• SASNET report from the Indo-Swedish
Commission meeting in Delhi As reported in the April newsletter SASNET was represented by
Jan Magnusson in the Swedish delegation when the 14th session of the joint
Indo-Swedish commission met in New Delhi 1–2 April 2003. SASNET
was thus able to draw attention to the new guidelines for foreign researchers
and students visiting India issued by the Indian Ministry of Human Resource
Development (MHRD), as well as the delay in the Nordic Centre in India's
application to open a liaison office in New Delhi. The issue of securing
a clearance from the Indian government to officially launch the Centre
was raised, and will be followed up. Read Jan
Magnusson’s report from the Delhi meeting.
• SASNET symposia on PhD candidates
situation at Stockholm and UppsalaSummer school As a follow-up on the discussions that emerged at SASNET’s
symposium for South Asia oriented PhD students in Marstrand in October
2002 (read the reports) Staffan Lindberg and
Lars Eklund from SASNET will visit Stockholm and Uppsala in May 2003,
and have local meetings with researchers, teachers and students. In Stockholm a call has
been given to interested persons at the Karolinska Institutet Medical
University, KTH, and Stockholm University, for an intercurricular meeting
on Wednesday 14 May, 16–18. Venue: Rockefeller room, Karolinska
Institutet, Nobels väg 11, Stockholm.More
information on the Stockholm seminar (as a pdf-file) In Uppsala the Collegium
for Development Studies is going to invite PhD students, supervisors,
and teachers/researchers for a full day follow-up symposium, with an introduction
by Staffan Lindberg and Lars Eklund, on Friday 16 May 2003, 9.15–17.30.
Venue: Atrium Hotell and Conference, Dragarbrunnsgatan 46.
• Panels suggestions for the EASAS conference
welcome till 30 June 2003 SASNET will arrange the 18th European Conference on Modern South Asian
Studies, which will take place at Lund University, Sweden, 6–9 July
2004. Scholars engaged in research and teaching concerning South Asia
with regard to all periods and fields of study are welcome to take part
in the conference. SASNET organises the conference on behalf of the European
Association for South Asian Studies, EASAS. Suggestions for panels
should be delivered before 30 June, 2003. Read
the announcement for the conference.
• Applications for the next round ofSASNET
planning grants
are now invited. Closing date for applications is 15 June, 2003. More
information.
• Use SASNET’s advanced search function
An advanced search function was created for SASNET last year by Netlab
at Lund University. It provides for a full text search not only to our
own web site, but also to all the pages we link up to, in two steps (at
present that means more than 15 000 web pages). Therefore our engine is
most useful for searching material specifically connected to South Asia.
It is found at http://www.sasnet.lu.se/searchf.html
Community News:
• Invitation to Discuss the Future of
NIAS.
Following a political-administrative evaluation of its Nordic institutions
in mid-2002 the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) wants to relieve itself
of the direct ownership for these institutions. Therefore a process has
been initiated to identify a new form of governance for the institutions.
The Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) will be included in the process.
Proposals for possible new governance will be put forward to the NCM in
mid-May 2003. NIAS will be closely involved in this process and is now
interested in soliciting our partners and users in the Nordic countries
and Asia about their ideas of what we do well and what NIAS could do better
and what more we could do in the future. A discussion list, moderated
by NIAS Director Jørgen Delman, has therefore been introduced.
It will be in function till 1 September 2003.
• NorFA may fund Research School in
Asian Studies The NorfAsia Research School in Asian Studies,
NorfAsia, has a good chance to establish itself as a Nordic research school.
The Nordic Academy of Advanced
Study, NorFA, in 2002 issued a call for proposals for establishing
such research schools, and out of 50 proposals 10 have been selected to
prepare an actual application for funding of the proposed schools. NorfAsia,
headed by Professor Björn Hettne, PADRIGU, Göteborg University,
plans to have its administration at NIAS in Copenhagen, and it intends
to focus on societal dynamics, conflict and human security in contemporary
Asia – including South Asia. It will give priority to history, politics
and culture, work at different levels in Asia, i e village, sub- region,
nation, and wider regions, and also promote a comparative approach. NorfAsia
will, according to the proposal, be a virtual institution where students
will be inscribed with their own Nordic academic institutions which will
have the authority to conduct examinations and award degrees. NorfAsia
is supposed to start its work on 1 January 2004. More
information on NorfAsia (as a pdf-file).
