SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK
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Contents:
SASNET News:
Reports from the SASNET contact journey to South Asia
• The SASNET director Professor Staffan Lindberg, and deputy director/webmaster Lars Eklund, have just completed a tour to South Asia in order to link up the SASNET activities with universities and research institutions in different countries of the region. They visited the Maldives (Malé) 26–27 February, Sri Lanka (Colombo and Kandy) 28 February–5 March, India (New Delhi, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Shantiniketan) 6–19 March; and finally Bangladesh (Dhaka) 20–22 March. Read their reports from the journey.
Apply for SASNET Planning Grants 2002 before 15 June
• Applications are now welcome for the next round of SASNET planning grants. Closing date for applications is 15 June, 2002. Please note that there always has to be a Swedish partner in the project/programme for the application to be eligible, and that the application must be made by the Swedish partner. Full details are given on our web page: http://www.sasnet.lu.se/grantsinvite.html
Community News:
Accommodation for Nordic researchers in Delhi.
• The Nordic Centre in India provides inexpensive lodging for Nordic scholars and academic administrators while staying in Delhi. Please state the dates for your stay, the purpose, and your institutional address. Students are also admitted, but need recommendations from their respective supervisor.
Bookings to be made through one of the current co-directors, Anne Waldrop or Pamela Price .
Project grants through EU´s Asia-Link programme
• EU´s Asia-Link programme offers project grants to institutions, networks, and postgraduate students, teaching staff and administrators of higher education institutions, in order to foster cooperation in the field of higher education between the European Union and South Asia. Maximum project duration is 36 months, and the grants can be between 200 000 EUR and 300 000 EUR. Deadline for applications in 2002: 24 May and 24 October. More information.
Applications for Sida grants before 22 April
• Sidas u-landsforskningsråd (Sida's Developing Country Research Council) announces grants for research with relevance to aid and development issues. Individual researchers or groups of researchers working at universities, colleges and other Swedish research institutions are eligible to apply for a grant. Swedish citizens working at the Scandinavian Institute for Asian Studies (Nordiska Asieninstitutet, NIAS) in Copenhagen may also apply. Closing date for applications is 22 April, 2002. More information.
Scholarships for Swedish students to study at Indian universities
• The Indian government offers, through the Council of Cultural Relations in New Delhi, scholarships for two Swedish students every year to study at Indian universities. The applications for scholarships is supposed to be handled by the Indian Embassy in Stockholm. At present only one Swedish student is staying in India on such a scholarship, studying at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
Funds for research projects from the EU-India Think Tank programme
• The EU-India Think Tank programme is now gradually developed into a full-fledged network. Next year it will have an annual budget of 3 million Euros. In order to build momentum, the European Commission will support projects on an ad hoc basis with a funding ranging from 20 000–120 000 Euro. The projects should be in the four areas discussed in Brussels – Federalism and Decentralisation; Global Energy Challenges; Global Security Challenges; and Governance and Democratic Traditions. The projects should be oriented towards policy advice and reforms, economic policy, etc. 75 p.c. will be funded by EC, the rest by the participating instutions – two institutions in two different EU countries, and one institution in India. The funding is solely intended for 24 months duration, and only for research projects – not curriculum development as in the larger Asia Link programme.
More information from the web page of the Delegation of the European Commission to India, Nepal and Bhutan, which has an office in New Delhi.
Conferences and courses:
The sixth Göttingen International Ethnographic Film Festival
The IWF Knowledge and Media (Institut für den Wissenschaftlichen Film) arranges its sixth festival for ethnographic films in Göttingen, Germany, 8–13 May, 2002. More than 40 new ethnographic films – out of which 12 are made in South Asia – will be presented, thus strenghtening international communication within Visual Anthropology and, at the same time, building a bridge between Cultural Anthropology and Folklore. Registration to be made before 15 April.
Conference on Environmental History of Asia
• An International Conference on the Environmental History of Asia is arranged 25-28 September, 2002, at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. It will also be the first meeting of the new International Environmental History Association. More information.
Summer schools:
Hindi-Urdu course at Mussoorie
• An intensive Hindi-Urdu course for Scandinavian students is arranged in Mussoorie, Uttaranchal, India, in May–June 2002. Registration will be closed on the 15 April. More information.
Summer course on India at Uppsala University
• ”India – past and present” (Indien nu och då) is the name of a course arranged by the Dept of Asian and African Languages at Uppsala University in the Summer 2002. It is a 5 credit course, starting on 5 June.
