Navya Bharadwaj – South Asian Studies Collective

October 2, 2024

Dust on the Throne by Douglas Ober

Tuesday, Nov 12| 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM ET | Zoom

Register to attend: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_B4dheWVFQ9ypfqxUsZuZFQ

You are formally invited to a captivating Zoom book event featuring author Douglas Ober. In his new book, Dust on the Throne, Ober challenges the conventional narrative that Buddhism disappeared from India between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, only to be revived by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in 1956. Instead, Ober uncovers the crucial yet overlooked role that Indians played in shaping modern global Buddhism long before Ambedkar’s conversion. Drawing on a wealth of archival and temple materials from across South Asia, Dust on the Throne explores Buddhist religious dynamics in the context of colonial expansion, intra-Asian connectivity, and the writings of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Indian thinkers. Ober’s work sheds light on Buddhism’s significant socio-political influence and intellectual legacy in modern Indian history, reframing the place of Buddhism in the subcontinent.

Event Details:
Date: November 12th, 2024
Time: 12:15 PM-1:30 PM
Virtual Webinar
Register Here: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_B4dheWVFQ9ypfqxUsZuZFQ

Speaker

Douglas Ober, Lecturer in History, Fort Lewis College and Honorary Research Associate in the Centre for India and South Asia Research at the University of British Columbia

Commentators

V. Geetha, Editorial Director, Tara Books

Christopher Queen, Lecturer on the Study of Religion and Dean of Students for Continuing Education (retired), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University

Moderator

Reiko Ohnuma, Robert 1932 and Barbara Black Professor of Religion, Dartmouth College

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to register today and join us for a captivating discussion with Douglas Ober.

QR code (leads to registration form) on the poster.

Watch the zoom webinar recording here (will be updated with the link after the event)

Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at Dartmouth College.

October 2, 2024October 2, 2024

Pious Labour by Amanda Lanzillo

Tuesday, Oct 15| 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM ET | Zoom

Register to attend: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wHyRtpUmRRCRbbr3BvcW-w

You are formally invited to an illuminating Zoom book event featuring author Amanda Lanzillo. In her new book, Pious Labor, Lanzillo explores how, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, laborers across northern India found themselves negotiating rapid industrial change, emerging technologies, and class hierarchies. In response to these changes, Indian Muslim artisans asserted the connection between their religion and labor, using the popular press to redefine Islamic traditions. Focusing on metalsmiths, stonemasons, tailors, press workers, and carpenters, Pious Labor explores colonial-era social and technological changes from the workers’ perspectives. Amanda Lanzillo reveals how the colonial marginalization of these artisans shapes the ongoing exclusion of laboring voices. Using Urdu technical manuals and community histories, she highlights the materiality and cultural agency of artisans, addressing a significant gap in South Asian history.

Event Details:
Date: October 15th, 2024
Time: 12:15 PM-1:30 PM
Virtual Webinar
Register Here: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wHyRtpUmRRCRbbr3BvcW-w

Speaker

Amanda Lanzillo, Assistant Professor, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago

Commentators

Douglas Haynes, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, Dartmouth College

Razak Khan, Research Fellow in Global History, Department of History, Free University Berlin

Moderator

Curt Gambetta, Postdoctoral Fellow, Society of Fellows, and Lecturer, Department of Art History

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to register today and join us for a captivating discussion with Amanda Lanzillo.

QR code (leads to registration form) on the poster.

Watch the zoom webinar recording here (will be updated with the link after the event)

Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at Dartmouth College.