•
34 Million SEK granted to research on sustainable technology at Lund University
MISTRA (Stiftelsen för Miljöstrategisk Forskning) has recently
granted 34 Million Swedish kronor as funding for 3.5 years for the research
program ”GREENCHEM”, involving a unique constellation of researchers
from Department of Biotechnology, Lund University
(led by Rajni Hatti-Kaul, who is the Program Director), in collaboration
with the Division for Environmental and Energy Systems Studies, and the
Research Policy Institute, both institutions at Lund University. GREENCHEM
is a program with a goal to develop sustainable technology primarily based
on utilization of tools provided by modern biotechnology for production
of ”green” products from renewable feedstocks. The technical
aspects will be supported by evaluation of the environmental impact of
the processes and products, and identification of the key factors for
successful implementation of the green technologies in the chemical industry.
The program will be realized in close collaboration with various Swedish
companies including ACO Hud AB, Akzo Nobel Industrial Coatings AB, Akzo
Nobel Surface Chemistry AB, Astra Zeneca R & D, IKEA of Sweden AB,
Karlshamns, Perstorp Speciality Chemicals AB and Protista International
AB.
• Dissertation on transformation of
three villages in Uttar Pradesh, India Kristina Lejonhud at the Dept of Human Geography, Karlstad University,
will defend her dissertation on ”Indian Villages in Transformation
– A longitudinal study of three villages in Uttar Pradesh”,
dealing with the changing nature of Lifeworld and Farming System in Village
India, based on a study of Chamaon Gram Sabha, Varanasi, on Friday 13
June 2003, 10.15. Venue: Agardhsalen (Hall 11 D 257). The thesis has been
written under the supervision of Prof. Gerhard Gustafsson, and Prof. Rana
P B Singh, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. The latter in 1977
published a book on the village community of Chamaon Gram Sabha, which
has been taken as starting point by Kristina for her research, and the
place for her field studies 1994–2001. More
information on the Dept of Human Geography.
• Dissertation on urban transport problems
in Third World capitals, including New Delhi Marie Thynell from PADRIGU, Dept of Peace and Development Research,
Göteborg University, defended her dissertation on ”The
Unmanageable Modernity. An Explorative Study of Motorized Mobility in
Development” on 5 April 2003. The thesis is an explorative
study of a neglected area in International Political Economy and Development
Studies. The study includes a comparison of the historical evolvement
of motorization in the Third World capitals of Brasília and Teheran;
as well as a comparison of the handling of current urban transport problems
in Rome and New Delhi, India. Read
the abstract.
•
The World Social Forum 2004 will be held in Mumbai, India 16–21
January 2004.
The background to the shift from Porto Alegro, Brazil, to India is the
ambition to strengthen and bring forward Asian movements, groups and networks.
With the experience from the successful Asia Social Forum held in Hydrabad
last winter it became obvious that the idea of an open, multicultural
and constructive forum for 'another world if possible' can be global also
in an Indian setting. A meeting of the Indian Working group responsible
for drawing up policies on how WSF 2004 is to function is being organised
for 1–2 June 2003. The agenda includes setting up an Asian Solidarity
Group to coordinate action on mobilization in the Asia region. More
information on the WSF India web page.
• Honorary doctorate will be awarded
to Gita Sen at Karolinska Gita Sen, Sir Ratan Tata Chair Professor of Economics and Social
Sciences at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India, and
a well known researcher on Equity, gender and health, will become Doctor
Hon. Causa at the Karolinska Institutet Medical University, Stockholm,
at a function on 16 May 2003. She had been suggested for the honorary
position by the Dept of Public Health Sciences, Division of International
Health (IHCAR), at Karolinska.
•Dissertation in Uppsala on the rise of Bahujan Samaj Party in
India Magdalena Inkinen (photo to the left) from the Dept
of Government, Uppsala University, will defend her doctoral dissertation
on ”Mobilising the Lower Castes: The Rise of the Bahujan Samaj
Party in India”, on Thursday 22 May, 2003. Fakulty opponent
is Prof Anirudh Krishna, Duke University, U.S. More
information on the thesis.
