invites paper and panel proposals on aspects related to its 29th Annual Spring Symposium entitled “Settling and Unsettling: The City in South Asia”. The conference will be held 18–20 April 2012, in Honolulu, Hawai’i, and is co-sponsored by the School of Architecture, and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawai’i. Stepping outside of technocratic approaches, and the view of the city as a site of intractable problems, this symposium aims to highlight the multifaceted energies and imaginaries that animate contemporary interpretation of cities. Keynote speakers include Ravi Sundaram, Sarai Program, Center for the Study of Developing Societies, India. Note that the deadline for the call for papers has been extended to 25 January 2012. More information.
Uppsala conference on Religious Actors as Drivers of Change An International conference on ”Faith in Civil Society. Religious Actors as Drivers of Change” will be held at Uppsala University on 24–25 April 2012. It is organized by Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development in cooperation with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation. The conference will discuss how to understand diverse faith-inspired actors, who not always fit neatly within liberal notions of civil society. When are they promoters of social change, democratisation and development, and how do their adherents envision such changes? Researchers, actors in international development cooperation, activists, and others with interest in the issues to participate and make presentations are invited to attend the conference. The conference is being planned by Mia Melin and Heidi Moksnes, coordinators of the project ”Outlook on Civil Society” at CSD. Abstracts should be submitted before 10 February 2012. Full information to be given on the CSD web page.
Emerging Scholars Symposium on China/India Studies in New York The India China Institute at The New School, New York organises an Emerging Scholars Symposium on China/India Studies on 26–27 April 2012. Abstract submissions are now invited for this symposium entitled “India China Conversations: Inaugural Interdisciplinary Symposium for Emerging Scholars.” It is an unique initiative designed to provide a platform for both advanced level graduate students in professional fields as well as current PhD scholars and those who received their PhD within the last five years, to present their ongoing research and to discuss recent advances and new trends in research on India and China. The first day will be a public event where the selected participants will present their work and ICI fellows and other scholars committed to the study of India-China relations will be invited to serve as moderators and discussants. The second day will be a closed-door session aimed at providing a space for the establishment and strengthening of scholarly networks in which participants may discuss methodological and other relevant issues. More information. This symposium is part of a series where a similar event will be held with emerging Indian scholars who are conducting research on China and emerging Chinese scholars who are conducting research on India. A total of 10 scholars will be selected, two from India, two from China and six from the US, to present their papers at The New School, New York, on April 26, 2012. The six selected scholars from the US will be comprised of a mix of advanced level graduate students and young PhD scholars, both current as well as those who received their PhDs within the last five years.
After Subaltern Studies: Early Career South Asian Studies Workshop at Princeton The After Subaltern Studies: Early Career South Asian Studies Workshop will be held at Princeton University, USA, 27–28 April 2012. Since its intervention in the early 1980’s, “Subaltern Studies” has transformed the historiography of South Asia. This conference aims to examine the trajectories South Asian scholarship has taken three decades from its inception and five years since the last publication from the collective. The aim is not to debate Subaltern Studies but to engage with questions raised by the field in the aftermath of its intervention. The workshop would particularly encourage work that steps beyond the colonial period and explores both early modern and postcolonial South Asia. The workshop aims to bring the work of early career scholars (graduate students and junior faculty) in conversation with senior scholars. Professor Partha Chatterjee (Columbia University) will deliver the keynote address at the conference. More information.

