Anil Pinto

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Dear II MA English Students,

On the day of convocation i wanted to meet each one of you and convey my wishes but i managed to meet less than half of you. All the same, let me use this medium to wish all those whom I could not meet. Congratulations and all the best. May you have an exciting life ahead.

A few days from now you may not remember much from the courses your have undergone. That is true of any student from any institution in the world. Neither do I remember much from my college or university days. However, what university education does is, broaden your worldview and rub on some of the passion of your course instructors or those whom you associate yourself with during your university days. The difference among you will not be about how much each of you have learnt but how much passion of the different kinds, towards different issues you have got rubbed on, and how wider your woldview has become. As much as your future condition depends on the social conditions you exist, it also depends on the these two things - worldview and passions - you carry from here.

With this little reflexion, i wish you the very best. I will leave you with an extract on teachers by Khaleel Gibran's Prophet; this is especially for those who plan to become teachers.

On Teaching

Then said a teacher, "Speak to us of Teaching."
And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.

Warmly,

Anil Pinto

Open Journal Academic System (OJAS)

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Research Scholars Wanted

Title of the project- Bonded Labour

Qualifications- Should have a post graduation in Sociology, Social Anthropology. Other Disciplines also can apply if they have proven capacities on themes of sociology/ Social anthropology. Working knowledge in English and fluency in Kannada are needed. Preference will be given to SC/STs.

Salary- Rs 8000/- onwards (per month)

Contact details

Kiran kamal Prasad

Vimukti Trust

Reg. No.IV.252/96-97

1289, ISEC Road,

Nagarabhavi Post,

Bangalore 560072

Telefax: 0091-80-23210194

E-mail: jeevika90 AT gmail.com

www.jeevika-free.org

www.vimuktitrust.org

Friday, May 27, 2011

News: Major Decisions - Inside Higher Ed

Global South Scholars

Fellowship

Please kindly find below details for the Global South Scholar-in-Residence fellowship at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

This programme has been designed for young university teachers from Africa, Asia, Latin America working in the disciplines related to international and development studies.

Selected Scholars are invited to come to the Institute for a semester to further their research projects, update their teaching curricula, and interact with colleagues and students working in their field of specialisation. Scholars' travel and monthly allowances are fully funded.

Could you forward this information to your colleagues?

Application details and more information are available online or on the poster enclosed.

Kind regards,

some websites for general reading

I often find TED [http://www.ted.com/]as a very important website for everyone. not only because it provides world class lectures in a showcasing manner but also for its priorities. The video updates often make the visitors pause and ponder over issues from far and wide disciplines. the charismatic effect that they have is to be personally experienced. I'm a stanch follower of these videos for a long time for various reasons. hope you too had similar experiences. I herewith want to forward you a simplest example with the following link.
http://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes.html . Your comments are welcome.

Similarly, I found the following sites interesting too.

1. http://en.shapewhatstocome.com/

2. http://www.howstuffworks.com/

3. http://roundtableindia.org

(Received from Sooryanarayana)