•
Professors from KTH informed about their recent tour to India Svensk-Indiska Föreningen arranged a meeting in Stockholm
on the theme ”What do we learn from India”, on Tuesday 6 May.
It dealt with a tour to India that a high-level delegation from the Royal
Institute of Technology (Kungl Tekniska Högskolan), Stockholm, including
the Rector of the KTH (Anders Flodström) and 11 other distinguished
professors, made to India in November 2002. There they met with partner
institutes and the steel and automotive industry. The tour has since resulted
in a number of formal agreements on Indo-Swedish research co-operation.
Among the involved researchers on the Swedish side are Professor Seshadri
Seetharaman (photo to the right), Theoretical Process Metallurgy,
and Assoc. Professor Ramon Wyss, Theoretical Nuclear Physics, and vice
president of International affairs at KTH, Wyss has especially been involved
in a project on developing the waterways of Kerala.
• Rana P B Singh on a lecturing tour
to Sweden and Denmark Prof. Rana P B Singh from the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi,
India, is touring universities in Italy and Scandinavia during May and
June 2003. He will hold several seminars on ”Sacred Geography and
Cosmic Geometry of the holy City Varanasi”, and ”Social Patterns
and Spatial Organisation of an Indian Village”. In Scandinavia Rana
P B Singh will hold guest lectures at the universities of Karlstad, Göteborg
and Copenhagen. His relation to Karlstad University is especially strong
as he was one of the founding fathers of the its Study Centre in India
at Varanasi, which opened in 1988. More information
on the study centre (from Lars Eklund’s report in 2002).
Vacant research positions/fellowships
• Postdoctoral fellowships at Centre
for East and South-East Asian Studies The Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University
invites applications for two postdoctoral fellowships. The duration of
each fellowship is two years, commencing 1 September 2003. Prospective
candidates, from the fields of social sciences, economics and humanities,
must have received their doctoral grade, or be in the situation that they
will receive their doctoral grade before 1 July 2003. Closing date for
applications: 21 May 2003. More information.
• Social Science Research Council announces
South Asia Regional Fellowships Social Science Research Council, an independent, nonprofit organization.
based in New York City, with an ambition to advance social science throughout
the world, supporting research, education and scholarly exchange worldwide,
announces a number of South Asia Regional Fellowships, up to 20, for college
and university teachers based in South Asia. The fellowship theme for
2003–4 is Migration. Eligible applicants must hold a PhD in the
social sciences, humanities, or related fields, and the primary intent
of the fellowship is to write up completed research. The fellowship program
is operated in collaboration with five partner organizations in South
Asia: Centre for Alternatives, Dhaka; Centre
for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata; Social
Science Baha, Kathmandu; Sustainable
Development Policy Institute, Islamabad; and Social
Scientists' Association, Colombo. Closing date for applications:
15 May 2003. More
information.
Conferences
and courses
• Islamabad conference on policy challenges
and prospects in South Asia An International conference on ”Current domestic policy
challenges and prospects in South Asia” is held at Islamabad, Pakistan,
26–27 May 2003. The conference is organized by the Institute of
Regional Studies at Islamabad. Contact information to be given by Ms.
Amera Saeed.
• Conference on ”Inequality, Poverty
and Human Well-Being” at Helsinki A conference on ”Inequality, Poverty and Human Well-Being”
is held at Helsinki, Finland 30–31 May 2003. It is arranged by WIDER,
World Institute for Development Research, United Nations University. Venue:
Marina Congress Center, Katajanokanlaituri 6, Helsinki. More
information.
• 20th Annual Meeting of the Sanskrit Tradition
in the Modern World The 20th annual meeting of the Sanskrit Tradition
in the Modern World, STIMW, seminar will take place 23–25 May,
2003, at Minsteracres Retreat Centre, a monastery in the Tyne valley
near to Newcastle, U.K. The seminar is arranged by the Department of
Religious Studies at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
•
Global conference on Mountain Ecotourism at Namche Bazar A global conference on Mountain Ecotourism will be held at
Namche Bazaar, Khumbu, Nepal, on 24–26 May, 2003. The conference
is arranged by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation
of Nepal, in collaboration with Bridges-PRTD (Projects in Rational
Tourism Development), and the Laboratory of Geoecology, Hokkaido University,
Japan.