May 2012

Copenhagen 2012 conference on Rising Asia – Anxious Europe The Asian Dynamics Initiative (ADI) at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, invites participants to an international conference entitled ”Rising Asia – Anxious Europe” to be held at the University of Copenhagen on 2–3 May 2012. The conference features distinguished keynote speakers including Professor Peter van der Veer (photo), Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity at Göttingen, Germany, and paper presentations from an inter-disciplinary group of scholars, focusing on Europe's ‘new' relationship with Asia or the changes in Europe and Asia against the backdrop of such changing relationships. Rising Asia – Anxious Europe is the fourth in a series of annual conferences initiated by ADI in 2008. ADI is a cross-faculty and interdisciplinary effort to meet the current challenges and demands for better knowledge of and deeper insights into Asian matters. Last day to register for the conference is 15 April 2012. Full information about the ADI 2012 conference.
Seventh Annual Tamil Studies Conference to take place in Toronto The Seventh Annual Tamil Studies Conference will be held in Toronto, Canada, 11–12 May 2012. It is being organised by the University of Toronto the University of Windsor. The plenary speakers are Noboru Karashima, Emeritus Professor, University of Tokyo, Japan; and A.R. Venkatachalapathy, Professor, Madras Institute for Development Studies, Chennai, India. This conference aims to understand the means by which people come to know, feel, and reflect upon their past. Questions of history, memory, and heritage are all guided by the ethical concerns of the present and by desires regarding the future. The production of alternatives to the dominant narrative might also entail their own forms of exclusion. Contestation arises precisely when the past becomes a resource to remake the contemporary world. But how do we narrate pasts? What counts as “evidence” in such narrations? Whose stories prevail? Which pasts are silenced? More information.
Politics of Religion in Asia conference in Iowa, USA An International Conference on "Politics of Religion in Asia" will take place 12 - 13 May 2012 at the University of Iowa, USA and a call for papers is now open. The conference will focus on the development of religion and its role in politics in Asian countries, among which China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and India. The conference organisers from the International Programs, University of Iowa will support the participants whose papers are accepted with airfare and lodging, as well as with publishing the papers in an edited volume. More information (as a pdf-file).
Call for papers for Helsinki conference on Asian Performance and Visual Arts The Finnish Theatre Academy Helsinki (Teak), and the Asian Art and Performance Consortium (AAPC) of the Academy of Fine Arts (Kuva) organise an international symposium on ”Shifting Dialogues: The Politics of Site, Locality & Context in Asian Performance and Visual Arts” to be held in Helsinki on 18-19 May, 2012. The event is part of a research project that focuses on Asian Performance and Fine Arts (read more about the project). Some of the issues that the symposium will examine are: – the concepts of Site, Locality, Context; – Buying & Selling the Tradition; –Vanguard culture: Are there new avant-gardes or vanguards responding to new economic conditions? – What are the aesthetics corresponding to the new equations of economic and political power?, and more. Full information.

June 2012

Gothenburg conference on Theorisation of Heritage Studies The Heritage Seminar at the University of Gothenburg hosts a conference entitled ”The Re/theorisation of Heritage Studies” 5–8 June 2012. It is organised in collaboration with Association of Critical Heritage Studies, a newly formed international network of scholars and researchers working in the broad and interdisciplinary field of heritage and museum studies. Its primary aim is to promote heritage as an area of critical enquiry. To this end, the Association works to promote dialogue and networking between researchers from different fields and disciplinary backgrounds and between researchers, practitioners and activists. The Association’s web pages are currently hosted by the Australian National University. The Gothenburg conference will be the official launch of the Association. Bosse Lagerqvist at the Dept. of Conservation, University of Gothenburg, is the main contact person for the conference. Deadline for submitting abstracts is 31 January 2012. More information.
Young South Asia Scholars Meet Workshop 2012 in Heidelberg The third annual Young South Asia Scholars Meet (Y-SASM) Workshop will be held in Heidelberg, Germany, 14–16 June 2012. The theme for the 2012 Y-SASM Workshop, to be hosted by the South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University, will be ”Beyond the Metropolis. Implications of Urbanization in South Asian Towns and Small Cities”. Deadline for handing in papers is set for 31 January 2012. In response to the positive feedback to the workshops held in Berlin in the last two years, Y-SASM has been established as an annual workshop. The Y-SASM workshops have the declared aim of providing young scholars working on South Asia with a platform for presenting their own research and interacting with scholars from various disciplines. Thereby, it offers an opportunity to establish research networks across the German-speaking region and beyond. The 2013 Y-SASM workshop is already planned to be held the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and the 2014 workshop at University of Göttingen. Read the Call for Papers. More information on the Y-SASN blog page
Ghent conference on Knowledge Transfer, Product Exchange and Human Movement in the Indian Ocean World Ghent University organises an interdisciplinary conference on "Crossroads between Empires and Peripheries – Knowledge Transfer, Product Exchange and Human Movement in the Indian Ocean World" to take place between 21 - 23 June 2012 in Ghent, Belgium. The main focus of the conference will be to explore the dichotomy between legal and illegal (contraband), private and official exchange, anchored in the following five topics: - Private and official commercial exchange; - Exchange of knowledge, technology, and ideology; - Human movement and migration (including slave trade); - Controversy or parallelism of tribute and trade; - Indirect impacts of IOW global exchange (e.g. diseases, espionage, creolization, etc.). Abstracts of papers exploring these issues should be submitted by 15 November 2011. Full papers are due by 15 April 2012. Full information.

