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Thursday, August 17, 2017

National Seminar on “Sir Syed and Colonial Modernity: Issues and Debates” on 25-26 October 2017, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.






On the Occasion of Sir Syed Bicentenary Celebrations 2016-17, the Department of English and the Sir Syed Academy at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, are jointly organizing a two-day national seminar titled “Sir Syed and Colonial Modernity: Issues and Debates” on 25-26 October 2017.


Keynote: S. Irfan Habib (Historian of science and the former Abul Kalam Azad Chair at the National University for Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi).






CALL FOR PAPERS

Sir Syed and Colonial Modernity: Issues and Debates

It is, rather, the symptom of a crisis-and, to be precise, of a crisis of representation-within the experience of Indian nationhood itself: the (nationalist) claim for the existence of a singular Indian nation (state) seeks to place "the Muslims" in the place of the national minority. The principle of division, in other words, is contained within the discourse of the nation itself; it accompanies the very "first" enunciation, as it were, of "the people-as-one"; and repetition of the unity-in-diversity formula serves precisely to confirm its existence. The "minor" term within the national faces the burden of representation in a way radically different from the manner in which it falls upon the "major."

Aamir R. Mufti, “Secularism and Minority: Elements of a Critique,” Social Text 14, 4 ( 1995): pp. 75–96.

Modernity is a modular phenomenon which refuses to escape anybody. As Partha Chatterjee perceptively reminds us, we are all moderns, although the ways in which we cope with modernity may and must vary. Muslims have long concerned themselves with the idea of modernity and its place in Islamic thought. India presents a fertile ground for research into one of the earliest and most influential strands of Muslim modernism in the form of the Aligarh Movement founded by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898). The nerve-centre of this Movement or tahrik was the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College set up in 1877, which became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920—the most influential modern Muslim educational institution of South Asia. Scholarship on Sir Syed and the Aligarh Movement often describes them as reformer and reform movement, respectively. The reform aimed at was both religious and social, although both remained largely unaccomplished. The sine qua non of the movement was thus the promotion of English education and of refinement of manners and character-building among the Muslim gentry so that they could qualify for employment within the colonial bureaucracy, thereby keeping in check the perceived Muslim political and economic decline.





While Sir Syed and his movement have already been the subject of study by historians and other scholars, a critical engagement with the categories of modernity and reform undergirding Sir Syed’s work and his movement is still overdue. Taking the terms of modernity and reform seriously, this seminar seeks to shed critical light on the morphology—the nature, contours, character, etc.—of the reform movement pioneered by Sir Syed as he confronted and negotiated colonial modernity in nineteenth century India. How do we read Sir Syed and his reform movement in the context of nineteenth century colonial India? How did Sir Syed view tradition and modernity vis-à-vis Islam? What did his religious and social reformation of Islam entail? And how far have they been successful? Why did Sir Syed view reform along the binary of modern western education vs traditional Islamic education? What accounts for Sir Syed’s fascination for English education and his belief in the rational, liberal promise of Enlightenment? What are the Muslim responses and reactions to the Aligarh Movement? How do debates over Muslim education in colonial India help us put Sir Syed and his movement in perspective? The seminar aims to examine these and similar questions.