• Seminar at Lillehammer on Mahatma
Gandhi’s role in today’s society A Seminar on ”Mahatma Gandhi and the 21st Century”
is held at Lillehammer, Norway, 29 May – 1 June 2003. Professor
Arne Næss, and other Norwegian authorities on Gandhi will lecture
on the role his legacy can still play in today’s society. The seminar
is arranged by Nansenskolen, located on Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsonsgt.
2, Lillehammer. More information.
• Conference on Women and Politics in Asia
at Halmstad University An international multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary conference
on ”Women and Politics in Asia” will take place at Halmstad
University 6–7 June 2003. The aim of the conference is to study different
dimensions of Asian women in politics, with contributions from scholars
within the social sciences and the humanities from various parts of the
world. Abstracts for papers expanding on the central theme, and on other
relevant topics, are invited. The conference is organized jointly by the
School of Social and Health Sciences at Halmstad University, the Centre
for Asian Studies at Göteborg University, the Centre for East and
Southeast Asian Studies at Lund University, and Nordic Institute for Asian
Studies, NIAS. More information
on the conference website.
• Symposium on Arsenic in Soil and Groundwater
Environments at Uppsala conference The 7th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace
Elements (7th ICOBTE) will be held at Uppsala, Sweden, 15–19 June
2003. It is an interdisciplinary conference dedicated to link biosphere
phenomena to physical & chemical reactions in the pedo-and lithosphere,
and is sponsored by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
and the International
Society of Trace Elements Biogeochemistry (ISTEB). One of the symposia
is dealing with the issue of ”Arsenic in Soil and Groundwater
Environments: Biogeochemical Interactions”, organized by Dr
Prosun Bhattacharya, Dept of Land and Water Resources
Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, and others.
• Conference on South Asia Literatures
and Languages at Moscow The International Conference on South Asia Literatures and Languages
– SALILA (the former ICOSAL) takes place in Moscow, Russian Federation,
at the Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University,
5–9 July 2003. More
information.
• 15th Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences
sciences congress at Florence The International Union
of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) arranges its 15th Congress on the theme ”Humankind/Nature
Interaction: Past, Present, and Future”, 5–12 July,
2003, at Florence, Italy. A large number of the sessions will be devoted
to South Asia.
• An International Workshop on ”The
Restructuring of Old Industrial Areas in Europe and Asia”
is arranged in Bonn, Germany, 11–12 July 2003, by the Dept of Geography,
University of Bonn. The workshop is sponsored by the Asia-Europe Foundation/Asia
Alliance Grant, which means that travel and accommodation costs of presenters
of accepted papers will be fully covered. Deadline for submission of workshop
papers: 1 June 2003. More
information.
•
The 12th World Sanskrit Conference
will be held in Helsinki, Finland, 14–18 July, 2003. The conference
is organized by the International
Association of Sanskrit Studies, and the Dept
of Indology, Institute for Asian and African Studies, University
of Helsinki. Closing date for registration is 31 March 2003.
• Conference on Early Devotional Literatures
in New Indo-Aryan Languages The Ninth International Conference on Early Devotional Literatures
in New Indo-Aryan Languages is held 23–26 July 2003, at the Dept
of Modern South Asian Studies, South Asia Institute, University Of Heidelberg.
This year’s theme is ”Bhakti in Current Research 2001-2003”.
More
information.
•
2003 World Water Week at Stockholm of great interest for South Asia The 2003 World Water Week will take place in Stockholm, Sweden,
10–16 August 2003, and the 13th Stockholm Water Symposium 11–14
August. Both during the symposium and the eight workshops throughout the
week a large number of South Asian researchers and professionals –
from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka – have been
invited to speak and give presentations, not the least in workshop no
4, on ”Securing Food Production under climatic variability:
Exploring the options”, filled with South Asian participants.
More information, and the full programme to be found on on the
2003 World Water Week web site.
• Dialogue on European Union initiativ
”Water for Life” at Stockholm Connected to the World Water Week the European Union Water Initiative
has invited for a mukti-stakeholder dialogue meeting on Sunday 10 August
2003, to discuss the Initiative’s ”Water for Life” programme
launched during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
in 2002.