July 2012

10th International Conference on South Asian Languages and Literatures in Moscow The 10th International Conference on South Asian Languages and Literatures (ICOSAL 10) will be held in Moscow, Russia, on 5–6 July 2012. It is organised by the Department of Indian Philology, Institute of Asian and African Studies (IAAS), Moscow State University, and the International Centre for South Asian Studies, Russian State University for the Humanities. Out of the nine previous ICOSALs, three were organized in Moscow by the Department of Indian Philology, IAAS, (July 1997, July 2003, June 2006). The other six ICOSALs were organized by various Indian Universities (in Hyderabad, Aligarh, Patiala and other Indian cities). Deadline for submission of abstracts is 1 February 2012. More information.
Kolkata conference on Tagore’s contribution to a Multi-Cultural Society The International Forum for Studies in Society and Religion (IFFSR) organizes its Third International Conference on ”Universalistic Religion & Multi-Cultural Society: Tagore's Contribution (A Tribute to Rabindranath Tagore on completion of his 150th Birth Anniversary)” at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India, 6–8 July 2012. Abstracts are now invited. IFSSR aims at bringing together scholars from various parts of the world to participate in this multicultural phenomenon with its universal approach. The conference convenors are Professor Piyali Palit and Professor Asoke Bhattacharya. Deadline for submitting abstracts is 29 February 2012. More information.
22nd European Conference on South Asian Studies in Lisbon The 22nd European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS) will be held 25-28 July 2012 at the University Institute of Lisbon (also known as ISCTE-IUL) in Portugal. A full list of the 51 accepted panels is now available – go for the list. Some panels are still accepting online paper proposals, and it states if this is the case, underneath the panel abstracts. The biannual ECSAS conference is the largest gathering of South Asia oriented researchers in Europe, covering all fields from the humanities and social sciences to technology, natural sciences and medicine. The conference is held biannually under the aegis of the European Association of South Asian Studies (EASAS), a professional, non-profit organisation of scholars engaged in research and teaching concerning South Asia with regard to all periods and fields of study. (SASNET organised the 18th ECMSAS conference in Lund in 2004.) The 2012 conference convener is Professor Rosa Maria Perez, anthropologist, Department of Anthropology, ISCTE-IUL and researcher of CRIA-IUL. The co-convener is Professor Diogo Ramada Curto, Historian, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Registration will be by online form only, and this will not be posted until early in 2012. Please note: You must join the European Association of South Asian Studies in order to be able to attend the conference. The venue will be ISCTE-IUL:s campus at Avenida das Forças Armadas in Lisbon. Full information on the conference page. A call for proposals for the panel on "From the inside looking out… Filmic visions of South Asia's tacit "other" is open until 15 February 2012. The panel that also will be an exhibition aims to provoke the logic that has characterized conventional visual gazes upon South Asia. Approaching the subcontinent as a place to "look from" rather than to "look at" it aims to attract all kinds of visual presentations able to re-think conventional approaches to South Asia. The panel is organised by Associate Professor Paolo Favero from the Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA) at the Lisbon University Institute, and Giulia Battaglia, a teaching Fellow for the Centre for Media and Film Studies (SOAS, University of London). More information about this panel.
International conference on Asian Studies 2012 in Colombo, Sri Lanka The International Centre for Research and Development in Sri Lanka organises an international conference on Asian Studies to take place on 26 – 27 July 2012. The conference five principal themes are: – East Asian study; – Southeast Asian study; – South Asian study; – Central Asian study; – West Asian study. Additional each of these themes could be seen from the perspective of the following sub topics and in comparative perspective: – Language, literature and the arts; – Media and film; – Economics; – Politics, foreign policy and international relations; – Human rights; – Women, gender; – Philosophy, history, religion; – Migration and diasporas; – Cultural studies; – Health. Scholars who would like to participate are encouraged to submit proposals for panels, workshops and individual papers. Deadline for submissions is 31 March 2012. More information on the conference website.

