Labnet: Call for Applications: Indian Ocean Studies Workshop - New Delhi, India, 30/11-04/12

[labnet at lists.labourhistory.net]

From: Labourhistory.net

Call for applications: Indian Ocean Studies Workshop

URL: http://labourhistory.net/news/i0903_13.php 

"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 th
 e 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
(iosp.jamia at gmail.com, nilgiri98 at gmail.com) 

Sephis Programme
Cruquiusweg 31
1019 AT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
http://www.sephis.org/