• SIWI Seminar for young water professionals
at Stockholm Stockholm International Water Institute, SIWI, invites the same
day, Sunday 10 August, young water professionals for a seminar on ”Basin
Water security – implications of virtual water trade and agricultural
subsidies at regional, national and local levels”. Mr Rashedul Islam
from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, will lecture
at this seminar on ”Agricultural subsidies and rainfed agriculture:
A critical view”.
• 32nd Annual Conference on South Asia
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison The Center for South Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
invites scholars and other interested parties to its 32nd Annual Conference
on South Asia, 24–26 October 2003. The annual conferences normally
attract 500+ participants, and feature over 70 academic panels and roundtables.
Registration as an observer at the Conference is open to the general public.
Venue: Concourse Hotel, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
• International Seminar on Fermented
Foods, Health Status and Social Well being in Gujarat An International Seminar and Workshop on ”Fermented
Foods, Health Status and Social Well being” will be organised
by the Institute of Rural Management at Anand, Gujarat, India, 13–14
November 2003. The conference is co-hosted by the Dept of Applied Nutrition,
Lund University, Sweden; and is partly sponsored by a planning grant from
SASNET. Read the announcement (as a pdf-file).
• International Conference on ”Sri
Lanka at Crossroads: Continuity & Change” The 9th International Conference on Sri Lankan Studies will be
held at the University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka, 28–30 November
2003. The conference’s theme will be ”Sri Lanka at Crossroads:
Continuity & Change”. A Call for papers has been issued,
the deadline for submitting abstracts is 15 June 2003.
• Norwegian conference on research and
evaluation on education and development The Second NETREED Conference with the theme ”Communicating
and Evaluating Research Results from the South” will take place
8–10 December 2003 at Gausdal Høifjellshotell, Norway. NETREED
is a network of individuals and institutions based in Norway, who do research
and evaluation on education and development (with a focus on developing
countries). Key note speaker at the conference will be Dr. Iffat Farah
from the Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. The theme of the conference
is chosen in order to get a wide discussion and different perspectives
on research results of researchers in the North doing research in countries
in the South. There will also be a debate on ethical questions and dilemmas
for those working as researchers on the one hand and as evaluators on
the other hand. Paper presentations by graduate students, researchers,
evaluators and representatives from NGO's will be organised in parallell
sessions. More
information on the conference.
• An International Conference on ”Women
and Migration in Asia” is held at New Delhi, India 10–13 December 2003. The conference
is organized by the Developing Countries Research Centre, DCRC, at the
University of Delhi, and has the ambition to bring together scholars from
across Asia and other countries working in the broad thematic area of
Women and Migration.
• NSALSA Conference on Breaking Barriers
and Building Bridges The National South Asian Law Student Association (NSALSA) Conference
2004 at Seattle, Washington State, USA, will be 13–16 February 2004.
The theme for the conference is ”Breaking Barriers and Building
Bridges: Human rights and the Law in South Asia”. Venue: Seattle
University School of Law at Sullivan Hall, 900 Broadway.
• A workshop on ”Bribes, Morality,
and Development Assistance”
is arranged in Stockholm on Wednesday 14 May 2004, 15–17. It is
arranged by Globalakademin at Sida’s conference premises, Kungsgatan
36, 2nd floor. The researcher Joakim Thelander, Dept of Sociology, Lund
University, will present interviews he has made with development assistance
staff; and representatives from Sida will present their policy against
corruption.
• Seminar by the Swedish Society for
Research on History of Religions
Svenska Samfundet för Religionshistorisk Forskning arranges a seminar
on ”Current Islam” at Lund on Thursday 15 May 2003,
10.00–17.15. All interested are welcome to the seminar which includes
lectures by Rasmus Alenius Boserup, and Julia Howell. Venue: AF-huset,
Hall Aten, Sandgatan, Lund. More information from Leif Stenberg, Section
of Islamology, Lund University.
•
Pankaj Mishra lectures at Uppsala and Stockholm The well-known writer and journalist Pankaj Mishra is coming
to Sweden where he will lecture at Uppsala and Stockholm, on ”The
Modernity of Religion in India”. Pankaj Mishra has written
extensively on political development in South Asia. Particularly he has
described the situation in Kashmir and the relationship between Hindus
and Muslims in India. He is also the author of the highly acclaimed novels
The Romantics: A Novel (2000), and Butter Chicken in Ludhiana:
Travels in Small Town India (1995). The lectures, are organized by
the South Asia Studies Programme at Uppsala University in collaboration
with the so-called Gamla Torget Samarbetet at Uppsala University, and
the magazine Axess.