August 2012

Time to submit papers for the 11th International Conference on Early Modern Literatures in North India The Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla in the state of Himachal Pradesh is organising the 11th International Conference on Early Modern Literatures in North India (ICEMLNI) to be held on 3 – 5 August 2012. The conference will focus on the literliterary and devotional cultures that existed simultaneously in North India and will re-investigate distinctions and connections between vernacular and cosmopolitan languages, between the vernaculars themselves, and between the spheres of devotional and secular or 'courtly' literatures and practices. Papers exploring these topics are welcome, along with suggestions for panels. The conference will be organised in the format of a workshop for research in progress and all accepted papers will be circulated in advance in order to stimulate fruitful discussions. More information.
2012 World Water Week focuses on Water and Food Security The 2012 World Water Week in Stockholm will be held 26–31 August 2012. The theme for 2012 is ”Water and Food Security”. As ususal, the 22nd World Water Week is organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). While the global food production in the world is more than sufficient to feed all the people on the planet, the food distribution is still very poor leaving some hungry, others overeating while a lot of food is thrown away. The main questions related to food security become thus how much more food is needed to be produced?, How and where it will be grown, and how we will ensure that the food produced is affordable and available to all. The agenda will feature workshops on the following themes: – Best use of blue water resources for food security; – Rainfed production under growing rain variability: Closing the yield gap; – Safeguarding global food security and life supporting ecosystems; – Health and food security; – Securing water and food in an urbanizing world; – Towards a green economy: The water-food-energy nexus; – Trade and food security; – Governance for water and food security. Scholars and professionals from all the world are currently invited to submit proposals for the workshops, as well as for exhibitions or paper presentations of relevance to the main conference focus topic. Priority will be given to proposals that are facets of the global challenge and present practical solutions, policies, and strategies for keeping earth's water and food resources safe, shared and accessible to all. Deadline for submitting proposals is 15 February 2012. See more information and submission guidelines. The World Water Week is the leading annual global meeting place for capacity-building, partnership-building and follow-up on the implementation of international processes and programmes in water and development, with large relevance to South Asia. The conference is filled with plenary sessions, seminars, workshops, side events and special activities. The Scientific Programme Committee (SPC) planning for the conference was for many years chaired by Prof. Jan Lundqvist at SIWI (previously at the Dept. of Water and Environmental Studies, Linköping University), but from this year the chairman position is taken over by Dr. Torkil Jönch-Clausen (read his CV). Venue: Stockholm International Fairs and Congress Center (Stockholmsmässan) in Älvsjö, 9 km south of central Stockholm. Full information.
IIAS Summer Programme on World Wide Asia: Asian Flows, Global Impacts The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) organizes its second Summer Programme at Leiden 27 August – 1 September 2012. The theme will be ”World Wide Asia: Asian Flows, Global Impacts”. IIAS runs the programme in partnership with the Leiden Global Interactions Group (LGIG) at Leiden University. It starts with a four-day master class followed by a two-day international conference. The aim is to critically explore Asian migrations as a globalizing force. The flows of people, goods, capital and ideas within and from the Asian continents have been transforming the global landscape for centuries. Arguably, this influence has become more recognizable and acute in the present day. The study of Asian mobilities can provide important insights into the conditions, processes and effects of globalization and historical global forms.  The programme will be run by three leading scholars in the fields of global migration history, the history of globalization, and modern Asian history. They include Prof. Radhika Singha from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. PhD candidates and advanced research masters students worldwide whose work deals with some aspect of Asian migration are invited to participate. Deadline for submission of paper proposals is 1 February 2012. The programme will close with a two-day conference on the same theme of Asian migrations, featuring international scholars. Students who participate in the Summer Programme will be given opportunities to meet and interact with the conference panellists and a select number of students may be invited to present their research in one of the conference sessions. All students will be invited to attend the conference and participate in the discussions. Full information about the 2012 IIAS Summer Programme.