The seminar is mainly interested in exploring the following themes and motifs with a view to engaging with them from an interdisciplinary vantage point that allows for a divergence of perspectives and a multiplicity of readings:
  • Conceptualizations: Islam and modernity; Islamic and Western notions of tradition and modernity; tradition and change; beyond the binary of tradition/modernity; Is modernity necessarily European? 
  • Negotiating modernity: responses to colonialism and modernity in nineteenth century India—anxieties, apprehensions, attractions, ambivalences, mimicries, etc. 
  • Sir Syed and Muslim responses to modernity in India—colonial and postcolonial; comparative perspectives from North India and South India. 
  • Modernity and reform: Sir Syed’s religious and social reform; placing Sir Syed on the larger map of religious and social reform in colonial India. 
  • The role of print and journalism in Sir Syed’s reform movement: Tahzibul Akhlaq; essays, speeches, letters, etc. 
  • Sir Syed and the development of modern Urdu literature. 
  • The Aligarh Movement—life and afterlife. 
  • “Elitism” of the Aligarh Movement; Subaltern critiques of Sir Syed and his Movement. 
  • Ta’lim and tarbiyat: Sir Syed and modern education; the standing of English in Sir Syed’s model of education; literature and moral instruction; the role of English in “secular” education. 
  • Sir Syed and his use of English; Sir Syed and his English translators. 
  • Science, technology, and rational forms of knowledge as means to modernity and progress; tension between modernization on one hand and Islamization on the other; debates over Muslim education in colonial India. 
  • Sir Syed and Victorian morals: discipline, decorum, order, gentlemanliness, refinement of manners, etc.; education and bringing up. 
  • A Muslim college on the model of Oxbridge: curriculum, pedagogy, training and mentorship, soft skills development, etc. 
  • Sir Syed and the British Empire: “Loyal Muhammadans” of India? 
  • Sir Syed and minority discourse in the Indian subcontinent. 
  • Sir Syed and women’s empowerment—historical reconstructions. 
  • (New) historicist readings of Sir Syed’s writings: reading Sir Syed against the specificity of his time and locale. 
  • Contemporary critiques of Sir Syed on tradition, reform, and modernity; the continued salience of the Aligarh Movement as a reference point for Islam’s modernity. 
  • Sir Syed between “pre-readings” and “re-readings”: the critical labour of reading Sir Syed for our times. 






Scholars and researchers are invited to send a short abstract of their proposed contribution (300 words for a 20-minute paper), explaining the content and intended structure of the paper, and including a short bio.
Abstracts should be submitted by 7 September 2017 by email to sirsyedseminar2017@gmail.com; 
All proposals will be blind-reviewed. The list of selected papers will be available by 15 September 2017
Each final paper should not exceed 20 minutes. Since selected papers will be published in the form of the Seminar proceedings, all participants will be asked to submit a final draft of their papers by 15 October 2017. 








IMPORTANT DATES

Dates of the Seminar: 25-26 October 2017

Submission of abstracts: 7 September 2017

Notification to selected participants: 15 September 2017

Submission of full papers: 15 October 2017







SEMINAR COMMITTEE

Patrons:

Professor Seemin Hasan (Chairperson, Department of English, AMU, Aligarh)

Professor Tariq Ahmed (Director, Sir Syed Academy, AMU, Aligarh)

Coordinator: Dr. Muneer Aram Kuzhiyan (Assistant Professor, Department of English, AMU, Aligarh)

Convenor: Dr. Syed Hussain Haider (Assistant Director, Sir Syed Academy, AMU, Aligarh)

All questions about the seminar may be directed to Dr. Muneer A.K. at akmuneer@gmail.com.







Contact Info: 
Dr Muneer A.K.
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Faculty of Arts
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
202002
Contact Email: akmuneer@gmail.com

Monday, August 14, 2017

38th Annual Conference of Linguistic Society of Nepal (38th LSN) Kathmandu November 26-27, 2017








Call for Papers

Linguistic Society of Nepal (LSN) organizes an annual conference on 26-27th November every year. The conference is one of the major activities of the Society which provides a platform for those who have been working on different aspects of languages. LSN has been organizing the annual conferences since 1979 unfailingly bringing various linguists and practitioners together from home and abroad concentrating on the studies of Nepalese languages.






You are requested to submit an abstract and full presentation for the conference papers on theoretical, descriptive, interdisciplinary, or applied aspects of language studies in the following or any other relevant topics of linguistics:
· Phonetics
· Phonology
· Morphology
· Syntax
· Semantics and lexical studies
· Pragmatics
· Historical linguistics
· Sociolinguistics
· Anthropological linguistics
· Language contact and linguistic typology
· Applied linguistics
· Indigenous languages and identity
· Corpus and computational linguistics
· Cognitive linguistics
· Natural language processing
· Language teaching
· Language policy and planning
· Discourse analysis
· Language and technology
· Ethnolinguistics and language ideology
· Language documentation
· Translation studies
· Psycholinguistics
· Nurolinguistics
· Language, power and politics
· Language and tourism
· Mother-tongue and multilingual education
· Any other relevant areas





There will be oral presentation and poster presentation sessions. The details of the abstract and full presentation or poster presentation are as follows:






Abstract:

An abstract contains 150-200 words exactly including examples and references (the title and author information will not be counted in this word limit).