The lecture in Uppsala will be on Thursday
15 May 2003, 15.15, at the Dept of Peace and Conflict Research, Gamla
Torget 3, room 2. No registration is necessary.
The lecture in Stockholm will be on Friday
16 May 2003, 15.00, at the office of Axess, Skeppsbron 24. To attend the
lecture in Stockholm, please contact Una Gustafsson/Axess, at least two
days in advance.
• Lectures with Soli Jehangir Sorabjee
at Oslo and Stockholm
Soli Jehangir Sorabjee, Attorney General of India since 1998, is visiting
Scandinavia, giving lectures at Oslo and Stockholm. He was previously
the Solicitor General of India, and has also worked for the UN in several
capacities, including human rights protection, prevention of discrimination
and protection of minorities.
At Oslo University Sorabjee lectures on "Constitution,
Courts and Minorities", Tuesday 20 May 2003, 14.00. The seminar is
organized by the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO),
with Carsten Smith, former Chief Justice of Norway, acting as commentator.
Venue: PRIO, Fuglehauggata 11, Oslo.
In Stockholm Sorabjee lectures on "Judicial
Protection of Human Rights in India", Thursday 22 May 2003, 16.00.
This seminar is organized by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
• Björn Hettne lectures on Regionalization
of the World at Lund University Professor Björn Hettne from the Dept for Peace and Development
Studies, PADRIGU, Göteborg University, holds a lecture at Lund on
”Regionalization of the World”, Wednesday 21 May
2003. The lecture starts at 19.30 at Eden’s hörsal, Dept of
Political Science, Paradisgatan 5, and is an arrangement by the Lund Association
of Foreign Affairs. More information.
• Seminar on the Politicization of Gender
in post-Taliban Afghanistan at Stockholm University
A seminar on the Politicization of Gender in post-Taliban Afghanistan
is arranged at Stockholm University Thursday 22 May 2003, 17.00-18.30.
The lecture is held by Professor Deniz Kandiyoti, Oriental and African
Studies, University of London. The seminar is arranged by the International
Graduate Programme (IGP), part of the Faculty of Social Sciences at
Stockholm University. Venue: Room: B900, Frescati.
•
R S Deshpande lectures on the Consequences of the Green Revolution in
India Professor R S Deshpande from the Institute for Social and Economic
Change (ISEC), Bangalore, India, is visiting Lund University during the
later part of May. R S Deshpande (photo to the right) will hold
a SASNET lecture on ”Consequences of the Green Revolution in
India”, on Monday 26 May 2003, at 14.15. Venue: Dept of Economic
History, Ekonomicentrum, Tycho Brahes väg 1, Lund.
• A Seminar on ICT and Development -
with special regard to India's Communication Revolution
is held at Lund University on Monday 26 May 2003, 13.15. Madanmohan Rao,
ICT consultant and lecturer at the Indian Institute of Information Technology
in Bangalore - India's ”Silicon Valley” - will lecture on
the issue. Rao is a prolific writer, among his most recent work are the
first two volumes of "The Asia Pacific Internet Handbook" -
the first in-depth survey of the ongoing digital revolution in the Asia
Pacific Region. Venue: Conference room 2, Dept of Sociology, Paradisgatan
5, Lund.
• Seminar on Rebuilding Afghanistan.
Prospects of Democracy after Military Intervention
The Seminar for Development Studies at Uppsala University organizes a
one-day seminar on Wednesday 28 May, 10.15-16.00. The theme is "Rebuilding
Afghanistan. Prospects of Democracy after Military Intervention",
and the participants are Farid Abbaszadegan, Dept of Asian and African
Languages, Uppsala University; Karen Brouneus, Dept of Peace and Conflict
Research, Uppsala University; Nina Hjelmgren, Swedish Broadcasting Corporation;
and Sydney Petersson, The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan. Venue: Clasonsalen,
Övre Slottsgatan 1, Uppsala.
• Seminar on Civil-Military Relations
in Response to Weapons of Mass Destruction at Uppsala The Collegium for Development Studies at Uppsala University
in cooperation with the Centre for Public Health in Humanitarian Assistance
(PHHA), Uppsala University, invites for a seminar on ”Humanitarian
Principles Challenged: Civil-Military Relations in Response to Weapons
of Mass Destruction”, on Tuesday 3 June 2003, 9.00–16.30.