October 2, 2024

The Promise of Piety By Arsalan Khan

Tuesday, Oct 1| 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM ET | Zoom

Register to attend: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kB4-x-G9TJiaK8yPOhpQ4A

You are formally invited to an insightful Zoom book event featuring author Arsalan Khan. In his new book, The Promise of Piety, Khan explores the fervent dedication to face-to-face preaching (dawat) among Pakistani Tablighis, practitioners of the transnational Islamic piety movement, the Tablighi Jamaat. This movement argues that Muslims have forsaken their religious obligations for worldly distractions, leading to a moral crisis manifesting in fractured familial, national, and global Islamic relationships. The Tablighis assert that dawat is the sacred means to restore Islamic virtue and bring Muslims back to their faith. Khan delves into how this form of pious relationality, embedded in both ritual and everyday practice, aims to transform private and public life, while also examining the potential and limits of creating an Islamic moral order in the face of political fragmentation and violence in postcolonial Pakistan.

Event Details:
Date: October 1st, 2024
Time: 12:45 PM-2:00 PM
Virtual Webinar
Register Here: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kB4-x-G9TJiaK8yPOhpQ4A

Speaker

Arsalan Khan, Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Commentators

Shenila Khoja-Moolji, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Chair of Muslim Societies and Associate Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Attiya Ahmad, Associate Professor, Anthropology and International Affairs, George Washington University

Moderator

Faiza Rahman, Postdoctoral Fellow, Society of Fellows, and Lecturer, Department of Religion

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to register today and join us for a captivating discussion with Arsalan Khan.

QR code (leads to registration form) on the poster.

Watch the zoom webinar recording here

Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at Dartmouth College.

August 13, 2024August 13, 2024

Colonizing Kashmir By Hafsa Kanjwal

Thursday, May 16| 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM ET | Zoom

Register to attend: https://forms.gle/DCJogSms831mg1es6

You are formally invited to a Zoom book event featuring author Hafsa Kanjwal. In her new book, Kanjwal investigates the intricate processes through which Kashmir was made “integral” to India during the decade-long rule (1953-1963) of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad. This exploration delves into bureaucratic documents, propaganda materials, memoirs, literary sources, and oral interviews to analyze the intentions, tensions, and unintended consequences of Bakshi’s state-building policies in the context of India’s colonial occupation.

Join us for a valuable webinar covering a book which addresses the emotional integration, development, normalization, and empowerment processes that shaped the new hierarchies of power and domination in the aftermath of decolonization. The conversation will critically examine triumphalist narratives of India’s state-formation and challenge the sovereignty claims of the modern nation-state. Kanjwal’s extensive research, drawing on diverse linguistic sources and oral interviews, provides a nuanced understanding of the complex dynamics of Kashmir’s integration into India.

Event Details:
Date: May 16th, 2023
Time: 12:15 PM-1:30 PM
Virtual Webinar
Register Here: https://forms.gle/DCJogSms831mg1es6

Speaker

Hafsa Kanjwal, Assistant Professor, Lafayette College

Commentators

Vazira Zamindar, Associate Professor, Brown University

Mona Bhan, Professor, Syracuse University

Moderator

Douglas Haynes, Professor, Dartmouth College

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to register today and join us for a captivating discussion with Hafsa Kanjwal.

Watch the zoom webinar recording here

Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at Dartmouth College.

August 13, 2024August 13, 2024

Life Beyond Waste by Waqas Butt

Tuesday, April 30| 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM ET | Zoom

Register to attend: https://forms.gle/NmftJxNJAvPbctBh9

You are formally invited to an engaging Zoom book event featuring author Waqas Butt. In his new book, Butt explores the profound transformations in Lahore through the lens of waste materials and the lives of those who toil with them. Join us for a captivating webinar in which the author discusses the central role of waste work in organizing and transforming the city, examining historical moments from the colonial period to the present.

Butt’s historical and ethnographic account, informed by conversations about changing configurations of work and labor under capitalism, utilizes a theoretical framework of reproduction to trace how life in Lahore, organized around caste-based relations, has become embedded in infrastructures across Pakistan. The discussion will center around the critical assessment of processes reproducing life in the city along the lines of caste, class, and religion, constitutive features of urbanization across South Asia.