The title should be followed by the name of the author/authors, author's affiliation, address, email and phone number (mobile phone number preferred).

The abstract should contain the information about the data, methodology and findings of the research (but no separate headings).

The paper should be in English or Nepali. For English medium paper, the abstract should be in English in Roman script; and for Nepali medium paper, it should be in Nepali in Devanagari Unicode.

Examples from other languages, in English medium paper, should be presented in IPA Unicode. Other scripts can also be used in the example if it is necessary, however it should be in Unicode.
Abstract should be both in the MS Word and PDF format.






Submit electronic copy of abstract via email to linguisticsocietynepal@gmail.com

* The accepted abstracts will be included in the abstracts and program booklet after registration process has been completed.

Full oral presentation: 10-15 slides or 3-4 page write up

Full poster presentation: 3-4 page write up of the matter to be included in the poster


Poster size: 91 cm wide and 122 cm tall (A0 paper size)

Font size: Maximum 78 pt (for main title) and Minimum 24 pt (for body text).






Important dates:

Submission deadline: 20th September, 2017


Notification of acceptance: 10th October, 2017


Conference: 26-27th November 2017







We will keep on posting the information on the website as well. Please visit http://www.lsn.org.np/







For further details, please contact:
Krishna Prasad Chalise

General Secretary

Linguistic Society of Nepal
Contact: (+977) 9841411441
Email: <krishna40e@yahoo.com>

Friday, August 11, 2017

International Seminar on “Representing the Self: Addressing Issues of Ethnicity and Identity across domains”. 9–10,November , 2017.Department of English Holy Cross College, Agartala, Tripura.






CALL FOR PAPERS

The Department of English, Holy Cross College, Agartala, Tripura, is organizing a two-day International Seminar on the theme  “Representing the Self: Addressing Issues of Ethnicity and Identity across domains”  from 9th – 10th of November , 2017.

We cordially invite faculty members, research scholars and academicians across the world to participate and present papers in the conference, which will explore a wide variety of topics related to ethnicity and identity. The standard papers of the seminar will be considered for publication in the form of a book. The theme of the seminar as well as the diverse sub-themes is illustrated below, for further reference.





Concept Note:
Literature, language and society play a vital role in constructing, expressing and sustaining our identities in the world around us. Even culture and music has an essential role in supporting the identity that we build either by our endeavors or the one we acquire by inheritance. However, people, often, feel the need to confirm, and sometimes re-confirm, this identity of theirs, over time. Affirmation and authentication of identity becomes mandatory to validate their familial, social, ethnic and also cultural heritage – their legacy, on which the individuals not only have their birthright but they are also proud of. The issues of endorsing identities arise when people, either voluntarily or is forced to, migrate from one country to the other or from one region to the other; are physically separated from their native land and indigenous people; come in contact with other communities - their customs, traditions and language. Such instances are very much evident in post-colonial societies, in post-independent countries, in immigrants, in regional and linguistic conflicts, in the race of asserting superiority over neighboring or connected communities, and so on. Even language vitally contributes to the social and psychological development of ethnic identity. Diasporic identities, too, depends on the common language of communication in the society. Therefore, as social creatures, declaration and assurance of people’s ethnic and socio-cultural identities is one of the urgent and much attended to concern today, not only at the social level but also in research and studies. It is a thought that adheres to the existence of every particular individual and an awareness that needs to be created in every member of the upcoming generation.

It is our identity that constitutes our sense of ‘self’ – who we are – that reflects our ethnicity and enable us relate with others. ‘Ethnicity’ functions as a tool for asserting our identity – which leads to the search for ‘the self’. Therefore, it is interesting to examine the evolution as well as the maintenance of identity across diverse domains and spheres in our society. The seminar will thus, provide a platform to question, examine and explore how identity and ethnicity stands centrally positioned to our sense of ‘ourselves’.