Modern South Asian Studies at Heidelberg
• A European Summer School in Modern South Asian Studies is arranged at the South Asia Institute, Universität Heidelberg, Germany 8–19 July, 2002. Organisers: the Dept of Political Science, along with the University of Edinburgh, the University of Oslo, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Paris) and the European Institute for Asian Studies (Brussels). Theme for the course: ”South Asia: Governance, Ideology and Institutions”.
Tamil language at Pondicherry
• A Tamil Language Summer School is arranged in the Summer 2002 at the French Institute in Pondicherry, India. More information.
Spoken Sanskrit at Heidelberg
• The Department of Classical Indology at the South Asia Institute, Universität Heidelberg, offers a unique opportunity to participate in a spoken Sanskrit course in the summer 2002, under the tutelage of Sadananda Das, a Sanskrit native speaker. More information.
Important lectures and workshops
Seminar on the development in Afghanistan
• A full day seminar on ”Afghanistan – yesterday, today and tomorrow”, is arranged by Skånes FN-distrikt at Eslöv, Saturday 13 April, 2002, 9.00–16.00. Lectures are held by Prof Bo Utas, Dept of Asian and African Languages at Uppsala University, Prof Göran Melander, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Lund University, Peter Hjukström from Svenska Aghanistankommittén, and others. Venue: Medborgarhusets restaurang, Södergatan 29. In order to take part in the seminar, contact Knut Rang, 040-18 36 29, not later than 8 April.
Lecture on rhetoric in the developing countries
• Globalakademin in Stockholm arranges a public lecture on ”Language, texts and trends in the developing countries”, on Wednesday 10 April, 15–18. Dr. Stefan Helgesson from the Dept of Literature at Uppsala University, will talk about rhetoric and different oratory traditions. The African actress Lamine Dieng will also give her reflections on the subject. Venue: Sida´s hörsal, Sveavägen 20. For participation report to Globalakademin.
Workshop on South Asian Religions
• A workshop on South Asian Religions will be held in Norway in late Summer 2002. Selected participants will be asked to prepare their presentations for later publication in a book. The intention is that the workshop takes place in connection with the Norwegian conference on Asian studies, NORASIA II, planned for August. More information from Professor Knut A Jacobsen, Dept of History of Religion, University of Bergen.
Working papers on South Asia available on the Internet
Heidelberg Papers in South Asian and Copmparative Politics
• Dept of Political Science at South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany, has started to publish occasional papers in its series Heidelberg Papers in South Asian and Comparative Politics.
Cultural events in Scandinavia connected to South Asia
Inauguration ceremony for Urdu magazine in Sweden
• The Urdu Academy of Sweden inaugurates its new magazine, Zafia, with a ceremony in Lund on Wednesday 10 April, at 19.00. Venue S:t Hans församlingshem, Fäladstorget. Chief guests at the ceremony are Jan Hjärpe, prof of Islamology at Lund University, and the SASNET director, Prof Staffan Lindberg. After the inaguration and tea/coffee there will be a mushaira – recital of Urdu poetry. For more information contact Mr Zubair Warsi from Urdu Academy.
”Gud har 99 namn” now in Södertälje
• Riksutställningar and SKS has produced an exhibition on ”Gud har 99 namn”, on tour through Sweden. 23 March – 5 May, 2002, it is on display at Södertälje Konsthall. More information.
Best regards
Staffan Lindberg Lars Eklund
SASNET/ Swedish South Asian Studies Network
SASNET is a national network for research, education, and information about South Asia, based at Lund University. The aim is to encourage and promote an open and dynamic networking process, in which Swedish researchers co-operate with researchers in South Asia and globally.
The network is open to all sciences. Priority is given to co-operation between disciplines and across faculties, as well as institutions in the Nordic countries and in South Asia. The basic idea is that South Asian studies will be most fruitfully pursued in co-operation between researchers, working in different institutions with a solid base in their mother disciplines.
The network is financed by Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) and by Lund University.
Postal address: SASNET – Swedish South Asian Studies Network, International Office,
Lund University, P O Box 117, S-221 00 Lund
Visiting address: Gamla Kirurgen, Sandgatan 3, first floor, room no. 230
Phone: + 46 46 222 73 40
Fax: + 46 46 222 96 65
E-mail: sasnet@sasnet.lu.se
Web site: http://www.sasnet.lu.se
Our office is manned weekdays 9-17, and open to visitors.
Staff: Staffan Lindberg, director/co-ordinator &
Lars Eklund, webmaster/programme secretary