Event Details:
Date: April 30th, 2023
Time: 12:15 PM-1:30 PM
Virtual Webinar
Register Here: https://forms.gle/NmftJxNJAvPbctBh9

Speaker

Waqas Butt, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto

Commentators

Joel Lee, Assistant Professor, Williams College

Nikhil Anand, Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Moderator

Curt Gambetta, Post-doctoral Fellow, Dartmouth College

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to register today and join us for a captivating discussion with Waqas Butt.

Watch the zoom webinar recording here

Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at Dartmouth College.

August 1, 2024August 13, 2024

Listening with A Feminist Ear by Pavitra Sundar

Thursday, April 04| 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM ET | Zoom

Register to attend: https://forms.gle/3Cs5fW6pEbbjgpXD7

Join us for the seventh Conversations on South Asia event, where we will delve into the transformative power of sound in cinema through Pavitra Sundar’s “Listening with a Feminist Ear.” This groundbreaking book challenges the dominant visual-centric approach to film studies, advocating for a radical shift towards listening as a critical method of analysis. By examining mainstream Bombay cinema, the author brings to light the intricate ways in which sound—specifically singing, listening, and speaking—shapes gendered identities and exposes the nuanced interplay of power and privilege. Through a feminist interpretive practice, Sundar not only critiques established narratives but also offers new, liberatory imaginaries that challenge hegemonic discourses.

Event Details:
Date: April 04th, 2023
Time: 12:15 PM-1:30 PM
Virtual Webinar
Register Here: https://forms.gle/3Cs5fW6pEbbjgpXD7

Speaker

Pavitra Sundar, Professor, Hamilton College

Commentators

Neepa Majumdar, Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Debashree Mukherjee, Associate Professor, Columbia University

Moderator

Douglas Haynes, Professor, Dartmouth College

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to register today and join us for a captivating discussion with Pavitra Sundar.

Watch the zoom webinar recording here

Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at Dartmouth College.

August 1, 2024August 13, 2024

Revolutionary Pasts by Ali Raza

Tuesday, February 06| 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM ET | Zoom

Register to attend: https://forms.gle/1CNQ9XqcjHCp99Wz8

You are warmly invited to a Zoom book event featuring author Ali Raza. His book, Revolutionary Pasts is a groundbreaking exploration of the communist movement in Colonial India. Join us for an insightful webinar as Raza discusses the lives, geographies, and anti-colonial struggles of Indian revolutionaries, as well as the utopian visions of Communist Internationalism that motivated them. This innovative history delves into Indian Communists’ pursuit of a global upheaval to overthrow European imperialisms and transform India and the world.

Event Details:
Date: February 06th, 2023
Time: 12:15 PM-1:30 PM
Virtual Webinar
Register Here: https://forms.gle/1CNQ9XqcjHCp99Wz8

This thought-provoking work challenges traditional narratives, revealing how Indian revolutionaries, amidst political upheavals and global conflicts, stood alongside others in the colonized world. Raza draws from extensive archival materials, demonstrating the crucial role of Communist Internationalism in the struggle for national liberation and offering a new perspective on the global history of communism and decolonization.

Speaker

Ali Raza, Associate Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences

Commentators

Durba Ghosh, Professor of History, Cornell University

Shozab Raza, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Justice Education, University of Toronto

Moderator

Smriti Upadhyay, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Dartmouth College

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to delve into the global context of the communist movement in colonial India. Register today and join us for a captivating discussion with Ali Raza. Let’s uncover the untold stories that shaped the dreams of a liberated future!

Watch the zoom webinar recording here

Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at Dartmouth College.

August 1, 2024

Intimation of Revolution by Subho Basu

Thursday, January 11| 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM ET | Zoom

Register to attend: https://forms.gle/sY7VcmzKWwa1MVuXA

You are cordially invited to a zoom book event featuring author Subho Basu. The book provides an intensive exploration of Bengali nationalism and the birth of Bangladesh. Join us for an illuminating webinar in which Basu will discuss the complex interactions between global politics and local dynamics in East Pakistan during the transformative period of the 1950s and 60s.