Sub-themes:
1. Identity crisis
2. Diasporic literature
3. Gender identities
4. Ethnicity in northeast literature
5. Post- colonial literature and ethnic identity
6. Afro-American literature and ethnic identity
        7. Intercultural and cross-cultural studies
8. The position of local languages in global culture
9. Indigenous culture and language preservation
10. Language teaching in ethnic groups
11. Education and indigenous communities
12. Films, media and ethnic identity
13. Music and ethnic connections
        14. Language and construction of ethnic identity
        15. Insurgency and threat to loss of ethnicity





Guidelines for submission of Abstract and Full papers:
1. The abstract as well as full papers must be composed in MS Word, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, with a line spacing of 1.5 inch, in A4 size format.
2. The abstract should be accompanied by at least 3 keywords.
3. The length of the abstract should not exceed more than 300 words.
4. The APA style of referencing should be used.
5. Biography of the author(s): The name(s), designation, correspondence address, contact number, email id of the author(s) should be mentioned at the end of the abstract.
6. An author / person can submit a maximum of one single paper and one joint paper.





Deadlines:
a. Last date for submission of Abstract: 1st of October, 2017
b. Notification of the acceptance of Abstract: 10th of October, 2017
c. Last date for submission of Full Paper: 30th of October, 2017

The Abstract as well as the full paper must be sent to the email id: hcc.englishdept@gmail.com





Publications:
This is to inform the interested paper presenters that the standard papers, presented in this seminar, will be considered for publication in the form of a book.


Registration details:
1. All paper presenters and participants will have to register themselves.
2. There will be spot registration.
3. Only the registered paper presenters and participants will be entitled for certificates, lunch and seminar kits.
4. In case of joint authors, both paper presenters will have to register separately.
5. Accommodation for outstation paper presenters will be provided.
6. Registration fee per paper presenter: Rs 600/- only.





Contact Details
Ms. Moumita Dey:    
Convener of the Seminar & HoD, dept. of English,
Holy Cross College, Agartala, 
Tripura, India.
Mob:8794938820.

Research Grant-Inlaks Research Studentship at the King’s India Institute, King’s College, London in 2017.






Call For Applications:

Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation invites applications for the selection of Inlaks Research Studentship at the King’s India Institute, King’s College, London in 2017.

The deadline for receiving applications for the grants is 1 October 2017.

The ‘Inlaks Research Studentship at the King’s India Institute’ is geared to assist registered PhD students of Indian universities to undertake short-term visits to universities abroad to collect material, use facilities and consult experts.







ABOUT THE AWARD:

The ‘Inlaks Research Studentship at the King’s India Institute’ offers financial support for a maximum of 3 months at King’s College London. The Studentship will cover: 
Reasonable air fare (booked by Inlaks on the student’s behalf) 
Maintenance expenses at a modest rate (up to Rs.115,000/- per month) 
Funds for buying materials and books, and making copies of relevant literature (up to Rs.65,000/-) 






Eligibility

All applicants must fulfill the following criteria:
hold confirmed PhD registration for at least two years but for not more than four years
have a first class degree at either Bachelor’s (Honours) or Master’s level, preferably both.
be under 35 years of age on 31 December in the year of applying.
be an Indian citizen, currently resident in India.









Subjects for which the grant is available: Humanities and Social Sciences

Click here for full details of the award and application process.

Please feel free to circulate this notice amongst your networks.

Fake News and Weaponized Defamation: Global Perspectives(with Travel Grants), California, United States,January 26, 2018






Concept Note:


The notion of "fake news" has gained great currency in global popular culture in the wake of contentious social-media imbued elections in the United States and Europe. Although often associated with the rise of extremist voices in political discourse and, specifically, an agenda to "deconstruct" the power of government, institutional media, and the scientific establishment, fake new is "new wine in old bottles," a phenomenon that has long historical roots in government propaganda, jingoistic newspapers, and business-controlled public relations. In some countries, dissemination of "false news" is a crime that is used to stifle dissent. This broad conception of fake news not only acts to repress evidence-based inquiry of government, scientists, and the press; but it also diminishes the power of populations to seek informed consensus on policies such as climate change, healthcare, race and gender equality, religious tolerance, national security, drug abuse, poverty, homophobia, and government corruption, among others.





"Weaponized defamation" refers to the increasing invocation, and increasing use, of defamation and privacy torts by people in power to threaten press investigations, despite laws protecting responsible or non-reckless reporting. In the United States, for example, some politicians, including the current president, invoke defamation as both a sword and a shield. Armed with legal power that individuals- and most news organizations - cannot match, politicians and celebrities, wealthy or backed by the wealth of others, can threaten press watchdogs with resource-sapping litigation; at the same time, some leaders appear to leverage their "lawyered-up" legal teams to make knowingly false attacks - or recklessly repeat the false attacks of others - with impunity.






