The Invention of Hinduism for National Use

Abstract

This paper discusses the ways in which the category "Hinduism" became available for national use, as a political resource. It argues that various forms of Indian nationalism mobilised the term "Hindu" or variants thereof in a number of ways, and suggests that these uses, of "Hindu" as religion, race or nation, can be dated to very specific points in relatively recent time. 

Speaker:

Benjamin Zachariah

ICCR Professor, Halle University, Research Fellow, Karl Jaspers Centre, Heidelberg University

Venue:  Committee Room, Central Library, JNU

Date and Time: 15th March 2014 (Saturday), 4:30 pm

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Theoretical Perspectives of Globalization: The Case of Sport

Abstract

Globalization refers to the intensity of interconnectedness across world. Events occurring in one part of the globe may have its ramifications in various other parts.  The market forces and electronic means of communications (such as the internet and telecommunication) stand out as classis examples. However, this phenomenon invites few intriguing questions. Has states lost their significance in the globalized era? Or does the state and the market forces share a complementary relationship? The proposed discussion seeks to contextualize the theoretical dimension of globalization in the realm of sport (cricket and football). Besides, the discussion intends to investigate several greys area of globalizing phenomenon pertaining to the conception of identity. In a nutshell, the paper seeks to investigate the political as well as the economic aspects related to the globalizing tendencies on cricket and football.  

Speaker:  Avipshu Halder , 

Research Scholar, CIPOD, SIS, JNU

Venue:  Committee Room, Central Library, JNU

Date and Time: 1^st March 2014 (Saturday), 4:00 pm

Link Prediction in Social Networking

Abstract

Many social, biological, and information systems can be well described by network. Where nodes represent individuals, biological elements (proteins, genes, etc.), computers, web users, and so on and links denote the relations or interactions between nodes.

A network is represented by a mathematical structure called a graph. Where a graph G is a structure consisting of a set of vertices V (also called nodes), and a set of edges E (also called arcs or links).Great efforts have been made to understand the evolution of networks (by R. Albert, A.-L. Barab ́asi). Social networks are very dynamic objects, since new edges and vertices are added to the graph over the time. Understanding the dynamics that drives the evolution of social network is a complex problem due to a large number of variables. But, a comparatively easier problem is to understand the association between two specific nodes. Hence we predict the likelihood of a future association between two nodes, knowing that there is no association between the nodes in the current state of the graph. Predicting certain changes to a social network is called the link prediction problem. Liben-Nowell & Kleinberg (2003) explain it as:

Given a snapshot of a social network at time t, we need to accurately predict the edges that will be added to the network during the interval from time t to a given future time t'  where  t < t' .

Link prediction has also many applications outside the domain of social networks. For example, in e-commerce it can help build recommendation systems; in the security domain link prediction identifying the structure of a criminal network (i.e., predicting missing links in a criminal network using incomplete data); in bioinformatics link prediction can be used to find interactions between proteins etc.

Speaker: Kushal Veer Singh,

Research Scholar, SCIS, JNU

Venue:  Committee Room, Central Library, JNU

Date and Time: 18^th February 2014 (Tuesday), 4:30 pm

Imperialism and International Law

Abstract

I will argue that there is an intimate relationship between capitalism, imperialism and international law that accounts for the fact that the structure and process of international law have always disadvantaged third world peoples, especially its subaltern groups. Old imperialism or colonialism influenced its development in a fundamental way and was succeeded by neo-colonialism and now global imperialism. I will identify the key features of international law in the era of global imperialism.

  Speaker:  Prof. B. S. Chimni

Centre for International Legal Studies, SIS, JNU

Venue:  Committee Room, Central Library, JNU

Date and Time: 30^th January 2014 (Thursday), 4:00 pm

Birth of Art: Philosophizing the Myth

Abstract

There are a lot of discussion about the origin or more significantly manifestation of Art in Indic tradition. All the discussions reveal the same fact that Art is the manifestation of our own Heart. Reality creates herself through Art. Indic tradition sees Art as Yoga. Here, Yoga is a means of achieving harmony or unity of consciousness or mental concentration to overlook the distinction between the subject and object.

Citrasūtra a section of Visnudharmottara Purāna, Citralaksana of Nagnajit speaks about the divine origin of Art in a form of painting. There are also much more contexts about the divine origin of Art. Whether we see these stories as a myth, or in other way it is a fact that they convey the essential truth that how Art is revealed or gets manifestation. 

Later Indian philosophers drawing inspiration from these myths philosophize the birth of Art. The presentation seeks to unfold the scenes of unbroken Indic tradition of stories of birth of Art and their philosophy.

                          

               

      Speaker:  Dr. Mayank Shekhar, Senior Research Fellow,
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi

Venue:  Committee Room, Central Library, JNU

Date and Time: 5^th December 2013 (Thursday), 4:00 pm

Is there something called the ‘Indian’ theatre?

Abstract

India has a vibrant culture of performances and theatres from tribal to folk to proscenium to street-theatre to amateur performance-genres. The history of Indian theatre has been written in terms of shastras, archeological evidences, documentations and colonial ideological ‘trappings’. After Independence, debates revolved around the idea of the ‘theatre of the roots’, with the National School of Drama being established as a training institution. With it began the process of problematizing the idea of the ‘national’ theatre. This paper attempts to open up the discussion regarding the writing of history of the Indian theatre. It also deals with the development of theatre in post-independent India and attempts to make a case for the existence of many Indian theaters rather than the idea of the singular Indian theater.

Speaker:  Gourab Ghosh, Research Scholar, CES, SL & CS, JNU

Venue:  Committee Room, Central Library, JNU

Date and Time: 28^th September 2013 (Saturday), 5:00 pm

Whatever happened to the Rupee

Abstract

Since early May 2013, there has been a significant fall in the value of the Rupee vis-a-vis the Dollar leading to a historic low at 67 rupees per dollar a few days back. US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's statement appears to have caused a free fall in the value of the rupee, or so the RBI would have us believe. But the Indian Rupee has been falling in value quite consistently since August 2011. What are the factors behind this free fall? Are they domestic or are they international? Could it have been controlled? Can it at least now be controlled? These are a few questions that this talk would attempt to discuss. 

Speaker:  Dr. Rohit, Assistant Professor, CESP, JNU

Venue:  SSS-I Committee Room, JNU

Date and Time: 12^th September 2013 (Thursday), 4:00 pm