Event Details:
Date: January 11th, 2023
Time: 12:15 PM-1:30 PM
Virtual Webinar
Register Here: https://forms.gle/sY7VcmzKWwa1MVuXA

This thought-provoking work challenges conventional narratives by showcasing how the revolution of 1969 and the national liberation struggle of 1971 were deeply influenced by the ‘global Sixties.’ Basu’s narrative goes beyond the Indo-Pakistani diplomatic and military rivalry, delving into the resistance against internal colonization by the Pakistani military bureaucratic regime. Discover how Bengali nationalists drew inspiration from contemporaneous decolonization movements across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, all while navigating the complexities of Cold War rivalries between the USA, USSR, and China.

🎙️Speaker

Subho Basu, Associate Professor of History, McGill University

🎙️Commentators

Tariq Omar Ali, Associate Professor, Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Willem van Schendel, Professor of Modern Asian History, University of Amsterdam

🎙️Moderator

Smriti Upadhyay, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Dartmouth College

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to explore the global context of the Bengali revolution and the birth of Bangladesh. Register today, and join us for a captivating discussion with Subho Basu. Let’s unravel the untold stories that shaped the destiny of a nation!

Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at Dartmouth College.

August 1, 2024August 13, 2024

Vernacular English by Akshya Saxena

Tuesday, December 12 (Revised date) Thursday, February 15| 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM ET | Zoom

Register to attend: https://forms.gle/RWRyYDuyK8FHeRFLA

You are cordially invited to a zoom book event featuring author Akshya Saxena. The book serves as a comparative study of three centuries of English literature and media in India. It tells the story of English in India as a tale not of imperial coercion, but of a people’s language in a postcolonial democracy. Focusing on experiences of hearing, touching, remembering, speaking, and seeing English, Akshya Saxena delves into a previously unexplored body of texts from English and Hindi literature, law, film, visual art, and public protests.

Event Details:
Date: February 15th, 2023
Time: 12:15 PM-1:30 PM
Virtual Webinar
Register Here: https://forms.gle/RWRyYDuyK8FHeRFLA

Don’t miss this opportunity to delve into the transformative influence of English as a language in India—serving both as a tool for state control and a powerful means for protest. Join us for a compelling discussion with the author, Akshya Saxena, exploring the political significance of English in the contemporary world. Esteemed commentators Rashmi Sadana (Associate Professor of Anthropology, George Mason University) and Michael Allan (Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Oregon) will contribute their insights in a discussion moderated by Dr. Preeti Singh from Dartmouth College. Discover how Reading the Anglophone challenges established notions, offering a fresh perspective on the language’s role in shaping postcolonial democracies and its utilization by marginalized groups to contest state power.

Register today through the QR code on the poster or the registration link above, and mark your calendar for this enlightening journey through the South Asian history. We look forward to having you with us!

Watch the zoom webinar recording here

Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at Dartmouth College.

August 1, 2024August 13, 2024

Exploring Play by Sanjay Kumar

Tuesday, November 14 | 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM ET | Zoom

Register to attend: https://forms.gle/PGmrGFJuvJTcr3LNA

You are cordially invited to a zoom book event featuring author Sanjay Kumar. The book discusses Kumar’s experience of three and a half decades of performing, teaching and writing theater. It explores the performance practice of a theater group in India (Pandies’ Theater, Delhi) by placing this practice in a frame of international activist theater movements. The book identifies theater as a force for changing society across the centuries and beyond national borders. It examines a large variety of theatrical experiences, including well-known forms of proscenium, workshop and street theater.

Event Details:
Date: November 14th, 2023
Time: 12:15 PM-1:30 PM
Virtual Webinar
Register Here: https://forms.gle/PGmrGFJuvJTcr3LNA

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the powerful form of expression through Theater, its role in shaping culture, international activism, and politics, and its lasting impact on society. Join us for an engaging discussion with the playwright. Mangai and scholar Wendy-Marie Martin will serve as commentators in a discussion moderated by Dr. Preeti Singh from Dartmouth College.

Watch the zoom webinar recording here

Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at Dartmouth College.