The Faculty of Social Sciences
In collaboration with
The Department of Sociology
Presents
Debating the Ancient and Present
In collaboration with
The Department of Sociology
Presents
Debating the Ancient and Present
An Interactive
Workshop
with Prof. Romila Thapar
Chaired by
Prof Rustom Bharucha
School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU
Source: The Hindu |
22 August 2013, South Asian University, Akbar Bhawan,
Chankyapuri, New Delhi
‘Historical
understanding’, argued Wilhelm Dilthey, is a precondition for the ‘rise of hermeneutics’.
If the latter is the art of interpretation and understanding, the former is the
storehouse for the bricks and other materials prerequisite for the craft of
historiography to unfold. The oeuvre of a seasoned historian, a vertiable
goldmine for the hermenutists and social scientists, thus invites for a nuanced
interactive engagment. The process of the interactive engagement, as
Wittgenstien suggets, does not subscribe to a linear sense of time. A
possibility of novel geometry lies with the interactive process within which the
ancient and the present are likely to collapse. The questions from ancient
history thereby assume contemporary significance and the latter finds resonance
in the former. The mythology and history, structural and individual, national
and communal, political and religio-cultural, ordinary and extraordinary, etc.
unfold on the intractive anvil for critical engagement. In this sense, an
interactive workshop with Prof. Romila Thapar, an ever illuminating hallmark in
the ancient history of South Asia, is an intellectually promising opporutnity
for young scholars. The workshop envisages an interaction along the thematic
issues/questions/ideas from some of the key works of Prof. Romila Thapar. We
consider the following texts by Prof Thapar as essential readings for the
workshop:
2004. Early India: From The Origin to 1300 AD. University of
California Press; 2001. Cultural Pasts: Essays in Early Indian History.
Oxford University Press; 2005. Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History. Verso.
- Who can
Participate: Students (post-graduate and doctoral students) and teachers, from
social science and humanities;
- How to secure
participation: send a brief bionote (in five sentences) along with a short note
(not exceeding 200 words) which shows engagement with any of the
above-mentioned works of Prof. Romila Thapar;
- Last date for
submission: 1 August 2013;
- Confirmation: 10 August 2013.
Time and venue of the workshop:
2.30 PM to 05.00 PM @ FSI Hall, South Asian University, Ground Floor, Akbar Bhawan, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021.
Coordinator:
Dev Pathak, Department of Sociology, SAU
No comments:
Post a Comment