Among the participants are Egbert Sondorp from the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine who will give a presentation on ”Hope
for the Best, Prepare for the Worst: How Humanitarian Organisations Can
Organise to Respond to Weapons of Mass Destruction”. Registration
to be done before 15 May 15 to Gunilla Lindestam. Venue: Församlingshemmet
Odinslund 3, Uppsala.
• Bidyut Mohanty lectures on Lives of
Women in India at Lund University Bidyut Mohanty, Head of the Women's Studies Dept, Institute of
Social Sciences, JNU, New Delhi, gives a SASNET lecture at Lund University
on Thursday 5 June 2003, 13.15–15. Mohanty who is on her way to
the conference on ”Women and Politics in Asia” in
Halmstad (see information in the conferences schedule) will lecture on
”Seat Reservation in Local Politics – Impact on the Lives
of Women in India”. Venue: Room 243 (prefektrummet), Dept of
Sociology, Paradisgatan 5, Lund.
• Udaya Narayana Singh lectures
on Indian languages at Uppsala University Professor Udaya Narayana Singh, Director, Central Institute
of Indian Languages, Mysore, India, will give two lectures on languages
and the linguistic situation in South Asia at Uppsala University. On Monday
16 June 2003, 9.15–11, he will lecture on ”Multilingualism
and Language planning in South Asia”; and on Tuesday 17 June
2003, 9.15–11, he will lecture on ”Linguistic Landscaping
in the context of South Asia”. Venue for both the lectures:
Språkvetenskapligt centrum (SVC, room 16-0043, Uppsala. Professor
Singh’s visit to Sweden is partly sponsored by the Swedish Royal
Academy of Letters, History and Antiquites (Vitterhetsakademin).
Summer Schools
• Summer Course on Contemporary
India organized by the Nordic Centre in India, at Hyderabad The Nordic Centre in India organises a summer course for Nordic
students on ”Contemporary India”.
The course will be held in Hyderabad, India, between 7 July and 1 August
2003. It is open to students from all Nordic universities and institutions
of higher learning. 10 participants are eligible for reduced fees on application.
Those who are interested may also join the e-mail list by sending a mail
to the NCI Director Arild Engelsen Ruud. The announcement is available
as a poster. Go for it! (pdf-file).
• The second European Summer
School in Modern South Asian Studies
takes place 21 July – 2 August 2003, at the South Asia Institute,
Heidelberg University, Germany. It is jointly organised by the University
of Edinburgh, the European Institute of Asian Studies, Brussels, the Institut
National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris, University of
Oslo and the University of Heidelberg. Undergraduate and graduate students
from all over Europe will, through an interdisciplinary teaching program,
covering issues of History, Politics, Economy, Religion and Development
studies, gain insights into the most important aspects of modern South
Asia. A limited number of scholarships is available.
News on courses and education
• Masters Programme in Asian and
African studies introduced at Oslo University.
In the Fall 2003 University of Oslo introduces a new 120 credits Masters
Programme in Asian and African studies, where the students may choose
courses from the wide range of individual courses that already exist in
the field. Of the courses related to South Asia which the Faculty of Arts
offers are courses in three South Asian languages: Hindi, Sanskrit, and
Urdu at the Department of East-European and Oriental Studies; and courses
in South Asian Studies (covering topics as modern history, religion and
political anthropology, with a focus on India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and
Sri Lanka) at the Department of History. More
information on the new Masters programme in Oslo.
Working
papers on South Asia available on the Internet
• Background paper on Impact of Conflict
on HIV/Aids in South Asia A Background paper on the ”Impact of Conflict on HIV/Aids
in South Asia”, written by PhD K S Subramanian in August 2002
is now available through SASNET. The report makes a rapid appraisal of
the impact of conflict on HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is intended as
a strategic document, written from the perspective of policy professionals
and decision makers outside the health sector, with help from UNDP, which
sponsored the study. Go for the report!
(pdf-file).
• Reports from Stockholm
International Water Institute available for free The Stockholm International Water Institute organizing the
World Water Weeks at Stockholm ever year, has begun to make its reports
available free of charge at its web page, http://www.siwi.org/sa/node.asp?node=168.
