"Studying the Indian Ocean: New Methodological Approaches and Writing Connected Histories"
New Delhi, India
30 November -4 December 2009
As a new post-Cold War order takes shape, the Indian Ocean brings into sharp focus many of the forces shaping contemporary world history. The rise of India and China raise questions about whether we are in a ‘post-American’ world. Yet, at the same time, Sino-Indian makes apparent new configurations and contradictions in the ‘South’. More generally, the historical experiences of the Indian Ocean offer a counterpoint to those of the black Atlantic which has become invisibly normative in much social and political theory.
The Indian Ocean has in recent years emerged as a vital area of study and analysis inviting attention from historians, anthropologists, social scientists and cultural studies scholars. The growing corpus of scholarship on the Indian Ocean has in turn raised issues of methodology and OF potentialities FOR comparative research. The very nature of the discursive as well as the physical space of the Indian Ocean discourages a uni-disciplinary perspective and compels the researcher to consider both an expanded archive as well as a more inclusive paradigm of understanding. Colonialism was an obvious factor giving unity to the space of the Indian Ocean giving unity to the space of the Indian Ocean. Religion was another important field of cohesive interaction. The questions that arise as to the nature and dynamics of these historical and contemporary forms of cohesion are many. How for instance, did migrations and anti-colonial resistance experiences shape modern subjectivities in the Indian Ocean? How can we meaningfully understand the notion of multi-culturalism in the Indian Ocean? How were identities forged in the Indian Ocean, and what role did religious, commercial networks and media networks play in this process? The workshop intends to address some of these issues by drawing on emerging analysis of trans-nationalism, universalism and regimes of circulation in the Indian Ocean, by suggesting new theoretical frameworks for understanding and exploring new methodologies of study.
Workshop structure
The workshop will be organized around lectures by senior international scholars in the mornings and discussions of presentations by the participating students in the afternoons.
Venue and accommodation
The workshop will be held at the Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India. SEPHIS will take care of the air travel, accommodation, and local transport expenses of the participants. Furthermore, a subsistence allowance to cover living expenses will be provided.
Eligibility
The workshop is open to pre-doctoral and early doctoral students registered at universities in the South (Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America).
Application procedure
Applications should include the following:
- a curriculum vitae (maximum of two pages);
- a letter certifying that the candidate is enrolled (at a university in the South;
- a research proposal outlining the candidate’s current research project, including the methodology that is being employed or considered (at most four pages);
- a letter from the thesis supervisor indicating why this workshop will be of importance to the applicant,
- a statement that the candidate has not attended a SEPHIS funded workshop before.
Applications must be written in English. The last date for submission of applications is 1 May 2009. Successful applicants will be informed by the end of May 2009.
Applications and inquiries are to be directed to Lakshmi Subramanian, Coordinator, IOSP, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India ([mailto]iosp.jamia@gmail.co[/mailto], [mailto]nilgiri98@gmail.com[/mailto])
Sephis Programme
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[url]http://www.sephis.org[/url]