Anil Pinto

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Critical Commons

Critical Commons:

'via Blog this'

Monday, January 02, 2012

National Seminar On Vision and Performance: Commonwealth Plays in English

U G C Sponsored Two Day national Seminar On

VISION AND PERFORMANCE:

COMMONWEALTH PLAYS IN English

1^st & 2^nd March, 2012

Nowadays plays have a good response among the readers. Though plays are said to be the precursor of all genres in literature, interest in reading dramas has recently dwindled due to the arrival of novels. But in recent times he arrival of modern dramas by various dramatists like angry young men group and absurd dramatists kike Samuel Beckett and others have kindled the interest of the readers to read plays. Coming to Commonwealth Literature [Creative literatures from Nations which were under colony rule once] new dramatists have raised and produced many valuable tomes in which diverse themes like alienation, identity crisis, homosexuality and gender issues are discussed. Most of the modern dramas are produced with the help of themes taken from real life situations instead of fictional elements. Moreover many plays have implied themes and ideas which pave way for the readers to imagine more. This seminar will be a very good forum for the upcoming researchers and scholars to gain acquaintance with these recent and debatable topics. Researchers can present their papers on the themes like

1. Post colonialism
2. Postmodernism
3. Absurd Elements
4. Gender Issues
5. Historicism
6. Political Satires
7. Science Plays
8. Social Plays
9. Alienation& Identity Crisis

Organiser

VIRUDHUNAGAR HINDU NADARS’
SENTHIKUMARA NADAR COLLEGE
VIRUDHUNAGAR-626 001
TAMILNADU

Contact:

Dr. G. Baskaran
The Organizing Secretary
Research Centre in English
VHN Senthikumara Nadar College
Virudhunagar- 626001
E mail: rgbaskaran AT gmail.com

Contact Mobile Numbers:
Mr. K. Muthurajan: 9843592888
Mr. B. Rajkumar: 9486737674

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

National Seminar on De-stereotyping Indian Body and Desire: Reconsidering the Representations

Call for papers for the U.G.C. Sponsored National Seminar

Organized by

The Department of English

Southfield College

Darjeeling

In collaboration with

The Department of English

St. Joseph’s College

Darjeeling

Date: March 12-13, 2012

De-stereotyping Indian Body and Desire: Reconsidering the

Representations

For the most part, postcolonial studies, quite understandably, have privileged the political. Historical and economic processes, forms of identification (race and, to lesser extent, gender) and categories of difference have been refracted through this particular lens. The affective, however, has received scant critical attention. Body, sex and desire are usually allegorized, often standing in as sites of political conflict. Nonetheless, there is an alternative tradition, such as represented in queer and feminist studies as well as in recent work on 'affective communities' and performativity. Notably, feminists, queer theorists, and creative writers such as Mahesh Dattani, or directors like Rituparno Ghosh engage with forms of the affective that incorporate,
exceed, threaten or destabilize the political.

This interdisciplinary conference is an endeavor to bring together into productive confrontation issues of body, love, sex, desire and the postcolonial Indian representations. By drawing together a range of participants and some of the experts in the field, it aims to promote collaborative work between academics, activists, and the non-profit community.

The papers (2000—3000 words) can be based on, but not limited to, the following topics:

Gender, Desire & Sex: Interrogating Mystifications, Stereotypes and Archetypes De-stereotyping efforts in Indian Cinema, Drama, T.V. shows, advertisements, fashion • Desire & the Body: The politics of social bodies; Androgyny in Indian culture and representation

Sex, Politics, Nation and Modernity in (Post)Colonial India
• Erotic Places / Spaces / Literary Representations/ Disruptions of Form, Body and
Landscape
• Ex-Centric Identities: interrogating the categorizations like normal/abnormal, natural/
unnatural desire and body
• Sexual policy, sexual politics/ movements in India
• Counter(acting) and de(constructing) racist and sexist stereotypes
• De-stereotyping sexualities and gender identities through cyber culture
• The Erotic as Power: representations in media (electronic, print) / craft and architecture/
visual and performing arts
• Representations of women’s and men’s bodies in contemporary Indian culture; de-
stereotyping childhood, old age and disability
• Queering India/ Discovery of Indian Queer heritage

Author Guidelines:
PROPOSALS OF 200 – 300 WORDS SHOULD BE SENT WITH
• AUTHOR’S NAME AND DESIGNATION
• INSTITUTIONAL ADDRESS
• A BRIEF BIO-NOTE
• MAIL ID, AND CONTACT NO.
To
kaustavchakraborty2011 AT gmail.com

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS: 15th January, 2012
ACCEPTED PAPERS WILL BE NOTIFIED TO AUTHORS BY: 20th January, 2012
REGISTRATION FOR ACCEPTED PAPERS ALONG WITH THE FULL PAPER MUST REACH
THE CONVENER BY: 27th February, 2012
Registration fee: Rs. 1500 (With accommodation); Rs. 1000 (Without accommodation),
Demand Draft should be drawn in favour of “Southfield College, Darjeeling”.
For postal communication (while sending a copy of the selected paper [full paper] and
the registration form along with demand draft) and also for any queries please contact the
Dr Kaustav Chakraborty

Convener—UGC Sponsored Seminar
Assistant Professor in English
Southfield College
Formerly Loreto College

Post & District : Darjeeling
Pin: 734101
West Bengal
Mobile: 9733184654

A selection of papers will be published after the conference with ISBN
number.

