Centre of South Asian Studies
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The atrocity of caste. A tradition of reason A song that will be sung A documentary film, talk and discussion with the director Anand Patwardhan on Saturday 23 February 2013 in the Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS. The schedule: 9.00 tea/coffee – Welcome 9:30 Introduction – Anand Patwardhan 10:00-13:00 Film screening 13:00-14:00 Roundtable discussion – Q&A For details, contact: the forum for South Asian related David Mosse, Professor of Social Anthropologyresearch activities at SOAS since 1966 E:dm21@soas.ac.uk Hosted jointly by the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, the Centre for South Asian Studies and the Centre for Media and Film Studies at SOAS. The film showing and talk is open to theCentre general public. of South Asian Studies ISSUEo 75:uth September 2011 - August 2012 S sia A ANNUAL REVIEW ISSUE 77: September 2012 - August 2013 SOAS, University of London The world's leading institution for the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East www.soas.ac.uk LETTER FROM SOAS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THE CHAIR elcome to this 2013 annual review take up the position of Director. We of the Centre of South Asian Studies. will be advertising for an administrator W I would like to begin by thanking and a Deputy Director very shortly. Professor Lawrence Saez, my predecessor as Centre Chair, for his leadership over the past I would like to take this opportunity three years. Like him, I too have benefited to share my own thoughts on the greatly from the excellent support provided importance and value of this initiative. by the Centres and Programmes Office at SOAS since I took up this role in January There is a perception in some quarters of this year. None of our activities would that Area Studies is a field of scholarly have been possible without Jane Savory, endeavour whose time has passed. Rahima Begum and Dorinne Tin Ming Kaw. The academic regionalisation of the I am also grateful to Dr Shabnum Tejani, Dr world has been criticised for being Simona Vittorini and Prof David Arnold for driven by political and external concerns serving as members of the Centre’s Advisory emanating from the Euro-American region of study and forge and strengthen Committee this year. world; for drawing arbitrary lines on the academic connections at both individual map in an imperious neo-colonial way; and institutional levels. The societies During the academic year 2012-13 the and for creating conceptual empires that and cultures we study are not passive Centre hosted more than 30 talks and are thought of as homogenous and self recipients of our gaze. Their perspectives seminars, many of which are reported on contained, when in fact they are neither. and theoretical orientations enrich global in the following pages. They included And I agree that we should be wary of SOAS is a college of the University of conversations. Institutional structures that STUDYING AT SOAS seven presentations by our Research statements such as ‘South Asia is a region London and the only Higher Education facilitate interaction and exchange with Associate Kavita Ramdya in the ‘Themes in of great cultural diversity’. Why would it not scholars from the regions we study are institution in the UK specialising in the study The international environment and CONTENTS the Literature of the Indian Subcontinent’ be? This is only a consequence of where we essential. of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East. cosmopolitan character of the School make series, the launch of four different books, a drew the lines. student life a challenging, rewarding and 3 Letter from the Chair roundtable on human rights in Nepal with Why a ‘South Asia’ Institute at a time when SOAS is a remarkable institution. Uniquely exciting experience. We welcome students 4 Centres Members a Supreme Court justice, a screening of the However, I believe there are at least two other British universities are creating units combining language scholarship, disciplinary from more than 160 countries, and 38% of controversial film ‘Jai Bhim Comrade’ and very good reasons for maintaining an Area and programmes that focus on India? expertise and regional focus, it has the them are from outside the UK. 6 Members News a Q&A session with its director, a packed Studies framework for much of what we do largest concentration in Europe of academic Area studies have been said to resemble 13 SOAS Library discussion with the famous Indian film actor at SOAS, which was after all founded as an the mandalas of old: they are powerful staff concerned with Africa, Asia and the SOAS offers a wide range of undergraduate, Shabana Azmi, a range of seminars given Area Studies institution, and for continuing and well defined at the centre but vague Middle East. postgraduate and research degrees. 14 Research Associate News by visiting speakers on various aspects of to replicate ourselves in this mould for and contested at the edges (van Schendel Students can choose from more than 16 Centre Events Listing South Asian politics and culture, a seminar generations to come. 2002). Some area studies have a strong On the one hand, this means that SOAS 350 undergraduate degree combinations and workshop on indigenous Indian theatre, central court: most South Asia scholars remains a guardian of specialised knowledge and from almosst 200 postgraduate 17 Event Reports a two-day workshop on the Bhutanese The first reason for doing so is that every work on India, and mostly on north India at in languages and periods and regions not programmes (taught and distance learning) 21 CSAS Research Awards refugee resettlement experience (funded by question has an appropriate scale. For that. But the other countries of South Asia available anywhere else in the UK. On the in the social sciences, humanities and the Open Society), and a very well-attended instance, research on globalisation may are interesting and important too, and a other hand, it means that SOAS scholars languages with a distinctive regional 22 South Asia Research (SAR) talk by Arshia Sattar on translating the often have to take place at a level beyond national frame – reducing the area down to grapple with pressing issues - democracy, focus and global relevance, taught by 24 Centre for the Study of Pakistan Ramayana. I am very grateful to the many that of regional frameworks. Of course we its central court – also constrains the scope development, human rights, identity, legal world-renowned teachers in specialist Centre members who helped to organise must not fetishize the local. But the greater of studies and research, which can very systems, poverty, religion, social change - faculties. 26 Charles Wallace Trusts such a rich and varied programme. the scale of the question the broader and confronting two-thirds of humankind. usefully trace continuities and interactions 28 Muslim South Asia Research Forum more superficial the answers will be, and if across political borders. Hence our decision SOAS is consistently ranked among the top 29 SOAS Research Studets We were also very glad to host this year’s these are not moored in the granular detail to create an Institute whose focus will be higher education institutions in the UK and Charles Wallace Trust Pakistan fellow, Dr of grounded empirical research a project’s regional rather than national. the world. In 2006 SOAS joined the top 20 31 Join the Centre Najeeba Arif, who contributed a seminar findings will be questionable. European universities in the Times Higher during the spring term on South Asian The South Asia Institute will be one of the Education Supplement rankings, and in 2007 Muslims’ narratives of travel to the West, and For instance, do we need to understand first major initiatives to reverse the drift away the Guardian listed it again among the top CONTACT US the Charles Wallace Trust India fellow, Dr the impact of global economic and cultural from regionally-focused studies at SOAS for dozen UK universities, which include other We welcome you to become part of the Milin Awad, who spoke on the topic of the flows on Indian society and the extent to many years. It is therefore an opportunity University of London colleges (UCL, LSE SOAS experience and invite you to learn structure and content of Dalit writing. We which India also serves as the origin of we should seize. We need to make our and King’s College) as well as Oxford and more about us by exploring our website. wish them the very best for the future and globalising forces? I believe so, for all existence as the premier UK institution for Cambridge. hope to see them at SOAS again one day. sorts of reasons. Can we do so without the multi-disciplinary study of South Asia conducting research in India itself? I think much more visible worldwide. We need The SOAS Library has more than 1.5 million www.soas.ac.uk I am also delighted to report that research not. Should we produce scholars with more fellowships, scholarships and posts, items and extensive electronic resources. It students working on Muslim South Asia have the linguistic and cultural fluencies and more research funding, and more effective is the national library the study of Africa, Asia Admissions www.soas.ac.uk/admissions/ created a new Research Forum, which was disciplinary expertise needed for this? Well, marketing of courses. However, we should and the Middle East and attracts scholars all launched on 9 May and will hold its first if we do not then we will simply have to not be under any illusion that the UK This makes SOAS synonymous with over the world. graduate conference in October 2013.