September 2012

Singapore workshop on South Asian Diaspora Engagement in South Asia An international workshop on ”Diaspora and development – South Asian Diaspora Engagement in South Asia” will be held in Singapore 25–26 September 2012. It is being organised by the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), part of the National University of Singapore. The workshop will explore the various forms and fields of diaspora engagement that include entrepreneurship, philanthropy, international relations, portfolio investment, remittances, advocacy, peacebuilding, trade such as in ethnic goods, political engagement, socio-cultural linkages and religious or spiritual movements, amongst many other categories that all have potential for advancing growth in South Asia. Some of the specific questions that the workshop will adress are – what is the relationship between diaspora engagement and development; what is the structure of diaspora engagement in South Asia?; – What are the existing diaspora engagement policies in South Asian countries individually and how could they be regionally integrated?, and more. The workshop targets empirically based papers involving South Asian countries (i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and South Asian diaspora members/communities/groups living and working across the globe. Deadline to submit abstracts is 15 February 2012, while full papers should be submitted by 1 August 2012. Full information.

October 2012

3rd Conference of the Asian Borderlands Research Network The 3rd Conference of the Asian Borderlands Research Network, with the theme ”Connections, Corridors, and Communities” will be held in Kunming, China, 12–15 October 2012. The conference is organised by the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in the Netherlands, but is hosted by the Centre for Southwest Borderland Ethnic Minority Studies, Yunnan University (YU) in Kunming. Conveners include Prof. Willem van Schendel, University of Amsterdam (UvA), and Dr. Erik de Maaker, Leiden University. Extensive land and maritime networks have crisscrossed Asia for centuries, providing the basis for encounters between diverse ethnic, linguistic, economic, religious, and political groups. Today, developments such as new infrastructural projects, an increase in media access, and renewed interest in shaping cross-border cultural identities serve to both underscore these long-standing linkages and create new forms of connections across Asia. During the 3rd Asian Borderlands Research Conference in Kunming, we invite submissions that address continuities and ruptures along routes and borders in Asia, broadly related to the theme, "Connections, Corridors, and Communities". Only a small number of individual papers will be selected. New to this Asian Borderlands conference, the roundtable format is intended to allow for a more open forum on a broader theme. Typically, panelists will each address the main issue or topic of the roundtable, and the remainder of the time is open for an informal discussion between the panel members and a more extended question-and-answer period with the audience. Some examples of wide themes in relation to Asian borderlands may include, but are not limited to: migration; security; gender; technology; environmental issues, etc. More information.
Second Students’ Conference on Bengal Related Studies in Halle The Second Students’ Conference on Bengal Related Studies will be held in Halle (Saale), Germany, on 27–28 October 2012. It is hosted by the South Asia Seminar, Institute of Oriental Studies, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg along with the association Bengal Link e.V. and the Arbeitskreis Neuzeitliches Südasien of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Asienkunde e.V. (DGA). The Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg is one of the two German universities where research on the Bengal regions, Bengali language and culture has been an integral part for a long time. After the emergence of numerous studies on the Bengal regions disciplines other than South Asian Studies (e.g. Social Anthropology, Sociology, Development Studies, Urban Planning), the conference organisers realised the necessity of giving students and young scholars an option to discuss their various topics and research ap-proaches among each other across disciplinary borders, and of building up an interdisciplinary network for Bengal Related Studies. The aim of the conference is to provide an inter-disciplinary venue for young scholars who focus on the Bengali regions in their studies. Halle-Wittenberg is one of the two German universities where research on the Bengal regions, Bengali language and culture has been an integral part for a long time. After the emergence of numerous studies on the Bengal regions from other disciplines (e.g. Social Anthropology, Sociology, Development Studies, Urban Planning) the conference organisers realised the necessity of giving young scholars an option to discuss their various topics and research approaches among each other and of building up an interdisciplinary network for Bengal Related Studies. After the success of the first conference in 2010 the organisers are very much looking forward to hosting the second one. There is no overarching theme. Any topic from the humanities and social sciences is welcome as long as the region of study is either Bangladesh or Bengali speaking India. Abstracts are invited from graduate and postgraduate students and young scholars at any stage of their career. Deadline for submitting abstracts is 30 April 2012. More information about the Halle conference.