Among the titles available are found the reports on:
• Balancing Human Security and Ecological Interests in a Catchment;
• Water Security for Cities, Food and Environment – Towards
Catchment Hydrosolidarity; and
• Water Management in Developing Countries: SIWI Recommendation
for EU Development Co-operation.
Dr Arunachalam Rajagopal, SaciWATERs,
Hyderabad, India, delivered a lecture on ”Link to Downstream Aquaculture”,
as part of the ”Balancing Human Security and Ecological Security
Interests in a Catchment” seminar in 2002. This
paper is available though SASNET (as a pdf-file).
New and updated items on SASNET
web site
• More Swedish departments where research
on South Asia is going on: Added to the list of research environments at Swedish universities,
presented by SASNET. The full list now nearly 100 departments. Go
to the presentation page, http://www.sasnet.lu.se/environment.html.
• Several new articles recommended for reading
Look at http://www.sasnet.lu.se/recreading.html
for suggestions on interesting new articles on South Asia in International
media. Many new items added, especially on Pakistan, India, and Nepal.
Cultural Events connected to South
Asia in Scandinavia
•
SASNET concert with guitar and tabla musicians from Kolkata at Lund SASNET arranges a concert with
Amit Chatterjee and Suman Laha, two young Indian classical musicians from
Kolkata, in Lund on Sunday 25 May 2003, at 19.00. Amit Chatterjee is a
talented tabla player who has frequently toured Europe and the USA, whereas
Suman Laha (photo to the left) plays the guitar in a rather unusual
mode, like an Indian veena.
The concert is arranged in collaboration with the Zimba Marimba World
Music Studio in Lund, which also provides for the concert hall at Qvantenborgsvägen
15 (right at the crossing with Kobjersvägen) in the northwestern
part of Lund. Tickets are sold for 100 SEK each and should preferrably
be ordered in beforehand
from Peta Axelsson.
• Lots of South
Asian cultural events in Norway.
The web site Desi.no lists and gives extensive coverage to all cultural
events connected to South Asia taking place in Norway, including Bollywood
film shows and Pakistani musical performances. Go
for Desi.no!
Best regards
Staffan
Lindberg Lars
Eklund
SASNET/ Swedish South Asian Studies Network
SASNET is a national network
for research, education, and information about South Asia, based at
Lund University. The aim is to encourage and promote an open and dynamic
networking process, in which Swedish researchers co-operate with researchers
in South Asia and globally.
The network is open to all sciences. Priority is given to co-operation
between disciplines and across faculties, as well as institutions in
the Nordic countries and in South Asia. The basic idea is that South
Asian studies will be most fruitfully pursued in co-operation between
researchers, working in different institutions with a solid base in
their mother disciplines.
The network is financed by Sida (Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency) and by Lund
University.
Postal
address: SASNET – Swedish South Asian Studies Network, c/o
International Office, Lund University, P O Box 117, S-221 00 Lund Visiting address: Gamla Kirurgen, Sandgatan 3, first floor,
room no. 230 Phone: + 46 46 222 73 40 Fax: + 46 46 222 41 11 (Note: Changed number!) E-mail:sasnet@sasnet.lu.se Web site:
http://www.sasnet.lu.se
SASNET - Swedish South Asian Studies Network/Lund
University
Address: Scheelevägen 15 D, SE-223 70 Lund, Sweden
Phone: +46 46 222 73 40
Webmaster: Lars Eklund
Last updated
2011-06-09
•
34 Million SEK granted to research on sustainable technology at Lund University
•
The World Social Forum 2004 will be held in Mumbai, India 16–21
January 2004. 
•
Dissertation in Uppsala on the rise of Bahujan Samaj Party in
India
•
Professors from KTH informed about their recent tour to India
•
Global conference on Mountain Ecotourism at Namche Bazar
•
The 12th World Sanskrit Conference 
•
2003 World Water Week at Stockholm of great interest for South Asia
•
Pankaj Mishra lectures at Uppsala and Stockholm
•
R S Deshpande lectures on the Consequences of the Green Revolution in
India
Postal address: SASNET – Swedish South Asian Studies Network, c/o International Office, Lund University, P O Box 117, S-221 00 Lund