Abstract Deadline: September 25, 2017
Completed Paper Deadline: January 5, 2018
CONFERENCE Date: January 26, 2018

Papers should have an international or comparative focus that engages historical, contemporary, or emerging issues relating to face news or "weaponized defamation." All papers submitted will be fully refereed by a minimum of two specialized referees. Before final acceptance, all referee comments must be considered.
Accepted papers will be peer-reviewed and distributed during the conference to all attendees. 
Authors are given an opportunity to briefly present their papers at the conference. 
Accepted papers will be published in the Journal of International Media and Entertainment Law, the Southwestern Law Review, or the Southwestern Journal of International Law. 





Authors whose papers are accepted for publication will be provided with round-trip domestic or international travel (subject to caps) to Los Angeles, California, hotel accommodations, and complimentary conference registration. 





Publication:
The Journal of International Media & Entertainment Law is a faculty-edited journal published by the Donald E. Biederman Entertainment and Media Law Institute at Southwestern Law School, in cooperation with the American Bar Association’s Forum on Communications Law, and the ABA’s Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries.


The Southwestern Law Review and the Southwestern Journal of International Law are honors publications edited by students at Southwestern Law School.





Contact Info: 

Dr. Michael M. Epstein, Supervising Editor, Journal of International Media & Entertainment Law - Southwestern Law School
Contact Email: Jimel@SWLaw.edu
URL: 

Thursday, August 10, 2017

CALL FOR PAPERS: CONFERENCE ON THE DIGITAL ECONOMY -RAJASTHAN, DECEMBER 20-21,2017.









About:


The Srini Raju Centre for Information Technology and the Networked Economy (SRITNE) at the Indian School of Business (ISB) will host the eleventh edition of Conference on the Digital Economy (CODE) on December 20 – 21, 2017 at Neemrana Fort-Palace, Rajasthan, India.

Technology is also increasingly emerging as a driver of socioeconomic transformation and growth in government and society. The purpose of CODE is to bring together researchers from around the world who are interested in generating insights about the antecedents, nature and consequences of such digital transformations.






Call for Papers

Papers are invited across a range of areas including but not limited to those listed below. A variety of methodological approaches are also welcome at the workshop.

Illustrative Topics
Economic Value of IT
E-Business and E-Government
Crowds, Contests and Communities
Digital Platforms and Open Governance
Security, Privacy and Ethics of Technology
Technology Adoption and diffusion
Human Behaviour and IS
Strategy, Structure and Organizational Impacts of IT
Data Science, Decision Analytics and Visualization
Research Methods
Service Science and IS
HCI, Design Issues and Design Science Research
Social Media and Digital Collaboration
IT and Social Change.






Submission Guidelines

Authors are invited to submit abstracts of their work for consideration at the conference. Please submit a 2-page single spaced (including text, diagrams, tables and references) abstract of your research study by October 5, 2017.

Abstracts will be evaluated based on their potential research contribution and the ability to stimulate interest and discussion at the conference. If your abstract is accepted for presentation at the conference, it will be published in a Book of Abstracts.

The Book of Abstracts contains a brief (300 words) summary of each of the researches to be presented at the conference. Conference on the Digital Economy (CODE) does not take any copyright on this. The purpose of the Book of Abstracts is to circulate your work amongst key practitioners in India.

Your research study should be sufficiently complete by the time of the conference to enable a stimulating presentation and meaningful discussion. At least one co-author of an accepted abstract for the conference must pre-register on or before November 5, 2017 for its continued inclusion in the programme.

Please submit abstracts by EasyChair.







Important Dates
Abstract submission deadline: October 5, 2017
Notice of acceptance of abstracts: October 20, 2017
Deadline for early registration: November 5, 2017
Conference dates: December 20 – 21, 2017








Venue

Neemrana Fort Palace, Rajasthan, India

Contact

Karthik Rapaka, Srini Raju Centre for IT and the Networked Economy (SRITNE)
Indian School of Business, Hyderabad- 500 111. Email: Karthik_Rapaka@isb.edu

For more information :- http://www.isb.edu/CODE