November 2012

Conference on "Textile Trades and Consumption in the Indian Ocean World, from Early Times to the Present” in Montreal An International conference on ”Textile Trades and Consumption in the Indian Ocean World, from Early Times to the Present” will be held in Montreal, Canada, 2–4 November 2012. It is organised by the Indian Ocean World Centre (IOWC) at McGill University. This multi-disciplinary international conference aims to bring together scholars from across the humanities and social sciences to share findings, methodologies and theoretical perspectives on cloth’s critical role in driving exchanges in the Indian Ocean World from early times to the present day. More information.
International Research Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences at Sri Jayewardenapura University The University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Nugegoda, Sri Lanka, organises its First International Research Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHS) on 8–9 November 2012. The main theme is “Honouring the Past, Treasuring the Present, Navigating the Future: Making Knowledge to Deliver”. This is intended to be a premier forum for academics and professionals to share their research on various perspectives of Humanities and Social Sciences. The conference tries to identify the multiple dimensions associated with the advancement of humanities and social science related disciplines through past to present and to the future so that a proper appreciation of the past, evaluation of the present, and envisaging the future can be readily acknowledged. The proposed tracks/themes are a doorway to establish this vital link in order to survey the related disciplines with an open mind. The conference is chaired by Professor Sunethra Thennakoon. Deadline for submitting abstracts is 30 April 2012. More information.
Linköping conference on Discourse and Interaction The second Nordic Interdisciplinary Conference on Discourse and Interaction (NorDIsCo) will be held at Linköping University, Sweden, 21–23 November 2012. It is jointly organised by the It is jointly organised by the Department of Culture and Communication (IKK), and the Child Studies department at Linköping University – Tema Barn. PhD candidate Alia Amir (photo) from IKK is part of the organising committee. The aim of this conference is to bring together doctoral students and researchers in the Nordic and Baltic region who investigate discourse and interaction from different disciplinary perspectives. The conference will highlight research that explores how text, discourse, talk and social interaction are structured, organised and constituted. Thus, this conference welcomes contributions by scholars and doctoral students in a range of fields of inquiry, including but not limited to discourse studies, conversation analysis, discursive psychology, critical discourse analysis, interaction analysis, rhetoric, narrative analysis, discourse theory, political discourse analysis, social semiotics, multimodal discourse analysis, applied linguistics, gesture studies and communication activism, as well as approaches to discourse and interaction to be found in sociology, political science, environmental science, economics, media studies and cultural studies. More information about the 2012 NorDIsCo conference.

December 2012

18th International Congress of Rural Health & Medicine to be held in Goa, India The 18th International Congress of Rural Health & Medicine will be held from 5 - 8 December 2012 at Panjim, Goa. The congress is organised by the Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences at Deemed University, Loni, India, in collaboration with the International Association for Rural Health and Medicine, Japan and the congress theme will be ”Challenges for Health in Global Villages”. The congress aims to promote a dialogue among NGOs, academics and government on global issues related to rural health in connection to the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals. Prof. Ingalill Rahm Hallberg, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Lund University (and Professor in Health Care Science), Prof. Peter Lindqvist from the Swedish Agricultural University (SLU), and Mr. Lars-Olof Lindgren, Ambassador of Sweden to India, are members of the advisory committee comprised of delegates from more than 10 countries. For the latest news about the congress check its website. More information (as a pdf-file).