Monday, December 12, 2011

I PSEng Holistic Education PPTs

Please click on the topics below to download the ppts
1. Self-organisation
2. Health

Thursday, December 08, 2011

BA English Hon. Cultrual Studies CIA 1

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AnY10euTPM5SdDV6ZE5xV05LZEhkQVM0dldZZnAtNnc&output=html

Monday, December 05, 2011

Recommendation Letter Details

Those who require recommendation letter from me could you please email me the following details.
Those who need letter on University letter head need to get prior permission from the department- Abhaya in the case of CEP and Naresh in the case JPEng

Once the departments concerned have given their consent you could email me the following details.

The papers I taught you/ how do I know you (was your class teacher, worked with me on projects)
Semesterwise attendance percentage
Academic performance (first class, second class. distinctions, end sem repeat papers )
Your markswise rank in the class (Among top 10, top 5, top 20 ...)
The activities you took part on campus and off campus during your studies here (internships, fests, newsletters, cctv, seminars, social work)
Your career plans
Your rapport with all your classmates and teachers during your studies at CU
Your assessment of your personality, abilities (interpersonal relationship, study habits,
Any specific details I should keep in mind while writing the letter
How will the programme you are applying for will help you in your future.

You could write these in points.

A Request
Writing a recommendation takes an hour for me. Hence, in case you do not necessarily need the letter, I would happy if you do not request for one from me. Further, if a letter from other teachers will do, please approach them. Universities in Europe and North America normally ask for letters from one or two teachers. If you already have required number of letters I will be happy if you can count me out.

Having written over 70 recommendation letters, I realise that I need reminders to complete them. Please do bear this in mind when you request for a letter.

Saturday, December 03, 2011

National Seminar on “Reading Indias”

Department of English of Christ University

Is organizing a National Seminar on “Reading Indias” on

20 - 21 of February 2012

Christ University, Hosur Road, Bangalore.

The Programme will be a platform to understand the working of the social and cultural imaginations of india from multiple perspectives to redefine their productive roles in the construction of the ‘Nation’. It not only encompasses the field of literature but also that of historical philosophy, cultural studies and mass media, and allows the participants to enter into the ‘hybridised’ world with a fresh, analytical and comprehensive approach to read the ‘Indias’ in as many genres. Ben Okri preferred to call it ‘literature of the newly ascendant spirit’ and it is this spirit that is the focus of this seminar. The conference hopes to capture points of convergence and divergence, exploring these matrices.

Through discussions and paper presentations this conference aspires to read the myriad images and visions of India. Papers are invited in the areas of film, drama, music and literature that address these notions. Issues could be about or of India, texts (in the Barthesian sense) by Indians and/or others.

Polyphonic voices of and about “Indias”, the role and function of social and cultural imagination and imaginings, the scope and history of the Indian subcontinent necessitates a discursive reading. A greater awareness of indigenous communities, first nations and their cultural productions has burgeoned in recent decades. This seminar will negotiate the relations between the past and the present, the canonical and the non-canonical and the national and the trans-national. We endeavour to understand the working of these social and cultural imaginations from multiple perspectives to redefine their productive roles in the construction of the ‘Nation’. It not only encompasses the field of literature but also that of historical philosophy, cultural studies and mass media, and allows the participants to enter into the ‘hybridised’ world with a fresh, analytical and comprehensive approach to read the ‘Indias’ in as many genres. Ben Okri preferred to call it ‘literature of the newly ascendant spirit’ and it is this spirit that is the focus of this seminar. This seminar hopes to capture points of convergence and divergence, exploring these matrices.

Your Participation: Through discussions and paper presentations this seminar aspires to ?read the myriad images and visions of India.

Papers are invited in the areas of film, drama, music and literature that address these notions. Issues could be about or of India, texts (in the Barthesian sense) by Indians and ?others.
Students and faculty alike may present, however there will be no awards for faculty.
Apart from papers, we also invite you to showcase any presentation or project that you have worked on relevant to our theme. We will accommodate it, as per time schedules ?and suitability.
Please mail your abstracts (300 words) by 15th December 2011 to readingindias AT eng.christuniversity.in. In the subject line please mention “Seminar 2012”.